Singing from the top of a termite mound
Red-and-yellow Barbet makes a musical sound
Brightly colored, polka-dotted
Red-and-yellow Barbet, you've been spotted!
©Ruth Bowen Hersey
9 hours ago
Friday, October 23, 2026
Birdtober Day 24: Hoatzin
Amazon stinkbird
Orange crest, red eyes, blue face
Hissing and grunting
©Ruth Bowen Hersey
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Birdtober Day 23: Lesser Flamingo
When I was a child in Kenya, Lake Nakuru was known for its enormous numbers of flamingos. Today there aren't as many. The water levels rose and diluted the alkaline conditions most favorable to the algae the flamingos eat. There are still flamingos at Lake Nakuru, but they say that Lake Bogoria is the place to go for the sights that Nakuru used to be so proud of. I remember going on a field trip to Lake Nakuru when I was in second grade. We learned to make tally marks and used them to keep track of how many we saw of everything - but especially flamingos.
How many Malachite Kingfishers?
Two.
How many Egyptian Geese?
Ten.
How many Great White Pelicans?
Twenty.
How many Lesser Flamingos?
A million.
©Ruth Bowen Hersey
Tracey is hosting Poetry Friday today.
Here are the Birdtober posts so far:
Day 14: Victoria Crowned-Pigeon
Day 16: Blue-capped Cordonbleu
Day 17: Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
Day 21: Wilson's Bird-of-Paradise
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Birdtober Day 22: Scarlet Tanager
Today's post is cheating a little, because I'm reusing something I wrote back in 2021 for October 19th, when the prompt was simply "Tanager." I picked the Scarlet Tanager.
Scarlet Tanager
In a forest in Georgia
on a Friday afternoon in July
we followed the Scarlet Tanager.
Again and again and again
we heard the bird,
always from somewhere else.
I was with some of the men in my life
(husband, son, brother)
as we chased the
bright red male Scarlet Tanager,
playing sounds with our phones.
We were on the point of giving up.
My sister-in-law was waiting for us
with my impatient nephew
and it looked as though
this quarry was not to be found,
at least not today…
And then, suddenly,
there he was:
red
red
red
just as advertised.
The most scarlet sight imaginable,
worth the search.
©Ruth Bowen Hersey
Photo Source: eBird.com
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Birdtober Day 21: Wilson's Bird-of-Paradise
The Wilson's Bird-of-Paradise is, as David Attenborough says in the second video above, "very tidy." This famous footage is the first film appearance of this species, and Attenborough obtained it by spreading a bunch of leaves which he knew the bird would be compelled to clear away. The theory is that he wants no distractions when he performs his courtship dance. I think it's ironic that a bird that is so focused on essentials has a name which has nothing to do with him, but more to do with the political leanings of the person naming him. As Wikipedia puts it, "The controversial scientific name respublica of this species was given by Charles Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon's nephew and a republican idealist. The habit of zoologists at that time to dedicate newly discovered species to some king, queen, or aristocrat deeply irritated him. In order to assert his convictions, he chose to name this species respublica to honour the republic and not the royalty."
When it comes to courtship action
Wilson's bird wants no distraction.
He's focused on potential mates
And how he can captivate.
He rids his stage of any mess
Gets ready to dance to impress.
He doesn't care his name's political.
His courtship dance is mission-critical.
©Ruth Bowen Hersey
Monday, October 19, 2026
Birdtober Day 20: Philippine Cockatoo
As so often happens when I start researching birds on the Birdtober calendar, with this one I was immediately pulled into a world I knew nothing at all about. The Philippine Cockatoo (also known as the Red-vented Cockatoo or by its local name, Katala) is critically endangered. The video above talks about this bird and other species on the island of Palawan that are close to extinction. I was curious about the foreigner interviewed on the video, Dr. Sabine Schoppe, and when I googled her I found that she just died last month after thirty years of fighting for the survival of these creatures. You can read more about her here. The tributes I found speak volumes about how loved she was and what an impact she had on the Philippines after moving there from Germany many years ago. She worked with The Katala Foundation.
Rare bird
White Katala
High in banana tree
Loud, joyful squawking noise rings out
Once more
©Ruth Bowen Hersey
Birdtober Day 19: Blue-necked Jacamar
The Blue-necked Jacamar is also called the Blue-cheeked Jacamar. These birds remind me of kingfishers, bee-eaters, todies, and hummingbirds. They breed in tunnels, like kingfishers, and they also look a lot like kingfishers. They beat their prey on a branch before eating, like bee-eaters and kingfishers. They are iridescent, like hummingbirds. And their proportions are very similar to todies. But they are none of the above.
Nice to meet you, jacamar.
How I wonder what you are.
You are like some birds I've met
But I haven't met you yet.
I see you looking out for prey
(Bugs should really keep away)
I hear you make a trilling cry
Then watch you catch a passing fly
But I don't know you, jacamar.
How I wonder what you are.
©Ruth Bowen Hersey
Saturday, October 17, 2026
Birdtober Day 18: Sunbittern
These birds, though called bitterns, aren't really part of the bittern family. A nineteenth century bird book called them "Peacock Herons" and that fits very well, since they look a lot like herons and they open their tails to display like peacocks. They can be found in parts of Central and South America. They look a bit ordinary at first, but if you watch the second video above, you'll see that their display is anything but ordinary.
Quiet Sunbittern
Opens his wings to the sun
Suddenly dazzles
©Ruth Bowen Hersey
Birdtober Day 17: Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
The Bird Name Book, by Susan Myers, suggests that a better name for this bird would be Hen-of-the-Rock because it's named after where they make their nests, and the male has nothing to do with that at all. He's a dandy who dances for females and mates with as many as he can. It's left to the single mom to do all the work of incubating and raising the chicks. The second video above gives a lot more information about that.
The Andean Hen-of-the-Rock
Does much more work than the Cock
She sticks nests to the rocks with her spit
Then for weeks she does nothing but sit
Then feeds her new brood
With nutritious food
Such as fruit and fresh snakes,
And fine lizard steaks.
The Andean Hen-of-the-Rock
Is in for quite a big shock
If she thinks that fine male
With the perky black tail
Will ever be there
To do his fair share.
But his scarlet display
Draws her eye anyway.
©Ruth Bowen Hersey
Friday, October 16, 2026
Reading Update
Book #93 of the year was More Than You Can Imagine: What God Does When You Trust Him, by Susie Larson. I heard the author on a podcast and had to preorder the book because I liked what she said so much. This book was very good and I'll probably reread it since I went through it pretty fast the first time.
Book #94 was Stone Yard Devotional, by Charlotte Wood. This was strange, but oddly compelling.
Book #95 was Trophic Cascade, by Camille Dungy. I don't read as much poetry as I used to, but this was good. Again, I'll need to reread it.
Book #96 was C'était ça ou mourir, by Thélyson Orélien. I want so much to believe that Orélien didn't use AI to write this, and maybe he didn't. I'm glad I read it because it's a story that needs to be told. Google if you haven't heard about all the controversy with this book.
Book #97 was a book club pick, The Pirate Queen, by Ariel Lawhon. I enjoyed it very much, and learned some about Irish history. Grace, the pirate queen, is an unforgettable character.
Book #98 was Exit Party, by Emily St. John Mandel. There's a lot of familiar territory here for this author: post-apocalyptic, time (or at least dimension) travel, making a life in horrendous circumstances. I enjoyed it.
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