Laura Erickson's For the Birds

793 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago - ★★★★★ - 91 ratings

"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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Episodes

Here come the chickens!

April 18, 2024 04:00 - 5 minutes - 7.19 MB

If chickens found their way to Hawaii on their own, things would have worked out okay for everyone. Unfortunately, they brought humans along, too.

The Sapsucker–Hummingbird Connection

April 17, 2024 04:00 - 5 minutes - 8.14 MB

During spring migration, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds usually arrive a couple of weeks after Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers do, for a very good reason.

Hawaii before chickens and humans arrived

April 16, 2024 04:00 - 5 minutes - 8.26 MB

Millions of years ago, Hawaii was off to a rocky start.

Chickens, Part 1.5: Kin of Chickens

April 11, 2024 04:00 - 5 minutes - 8.28 MB

The rules of counting non-native birds are not always consistent.

Chickens, Part I: Domestication

April 10, 2024 04:00 - 5 minutes - 8.01 MB

The most abundant bird on the planet, feeding billions of humans every day, is the chicken. Laura talks about how they became domesticated and some genetic differences between domestic birds and their wild ancestor, the Red Junglefowl. The recording used in this program is of a wild Red Junglefowl in India, recorded and contributed to Xeno-Canto by Lars Lachmann.

Solar Eclipse!

April 08, 2024 04:00 - 5 minutes - 8.32 MB

Laura remembers a wonderful eclipse from three decades ago.

Trip Guilt and Guilt Trips

April 05, 2024 04:00 - 5 minutes - 7.48 MB

Is using energy always the same as squandering it?

Redpolls!

April 03, 2024 04:00 - 5 minutes - 7.6 MB

Along with Duluth's spring blizzard came redpolls! (In the background throughout, the sound is a recording of the redpolls at Laura's feeder made this past Saturday, March 30.)

Jim Baker Announces a New Product!

April 01, 2024 04:00 - 4 minutes - 6.04 MB

New for the traveling birder!

Flaco: Post Mortem

March 29, 2024 04:00 - 5 minutes - 8.28 MB

A post-mortem established that Flaco, the famous Eurasian Eagle-Owl whom a vandal released from the Central Park Zoo, was carrying lethal amounts of three anti-coagulants, a pigeon herpesvirus, and even a toxic metabolite of the pesticide DDT. Is anyone actually "free" if they have no alternative but to eat poisoned food?

Stopping by Peabody Street on a Snowy Morning

March 27, 2024 04:00 - 4 minutes - 6.27 MB

Laura waxes poetic about a poet.

Separation Anxiety

March 26, 2024 04:00 - 4 minutes - 6.39 MB

It's hard watching children, or a Pileated Woodpecker, move on to independence.

Every Day Is a Gift, Part 3: The Big Island

March 25, 2024 04:00 - 5 minutes - 7.84 MB

The second half of Laura's trip to Hawaii was just as wonderful as the first.

Every Day Is a Gift, Part 2: Kauaʻi

March 21, 2024 04:00 - 5 minutes - 7.09 MB

Laura's trip to Hawaii kept getting better.

Every Day Is a Gift, Part I: Oahu

March 20, 2024 04:00 - 6 minutes - 8.41 MB

Laura's trip to Hawaii was wonderful, every single day.

Our Changing World

March 01, 2024 05:00 - 6 minutes - 8.77 MB

The only constant is change, for better and for worse.

Why I Live in Duluth

February 29, 2024 05:00 - 4 minutes - 6.23 MB

What drew Laura and her husband Russ to Duluth in 1981?

February Update

February 28, 2024 05:00 - 4 minutes - 6.95 MB

How can it be spring before winter even arrives?

Death of a New York Celebrity: Flaco the Owl

February 27, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 8.18 MB

Flaco the Eurasian Eagle-Owl whose enclosure in the Central Park Zoo was vandalized, leading to his escape on February 2, 2023, died Friday.

Mission Accomplished: Fieldfare!!

February 23, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 7.6 MB

Laura headed back to Prentice Park in Ashland on Wednesday and this time saw (and got VERY bad photos) of the Fieldfare.

Chickadee with a Deformed Bill

February 22, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 8.34 MB

On Tuesday, Laura suddenly noticed a chickadee with a badly overgrown, crossed bill at her feeder.

Fieldfare: The One That Got Away

February 20, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 8.08 MB

Last week, an incredibly rare vagrant from Eurasia turned up in Ashland, Wisconsin, sending Laura and Erik Bruhnke on a wild goose chase.

