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Artwork for Laura Erickson's For the Birds
Natural Sciences

Laura Erickson's For the Birds

Laura Erickson

"For the Birds" began airing on KUMD in Duluth, MN, in May, 1986, and is the longest continually-running radio program about birds in the U.S. Hundreds more episodes are available for free at http://www.lauraerickson.com/radio/.

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  • 44 episodes
  • Avg 6 min
  • English

Episodes 44

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  • Wednesday · 6 min

    More about counting

    Taxonomic rules are the scientific ones affecting birders' life lists. The American Birding Association abides by those, but also imposes some additional rules on counting.

  • October 29 · 6 min

    Schrödinger’s Birds, Part 2

    Laura talks about the still controversial question about whether Ivory-billed Woodpeckers are extinct or not. The recordings used are the Ivory-billed Woodpecker recordings taken by Arthur A. Allen and Peter Paul Kellogg from Cornell in 1935,

  • October 28 · 6 min

    Schrödinger’s Birds, Part 1

    Dead or alive? When critically endangered species are on the verge of extinction, there's a murky period between certainty that a species exists and certainty that it doesn't. The bird recording starting and ending this program is a Mourning Dove. No recordings of Passenger Pigeon or Carolina Parakeet exist, and the Mourning Dove's plaintive call seemed appropriate.

  • October 27 · 6 min

    So what DID we see in Florida?

    When Laura was in Florida this month, it was a family trip, not a birding one, but she saw plenty of birds.

  • October 6 · 8 min

    The Cutest Queue of All

    In a world of chaos and randomness, chickadees create order and fairness.

  • September 29 · 6 min

    September!

    September is securely in first place (in an 8-way tie), as Laura's favorite month. What makes it so special?

  • September 23 · 6 min

    About that banded female bird...

    Laura got a lot of information about that banded female Pileated Woodpecker visiting her yard this week, along with photos!

  • September 21 · 4 min

    When Humor Doesn't Land

    Some things are no laughing matter. A reader of Laura Erickson's blog, which serves as a transcript to this radio program/podcast, took legitimate offense at the post titled, "Detaining Migrants Here in Duluth."

  • September 17 · 6 min

    Detaining Migrants in Duluth--Avian Version

    The licensed government agents detaining avian migrants deal with them much more kindly than do those detaining human beings. (This one may make some listeners angry.)

  • September 15 · 7 min

    Discovering Texas with Russ

    Laura went on her first planned birding trip, the itinerary including the best birding hotspots of the area, in 1978,

  • September 9 · 6 min

    Piping Plovers nesting at Wisconsin Point!

    This summer, for the first time in almost half a century, a pair of Piping Plovers nested along Wisconsin Point in Superior. This was both parents' first nesting attempt and the nest failed, but this proves the value of recent habitat improvement at the Wisconsin Point Bird Sanctuary. The photo is of these nesting birds, taken by Mikayla Erickson of the St. Louis River Alliance.

  • September 4 · 7 min

    Botflies

    True botflies don't bother birds in Canada or the northern states, but that doesn't mean Laura hasn't been thinking about them lately.

Showing 1–20 of 44 episodes