I'm trying to spend less time on social media for the sake of my mental health BUT I thought y'all might enjoy this SciShow video that I wrote the script for, all about the ways that decoy/dummy birds are used in #ornithology. youtu.be/aSzCs_w0dhA?...

Having names for plants and animals is our starting point for interacting with nature. I think that's discouraging for a lot of people because they don't know the names for things around them (me included!) but instead why don't we just… make them up?

Political violence is bad. It usually begets more political violence. Celebrating political violence is bad. It usually encourages more political violence, against various targets. Campus shootings are bad. They make everyone on campus less safe. It's bad that what I wrote here is controversial.

The biggest scandal in US public life *ought* to be that we are the richest country in history & yet our infrastructure sucks, our transportation choices suck, our cities suck, our healthcare sucks, our public administration sucks, & in dozens of little ways, our daily lives suck.

WOS Research Award recipient Samantha Fishman's work has shown that although Chestnut-sided and Golden-winged warblers can tolerate a certain percentage of nonnative shrubs in the landscape, they both strongly prefer to forage on native shrubs. #ornithology

the worst part of every manuscript for an ornithologist, yes, worse than tough reviewers worse even than outright rejection when they typeset the paper and all the species names are lower case

Loved this @highcountrynews.org story about Motus research, and not just because researcher @andyjboyce.bsky.social is also featured in my book! www.hcn.org/articles/the...

I sent out my monthly email newsletter this morning. Random (usually bird-related) musings, book recommendations, and bird news from around the internet. Maybe subscribe if that sounds like it would interest you? buttondown.com/rheisman/arc...

This is what being a cancer survivor is like. (Context: when I was diagnosed w/ lymphoma in 2020, enlarged lymph nodes in my sternum were causing some tenderness.) "Oh that's weird the area around my sternum aches OH F#&% MY CANCER MUST BE BACK S#!%—wait, I did pushups yesterday, my pecs are sore."

Tfw someone asks you to smile for the camera. 🪶

I really love Snail Kites. They have incredible bills that are adapted to eating Apple Snails and they have those intense red eyes. At Laguna de Sonso, Valle de Cauca #Colombia #birds #nature

I sent out my monthly email newsletter this morning. Random (usually bird-related) musings, book recommendations, and bird news from around the internet. Maybe subscribe if that sounds like it would interest you? buttondown.com/rheisman/arc...

Oh word? Birds-of-paradise are just fluorescing left and right now? Goddamn! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Currently reading: What If We Get It Right by Ayanna Elizabeth Johnson. Enjoying this surprisingly uplifting book examining what the future could look like if humanity can come together to stop the worst effects of climate change. www.getitright.earth

Hello everyone! I am working on a story for The Guardian about how Chicagoans are preparing for the possible arrival of federal troops, following President Trump's statements on the matter. Right now, I'm looking for residents, community organizers, business owners, and other folks to talk to!

As everyone waits with bated breath for some announcement from the White House that may or may not be very significant, I am reminded of something @sarahkendzior.bsky.social wrote in a post a few days ago: "Do not let Donald Trump be the most important person in your life."

Bad news for these dancing birds: The Trump administration released draft plans today stripping away protections for the greater sage grouse on about 50 million acres of public lands across the West. More info: https://bit.ly/4p1TKaz

Currently reading: What If We Get It Right by Ayanna Elizabeth Johnson. Enjoying this surprisingly uplifting book examining what the future could look like if humanity can come together to stop the worst effects of climate change. www.getitright.earth

Hummingbird Feels Like Fucking Idiot After Seeing Other Bird Gliding https://theonion.com/hummingbird-feels-like-fucking-idiot-after-seeing-other-bird-gliding/

Officially our air quality is within the yellow/moderate range right now, but there is a visible smoky haze in the air, and I don't think it's a coincidence that I feel tired and gross today and have heard several people around town mention that they're feeling the same way. Ugh.

#TimelineCleanse!

The scope of this new analysis is pretty astonishing. The researchers used backyard birdsong recordings spanning 500 species across multiple continents. 🪶 www.npr.org/2025/08/21/n...

Squeaky told me to tell you that you did great surviving the day today and that you deserve gentleness and rest

Well, I don't know about y'all but my plans for the evening are to go to my weekly volunteer shift at the local homeless shelter and write some @votefwd.bsky.social letters during downtime while I'm there. Cheers.

