The Birdist

Ok!

Bonjour from Paris! This blackbird beat me at chess.

That’s awesome, thanks. I’m all the way on the other side of the continent but feel like all the Buffs showed up this week.

my 2025 bufflehead season conspiracy theory is that andrew was 100% accurate and they didnt get moving untilt his cold front. because since then theyve just flooded over.

Can you say more about the Buffleheads? I noticed it too, anecdotally, but figured I was just not seeing them

Many in New England are also familiar with the “but I didn’t even tap her!” defense…

Yeah! Also, great book!

As a Somerville resident, this is an incredibly amusing rabbit hole. And my god there are some A++ quotes in that Seattle PI piece.

(Btw Duncan Robinson does not count as a Mainer. He was born in the superior medical facilities across the river in York, Maine but was raised in New Hampshire.)

The Seattle P-I story on the scandal is amazing, and Craven just melts down in the most Somerville, Massachusetts way possible. www.seattlepi.com/news/article...

Went down a rabbit hole re: Jeff Turner, the only NBA player from Maine before Cooper Flagg. Turner’s Wiki includes a scandal from a guy named Ronnie Craven who impersonated Turner to have sex with women, and who achieved unprecedented levels of honestly with the reporter who called him out.

Washington Post headline reads: "Trump repeals tariffs on some foods as Americans face high grocery prices The president is rolling back import levies on a host of agricultural goods after administration officials signaled coming changes aimed at addressing consumer complaints about high food costs."

if we take it to be true that the tariffs are aimed at getting americans to buy US-made products, then what's the point of rolling them back when they become painful? the entire point is to cause financial pain to change consumer behavior. what's the strategy here?

Give a man a bird and he’ll eat for a day.

*Teach* a man to bird and he’ll eat for a lifetime, but mostly just breakfast burritos from the gas station by the park

sure sex is great but have you ever supported your artist friends during the holidays by buying their lovely work?

10/10 planet. Would recommend.

eBird Checklist - 8 Nov 2025 - Biddeford Pool--East Point Sanctuary - 24 species Submitted by Nick Lund.

Yeah man lots moving offshore it was cool ebird.org/checklist/S2...

Did this today

There’s hustle, then there’s “leave comments on a 2016 blogspot post hoping to get someone to rent a crane” hustle.

nice! you're totally right! no way a Harris' Hawk would get there.

Duck Hunt taught me everything I know about identifying different species of birds on the wing

On the trail of the Siberian tiger — ‘a knot of muscle and rage’ In Tigers Between Empires, Jonathan Slaght follows the daring conservation project which is saving these big cats from extinction

"You sense the silences and threats of the deep forest. You taste the pungently Siberian flavor of the desperately remote towns." Nice review of TIGERS BETWEEN EMPIRES from The Times (of London). Owls of the Eastern Ice won Times Nature Book of the Year in 2021. www.thetimes.com/culture/book...

Blue Jays are a type of bird

Haha yes

09-44: This Month in Birding - October 2025 - American Birding Association

Another This Month in Birding episode is out!

Listen to Jennie Duberstein, Nick Lund, and Brodie Cass Talbott to discuss casual eBirding, hybrid Jays, and what bird to patronize on Halloween night: www.aba.org/09-44-this-m...

That’s me! In honor of the Grue Jay I came up with a list of other potential hybrids that’d have cool names.

Mt favorite was Smooth-billed Ani x Groove-billed Ani aka the Smooth Groove Ani aka The Steely Dan Ani.

my friends, I am so excited to finally spill the beans on what I’ve been working on: Extremely Accurate Birds, a Field Guide! Coming April 2026!!

And: the preorder is already up and running! Can’t wait for you to see all 200 pages of bird accuracy…

www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/tommy...

What do you think of the latest podcast episode artwork? lol

This week’s episode is about the Osprey… An absolute honor to have @thebirdist.bsky.social Nick Lund as the expert judge for this edition of Extremely Accurate Bird Songs! Join the ride — only 11,136 species to go! lnk.to/extremelyacc...

Please don't ask Grok to identify birds for you. Wrong answers, all.

I founded the Google Street View Birding Facebook group many years ago, and it still rules. Daniel Armstrong just found this SOOTY SHEARWATER from a boat off Ireland. Shearwaters are obvs really hard to find because, you know, no streets...
maps.app.goo.gl/sV71dU41HUYy...