It may be the dead of winter now, but spring migration will be here before you know it. Get ready by learning your Empidonax flycatchers. You'll have to put time into learning their calls, because learning their field marks may prove useless in a lot of cases. And during the spring, you can bet they'll be singing!
This handy and funny mnemonic design lists the most pesky Empids: Alder Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher, Acadian Flycatcher, and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Get these down in time and you won't have to list any Empidonax sp. the entire year! Just remember ALWAY, or wear this shirt on your spring birding trips to keep them straight.
Shown here on a unisex sweatshirt, this fun birder design is available on a variety of different apparel styles and other gift items. See some more ideas below.
Can you believe it's been over 15 years since the Ivory-billed Woodpecker went from being "probably extinct" to "rediscovered"? The species made headlines back in April 2005 when experts from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology reported the discovery of at least one male Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the Big Woods of Arkansas. In the following years, expeditions were mounted and volunteers sought definitive proof... which was never produced. In late 2021 and early 2022, the bird was in the headlines again... for the same reason. Still, difinitive proof is elusive, but there are still some that hold out hope that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker still lives in the wild. This continuing saga makes this species a Bird I'd Like to Find.
Mnemonics are memory aids. To help remember bird songs and calls, sometimes birdwatchers use mnemoics, or phrases that sound like the bird sounds. Often these phrases are funny made up sayings that help jog the memory while also tickling the funny bone. Here are some funny t-shirts for birders featuring memorable bird song mnemonics.