April 2024

Hot Birds: April 2024

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 00:00:16 GMT

To view the rest of the article you'll need to subscribe. Bird Observer publishes original articles on birding locations, on avian populations and natural history, on regional rarities, field notes, field records, photographs, and art work.

Thirteenth Report of the Maine Bird Records Committee

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 00:00:13 GMT

Maine’s first Hammond’s Flycatcher was well-studied on Monhegan Island October 12–18, 2023. Visible in the photograph are key characters that identify this western North American Empidonax flycatcher: proportionately large head and small bill, long projection of primaries beyond the tertials, and a noticeably long gap in spacing between the tips of the fifth and sixth primaries. Photograph by Luke Seitz, October 12, 2023.

The Thirteenth report of the Maine Bird Records Committee—hereafter ME-BRC or the committee—summarizes 67 reports involving 41 species that were evaluated and decided during 2023. The committee accepted 58 records for an acceptance rate of 87%. Although most reports were recent, the years of occurrences ranged from 1978 to 2023.

Two new species were added to the state list: Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) and Hammond’s Flycatcher (Empidonax hammondii). Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) was transferred from the main list to the list of “failed introduced species” because the few reproducing island populations are periodically augmented by humans. The total number of documented species on Maine’s state list is now 471. The official list of bird species recorded in Maine, our review procedures, and the list of members can be found at the committee’s website: http://sites.google.com/site/mainebirdrecordscommittee.

Records in this report are grouped by species; records accepted and those not accepted are listed within the same species account. Each record provides the location, county (italicized), date(s) of occurrence, names of observers or contributors, and committee record number. Documentation was provided by the observers listed or, in some cases, was obtained from publicly published websites. All reviewed materials and member comments are archived. If known, the names of finders are listed first and separated from other names by a semicolon. Photographic, video, or audio evidence reviewed is denoted by a dagger (†); written notes are denoted by an asterisk (*). As always, the committee strongly encourages written submissions even when there are photographs. Species accounts follow the current taxonomic classification and sequence adopted as of 2023 by the American Ornithological Society (list available at http://checklist.americanornithology.org/taxa/).

Thank you, William E. (Ted) Davis, Jr.—Bird Observer’s Most Prolific Author

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 00:00:11 GMT

From left to right: John Kricher, Ted Davis, and Wayne Petersen. Photograph by Betsy Davis.

For long-time readers of Bird Observer, the name Ted Davis will hardly be unfamiliar. Accordingly, at the sunset of his long and distinguished career as an ornithologist, historian, author, and educator—along with being a warm and valued friend to both authors through the years—it is a privilege and a pleasure to wish our esteemed friend and colleague nothing but the best as he retires from Bird Observer.

About Books: Writers and Artists

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 00:00:06 GMT

Field Guide to North American Flycatchers: Empidonax and Pewees
Cin-Ty Lee, illustrated by Andrew Birch. 2023. Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey.

Rare Air: Endangered Birds, Bats, Butterflies, & Bees
Sarah Kaizar with A. Scott Meiser. 2023. Mountaineers Books (Skipstone imprint): Seattle, Washington.

Listen to the Birds
Donald Kroodsma, Léna Mazilu, Yoann Guény. 2023. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York, N.Y.

The relationship between writers and the illustrators of their writing is a varied and complex one. Sometimes the writer and illustrator of a book are the same person. Thomas Bewick, Roger Tory Peterson, David Sibley, and Lars Jonsson are all well-known authors who illustrated their published works.

Some authors’ books are as remembered for the artists that illustrated them. I will always consider Sir John Tenniel’s illustrations for Lewis Carroll’s Alice books to be the definitive visual interpretation of those classics. Though many other artists since have attempted to illustrate Carroll’s books, most fall short of the detailed Victorian charm of Tenniel’s work. A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh stories are intimately connected in the reader’s imagination with the gentle and minimal drawings of E. H. Shepard. Who could imagine reading Hunter Thompson’s gonzo classic Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas without Ralph Steadman’s frenetic explosive artwork? In many cases, the author and artist knew each other before working on the book.

At other times, an illustrator is assigned to create visualizations for an author that they may not be familiar with. Sometimes an author will request a specific artist to do the illustrations, but many times today, who illustrates what book is a decision by the publisher. Well-known artists may illustrate a book by a long dead author. Gustave Doré made a career out of creating dramatic illustrations for works including “The Divine Comedy”, Orlando, and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Rockwell Kent’s noteworthy illustrations for Moby Dick are a perfect dramatic accompaniment to Melville’s singularly strange tome about an albino cetacean. In these cases, the artist’s illustrations can be appreciated separately from the text as works of art.

Below I discuss three books that represent three different relationships between writer and artist.

At a Glance: April 2024

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 00:00:02 GMT

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Mon, 01 Apr 2024 00:00:01 GMT