Jeez talk about serendipity, from @washingtonpost.com review of Bobbi Brown’s new memoir.

nypl book of the day The Feather Detective Chris Sweeney The remarkable story of the world's first forensic ornithologist, Roxie Laybourne, who broke down barriers for women, solved murders, and investigated airplane crashes with only a microscope and a few fragments of feather.

What a good cover from @science.org

If you're a fan of interesting nonfiction, learn more about Chris Sweeney's The Feather Detective, about Roxie Laybourne and the field of forensic ornithology, from our recent conversation about it at @brooklinebooksmith.bsky.social www.c-span.org/program/book...

Awesome to see The Feather Detective on this @wsj.com Best Book Reviews of August list. www.wsj.com/arts-culture... If you're into #birds #mystery #history and #truecrime, this is a book for you.

Cracking the code of the feather barbules was the most important task she'd ever been assigned, the success of which could possibly save lives and make air travel safer for everyone. @cbsweeney.bsky.social, The Feather Detective. Fabulous book about Roxie Laybourne! #SundaySentence #Booksky #birds

The Audience Award! Congratulations to @cbsweeney.bsky.social! He won this week's audience award for "She Was a Quiet Bird Expert. Then She Was Called to Investigate a Murder in Maine." at @bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/23/m...

❤️❤️❤️

"Her findings helped successfully prosecute murderers, poachers, and even a former grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, who tarred and feathered a civil rights activist." Chris Sweeney for @bostonglobe.com: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/23/m...

This is so cool. A full-page review in @science.org!

My father died last week. He spent 26 yrs in the NYPD and had *many* stories. Him being among the first responders to John Lennon’s murder was among my favorite. I’d somehow never seen this illustration before his passing.

mortal enemies

reverse heist movie where a single snake has to chase all the priests back into ireland

So awesome to see The Feather Detective on this!

New books published this week include a nostalgic graphic history of video games, a queer, complicated and hopeful novel set in Nigeria, and a biography of a forensic ornithologist.

So fortunate to work with the Audubon editors from time to time. Check out this stunning piece on some fun artifacts I came across while researching The Feather Detective (out today, plz order a copy!)

Deadly collisions: how airports try (and fail) to keep birds out of plane engines

While reporting out my book on Roxie Laybourne, I spent some time shadowing the guy at Boston Logan whose job is to keep birds out of flight paths. Excited to see it in @theguardian.com today and still thinking about how much it must hurt to get bit by an otter www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

👇 Pre-order discount for The Feather Detective (thanks @theliteratelizard.bsky.social )! If you like narrative nonfiction, women in science, true crime and birds, give it a go. I don't think you'll be disappointed. #birds #books #nonfiction

Incredible to speak with Scott Simon on Weekend Edition @npr.org about Roxie Laybourne and The Feather Detective. Listen here: www.npr.org/2025/07/19/n...

The blurbing process is pretty painful for many authors, self included. But it also allowed me to reconnect with the great Amy Stewart. So grateful so took the time to do this Q&A with me: amystewart.substack.com/p/the-feathe... #books #birds

If you live in the Providence area and like cool shit, including crazy bird-related disasters and crimes, come to Riffraff book shop next Thursday. It’s gonna be fun!

A fun & incredible review of The Feather Detective in @startribune.com !“Sweeney’s simple, elegant writing makes the technicalities of Laybourne’s work easy to understand and the sexism she dealt with infuriating. It also captures what a vivid, contradictory character she was”

👀 I spy The Feather Detective 👀

Yes! The Feather Detective makes the cut. How freaking awesome.

The fine folks at Elle name The Feather Detective one of the best books of summer and give it a stylish review. Yessss! www.elle.com/culture/book...

Coming this summer, the first biography of Roxie Laybourne, who pioneered the field of forensic ornithology and forever changed our understanding of birds and the feathers they leave behind! Preorder here: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

This is a terrific obit. "After an F5 tornado devastated parts of the region on May 3, 1999, there were survivors who painted the sides of their destroyed homes with messages like: “Thanks Gary England For Getting Us Out Alive.” www.wsj.com/us-news/clim...

Wow. Motorcycle racer strikes gull, breaks arm. Crazy! www.crash.net/rr/news/1072...

How fucking cruel. “the camera captured horrifying footage: a red-tailed hawk landing on the trap and getting snagged in its metal jaws, prosecutors said. The bird writhed in pain for more than six hours before Smith showed up, grabbed a pole from his truck, and bludgeoned the hawk”

is it time to bust out my "bigfoot is bears" photo collection again? if your mental image of a bear is a thick-furred, fat glossy male bear in autumn, you're probably not prepared for how weird their proportions can look in spring, or when walking upright, like they frequently do.

Coming this summer, the first biography of Roxie Laybourne, who pioneered the field of forensic ornithology and forever changed our understanding of birds and the feathers they leave behind! Preorder here: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

“Then the pilot got on the mic and confirmed a pigeon was on the plane, and said he had no experience with this situation,” www.straitstimes.com/world/united...

Hey you! Good Reads is giving away 10 copies of "The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem, and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne." A few hours left to enter. @publisherswkly.bsky.social says it entrances and @npr.org picked it a summer favorite. #books #birds goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

My book about Roxie Laybourne drops two months from today. If you’re interested in birds, disasters, true crime, tough women, and pioneering science, please preorder a copy of The Feather Detective here bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

***GIVEAWAY*** This signed/stamped Advance Readers Copy of TIGERS BETWEEN EMPIRES, forthcoming Nov 2025 from @fsgbooks.bsky.social! Like=1 entry, Share=1 entry, Like + Share=2 entries. Will randomly select winner on Friday, May 23, 2025. US addresses only. Preorder info: shorturl.at/OXr0Z #booksky

Holy cow, unbelievable to see The Feather Detective make the cut! Thank you @npr.org. How freaking cool. www.npr.org/2025/05/21/n...

This snowy owl at @vinsnaturecenter.bsky.social is named LaGuardia because it was rescued from the airport in 2014 after sustaining bad injuries from a “jet blast.” One lucky bird… Love VINS and the work it does. If ever in Vt, pop by and say 👋 to LaGuardia and the many other raptors in care

Pavos absolutely flexing in Medford, Mass.

this is excellent, from @audubon.org

I don't write about this in The Feather Detective, but one day while hanging around the Smithsonian's Feather ID Lab, I noticed a book about Bong Joon Ho's "Snowpiercer." Seemed out of place but turns out Roxie Laybourne inspired the costume for Minister Mason, played by Tilda Swinton

Very grateful for such a positive review! If you’re into birds, true crime, history, aviation, and all types of bizarre calamities at which feathers turned up, consider learning more about the life & work of Roxie Laybourne by pre-ordering my book: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

What a great spread design @bostonmagazine.bsky.social

“The riveting accounts of Laybourne’s biggest cases read like an avian riff on CSI, and Sweeney’s finely observed portrait of Laybourne presents her as a no-nonsense ornithologist who navigated the politics of the lab and the courtroom with equal aplomb. This entrances” Preorder to be entranced!

Weird combo

Nice @nytimes.com reporting on seemingly extreme avian challenges at S Korea’s Muan International Airport, where a Jeju Air flight crashed after striking some ducks in December, killing 179 #birdstrike nytimes.com/2025/04/15/wor…

Are dots a shape?

Doing something right.

moment of zen.

Very satisfying WSJ read about Duke’s Legacy Fund, the minimum donation for which is a million bucks. ⛹️💰💸⛹️ www.wsj.com/sports/baske...