birds

A brown and white owl perches on a branch.

How to bar barred owls

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Barred owls and northern spotted owls have a lot in common: Both are brown-and-white owls; both are denizens of mature forests. The spotted owl hoots a four-note call, while the slightly larger barred owl hoots, “Who cooks for you?!” But …

Steller’s jay

Programs reduce densities of birds preying on threatened marbled murrelets

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Research funded by Save the Redwoods League suggests that programs designed to help reduce jay populations in areas where marbled murrelets nest, including old-growth coast redwood forests, will give these threatened seabirds a better chance at successful reproduction.

A woman stands at the base of a large coast redwood tree

A guide to nature journaling

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To be a naturalist or an artist—or of course both, like Clay Anderson—requires paying attention; to the world around you and how you respond to it. Nature journaling is one of the ways you can do that.

A pair of marbled murrelets, small birds with black and white feathers, float together on the ocean.

A seabird that lives in the redwoods?

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Of all the plants and animals that occupy the coast redwood ecosystem, among the more fascinating is the marbled murrelet, a brown and white seabird that’s a little bigger than a robin. This otherwise nondescript bird – called “fog larks” …

Barred Owls – Should They Stay or Should They Go?

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The recent winner of our photo contest photographed a barred owl sitting on the branch of a redwood tree – an image difficult to capture as owls are more often heard than seen. But this image raises the question of …

What Makes a Blue Bird Blue?

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In the gray-green dim of the redwood forest, a flash of blue ignites the dusky understory.  A Steller’s jay alights upon a tanoak limb, chattering madly.  The brightness of its feathers seems incongruous with the dark of the forest, a …

Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana). Photo by ingridtaylar, Flickr Creative Commons

Birds Matter Too

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Audubon Magazine (March-April 2013 issue) reminds us “Why Birds Matter.”   Of course birds have intrinsic value:  to watch an eagle in flight is a thrill; to hear the whistle-like song of a marbled murrelet echo through the dark forest is …