Preparing for a Birding Trip

February 15, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 8.01 MB

Preparing for a trip can start the fun weeks before I leave. (The accompanying photo is a Nene [Hawaiian Goose] taken by Russ while we were in Hawaii in 2000.)

Superb Owl Sunday

February 14, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 8.31 MB

Laura's annual celebration of Superb Owl Sunday was short on birds but did involve her first sighting of Girl Scout Cookies for 2024.

A Matter of Balance

February 09, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 7.96 MB

Laura's was having severe dizzy spells, but they're gone now that a physical therapist showed her "the Epley maneuver." Bird ears have the same structures as ours only with an even more sophisticated design. Do they ever get those dizzy spells?

Warm Winter

February 06, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 7.66 MB

Mild weather may seem good for birds, but several issues complicate it.

So it goes....

February 01, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 7.53 MB

In the 38 years since Laura started producing For the Birds, many bad things have not gotten better.

Brooding over Cicadas

January 25, 2024 05:00 - 6 minutes - 9.05 MB

This spring, both the 17-year "Great Northern Brood" cicadas and the 13-year "Great Southern Brood" will emerge from underground. These innocuous insects cause absolutely no damage, but their noise is astonishingly loud, so many people over-react. The pesticides people used during the "Great Eastern Brood" emergence in 2021 are believed to have killed a lot of birds.

More about the Golden-winged Warbler

January 23, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 7.36 MB

The American Birding Association's Bird of the Year for 2024 is one of the rarest birds not listed as endangered or threatened.

Warblers!

January 18, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 7.98 MB

For the first time, the American Birding Association named a warbler its Bird of the Year.

Ancient Murrelets!

January 11, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 8.24 MB

Why have so many Ancient Murrelets, who belong in the northern Pacific Ocean, turned up in the Great Lakes, and even in Tennessee, in late 2023? We may never know. (The accompanying photo is of the Two Harbors bird, taken by Erik Bruhnke on December 9, 2023.)

Starting 2024 Right!

January 08, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 7.27 MB

Laura spent last Wednesday birding in the Sax-Zim Bog with Erik Bruhnke. Highlights were a Great Gray Owl and a snowshoe hare.

Happy 2024

January 02, 2024 05:00 - 5 minutes - 7.9 MB

Laura's first bird of the year was a Pileated Woodpecker. In addition to enjoying her backyard birds, she's preparing for her trip to Hawaii next month, by studying the birds and getting herself back in shape for the adventure.

A Promising New Year

December 29, 2023 05:00 - 5 minutes - 7.91 MB

Laura cancelled an exciting trip for this coming February, but is doing well enough that she cancelled her cancellation.

Birding on a Warmish December Day

December 13, 2023 05:00 - 5 minutes - 7.62 MB

Laura's surgery was successful and she's back looking at, and photographing, birds!

Birding on a Cold November Day

December 01, 2023 05:00 - 3 minutes - 4.83 MB

Laura went birding in northern Wisconsin Saturday.

Toddler-Approved Bird Books, Part 3b

November 30, 2023 05:00 - 6 minutes - 8.76 MB

When we read books to toddlers, we're not only enlarging their picture of the world--we're enlarging out own.

Toddler-Approved Bird Books, Part 3a

November 29, 2023 05:00 - 5 minutes - 8.39 MB

Reading to babies and toddlers has a great many benefits for us adults as well as the wee ones.

Florida Scrub-Jays, Part 3: To Feed or Not to Feed

November 27, 2023 05:00 - 5 minutes - 7.78 MB

Laura talks about the pros and cons of feeding Florida Scrub-Jays, and why it's best to follow the current anti-feeding guidelines.

Thanksgiving 2023

November 23, 2023 05:00 - 7 minutes - 10.3 MB

Laura has a lot to be thankful for today.

Let's Talk Turkey

November 22, 2023 05:00 - 5 minutes - 8.41 MB

Wild Turkeys are splendid birds, but maybe their introduction into areas where they were not historically found wasn't a good idea.

Toddler-Approved Books, Part 2: Identification Guides

November 17, 2023 05:00 - 6 minutes - 8.5 MB

Field guides and bird song books help children to recognize and name the birds around them, and that's a Good Thing.

Toddler-Approved Bird Books

November 15, 2023 05:00 - 4 minutes - 8.73 MB

Must a book be entirely about birds to qualify? Laura doesn't think so. The books Walter is most enjoying right now are in the "Monkey with a Toolbelt" series, and Laura says they can help us teach the important role that birds play in our daily lives.