David Allen Sibley's Blog, page 3

Distinguishing the subspecies of Redwing

Here is another recent project: I’ve been working on new and improved illustrations of Redwing for the bird guide and app, showing the differences between the two subspecies. The Redwing (Turdus iliacus) is a thrush common across Eurasia, from Iceland to Siberia. It is a very rare visitor to North America, mostly in Atlantic Canada …

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Distinguishing subspecies of Sandhill Crane

Here’s a new illustration I’ve done as part of some work on distinguishing the two subspecies groups of Sandhill Crane. Six subspecies of Sandhill Crane are generally recognized, but for field observers it’s more practical to assign birds to two subspecies groups: Lesser and Greater. The Greater subspecies group includes five of the named subspecies, …

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Variation in Pine Siskins and the so-called “green morph”

Pine Siskins – streaky relatives of goldfinches – are so distinctive as a species that we tend to overlook their considerable individual variation. Siskins are unusual among the small finches in that males and females look nearly identical. Subtle individual differences in the amount or intensity of streaking, or in overall color, have no bearing …

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A new puzzle for 2020!

On sale 17 November 2020 from Clarkson Potter – a new Backyard Birds Jigsaw Puzzle for $19.99 A 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle featuring 49 species of familiar North American birds, with original artwork by David Sibley. A fold-out poster of the puzzle image is also included!

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New Product – A ten pack of greeting cards with art and text from my newest book

A brand new line of greeting cards is now available from Earth Sky + Water. These 5 by 7 inch cards (blank inside, with envelopes) feature art and text from my newest book What It's Like To Be A Bird, with a large image on the front and brief text from the book on the back.

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Scarlet Tanagers are bright red – but this one is yellow

One of the great pleasures of birding is that you can run into something new and unexpected anytime, anywhere. This summer (June and July 2020) I’ve been birding around my local neighborhood in Deerfield, MA, and even though I’ve lived here for three years now, every day still brings new discoveries. A recent morning produced …

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A Cerulean-like song variant of Black-throated Blue Warbler

This recording includes one song of Cerulean Warbler and one of Black-throated Blue Warbler. Can you tell them apart? Distinguishing Black-throated Blue Warbler and Cerulean Warbler by song is usually not too difficult, even though both have buzzy songs with a more or less rising trend. The typical songs of both species are distinctive, and …

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Another update of coming events

I will be appearing at several virtual events in the next few weeks, celebrating the publication of my new book “What It’s Like to Be a Bird“. I hope you can connect with one or more of these! WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29 at 7pmPittsburgh Arts & Lectures, Pittsburgh, PALink: https://pittsburghlectures.org/lectur... THURSDAY, MAY 7 at 8pmMagic City Books/BookSmart …

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Updates on my new book

Ordering signed copies You can now order signed copies of “What It’s Like to Be a Bird” from my local independent bookstore, The Odyssey Bookshop. Just follow the link for information and to place an order. Events and interviews My NPR interview from Weekend Edition is now online at WGBH, along with an extended 23-minute …

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How to draw an owl – now online at Audubon

I’ve been working with Audubon to produce some drawing lessons for their kids’ activity pages during these days when we could all use some “enrichment”. The latest installment is a screech owl, and here is a time lapse animation of the whole 5 minute process. You can see the whole video, as well as a …

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