Natural History Journal

It would not be difficult to convince me that there is something beautiful about every bird, but in my opinion, a handful of species that arrive in or pass through California's Great Central Valley during spring migration are particularly gorgeous.   May is the magical month in the calendar of every North American birder, when spring migration reaches its peak and brilliantly colored migratory birds return from a winter spent in the neotropics of Central and South America. Male Lazuli Bunting These "neotropical migrants," as they are known to birders and ornithologists, span a wide range of songbird families, but some of the most colorful (and thereby most beloved by birders) are members of the cardinal family, Cardinalidae, which includes New World buntings, grosbeaks and tanagers.    Male Lazuli Buntings are a brilliant, almost turquoise blue, with rusty-red chests and prominent white wingbars.  Females are more drab in color, but still easily recognizable by ...

On the dry, desolate, rocky slopes of remote desert regions across the western U.S. there lives a bird known to some as... the "devil bird."   To others, it is more properly known as the Chukar.  And aren't they cheeky little critters! If a Chukar could give cheek...  The Chukar's name derives from its unique call, a sort of clucking sound that suggests its near kinship to other game birds, including grouse, partridge, pheasant, turkey, and - you guessed it - Red Junglefowl, the original wild ancestor of the domestic chicken.   Peeky cheeky Chukar (the children's book that you didn't know needed to be written) While Chukars tend to be quite vocal, they can be difficult to find in the vastness of their arid, sandy habitats.  Their soft gray and tan coloration blends in beautifully with the surrounding desert, and these birds are surprisingly agile on their feet, quickly scrambling up rocky hillsides to evade predators - including those of the two-legged...