Guys, I have a special & unusual request today. My cousin Sean is a union bus driver here in Los Angeles who was just FIRED in retaliation for saying he would not let masked ICE agents onto his bus to abduct riders. The fight is on to get his job back, you can help: actionnetwork.org/letters/send...

Happy Monday from this tiny garter snake who showed up in my little backyard water feature recently and has no idea who the president is.

Don’t be afraid to share your writing. There are six Sharknado movies.

Have you ever been judged this harshly by a bird? Curve-billed thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre) from southern Nevada. Rare to the area but a couple individuals are regularly spotted. The thrasher diversity in the North American Southwest is incredible. #birds

Soooooo it occurred to me recently that October 1 will be the five-year anniversary of my finishing cancer treatment (a big deal, because after five years in the clear your risk of recurrence goes down a lot for most cancers). How should I celebrate?

My favorite part of this story is that the researcher was originally trying to study the birds' leg movements as they took off from the water, but he ended up with a bunch of video clips of birds pooping, so he shifted his research accordingly. 😜 www.scientificamerican.com/article/thes...

I enjoyed appearing on the Coast Range Radio podcast recently to talk birds, migration, and conservation! coastrangeradio.buzzsprout.com/1046044/epis...

The Tower of London has a long and notorious history of murderous political intrigue, dungeons, and famous beheadings. And for more than 300 years, the tower has also been home to a set of royally maintained ravens. birdnote.org/podcasts/bir...

Happy #WoodpeckerWednesday! #RedbelliedWoodpecker #redbelliedwoodpeckers #woodpecker #woodpeckers #birdinginflorida #floridaphotography #birdwatching #birding #birdingphotography #birdphotography #birds #bird #🪶 #nature #wildlife #floridawildlifephotography #canonR5 #shotoncanon

I enjoyed appearing on the Coast Range Radio podcast recently to talk birds, migration, and conservation! coastrangeradio.buzzsprout.com/1046044/epis...

Currently reading: The Feather Detective by Chris Sweeney. You guys this book is SO GOOD. A quirky, badass woman scientist AND arcane tales of the development of ornithological methods? I LOVE IT. www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Fe...

Did a seagull write these

The Horned Grebe is a petite picture of poise and perfection. Not a feather out of place, she glides and dives with the grace of a ballet dancer. Until, that is, the children arrive. 🧵🪶

Currently reading: The Feather Detective by Chris Sweeney. You guys this book is SO GOOD. A quirky, badass woman scientist AND arcane tales of the development of ornithological methods? I LOVE IT. www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Fe...

Not to add to the discourse, but… It’s ‘toe the line,’ not ‘tow the line.’ It’s ‘free rein,’ and not ‘free reign.’ It’s ‘eke out,’ not ‘eek out.’ It’s ‘sleight of hand,’ not ‘slight of hand.’ It's ‘Anchors aweigh,’ and not ‘Anchor's away!’

Bird abilities I wish I had. Buy my new book here: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/rosem...

Goals for this week: Write the two BirdNote scripts I'm under contract for; fix the irrigation at the school garden I manage; make sure my kid has a great first day of second grade. Also make time for some anti-fascist activism. But, y'know, life goes on in the meantime.

This is 100% where the idea of jackalopes came from, right...?

It's my baby cousin's first year as an elementary school teacher. I am so excited because she is teaching at the same school for Indigenous kids my auntie taught at for like 30 years. Can y'all help me clear her Amazon wishlist?

18 Things to Do for Yourself, Wildlife, and the Planet Before Summer’s End • by me today for @therevelator.org therevelator.org/summer-recha...

Well this is wild (and cool!): birds may have a previously unrecognized ability to switch sexes. #ornithology www.science.org/content/arti...

Bluesky, help me: What are some popular science books from the past few years on "pest" animals, "boring" animals, invasive species, things like that? (I already know about Bethany Brookshire's book!)

I usually tell people that *so far*, habitat loss, not climate change, has been the major driver of bird population declines... but now we're starting to get analyses directly connecting bird declines to extreme weather events fueled by climate change. 🪶 theconversation.com/70-years-of-...

Turns out that writing a fair review of a book that I feel distinctly "meh" about is a lot harder than writing a review of a book I love.