Living Bird Spring 2021—Table of Contents

Feature Articles

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  The “Remarkable and Persistently Stimulating” John Fitzpatrick

  The Cornell Lab’s longtime director prepares to step down, but not step away, from a life’s work dedicated to birds. We take a look back at his long and influential career.

  By Scott Weidensaul

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  Photo Essay: Finding Pristine Moments in New Jersey’s Urban Landscape

  Even in the U.S.’s most densely populated state, forested pockets can transform into sylvan refuges. One bird photographer made it his quest to find the avian gems hidden across New Jersey.

  By Ray Hennessy

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  Is Bird Migration Getting More Dangerous?

  Disappearing stopover habitat, more skyscrapers, stronger storms—the biannual flights for migratory birds are getting riskier. But scientists are working to make migration safer.

  By Marc Devokaitis

  Violet-green Swallow by Jhoneil Centeno/Macaulay Library; clouds by Kolganova Daria/Shutterstock.
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  Brown-headed Nuthatches Return to Missouri’s Ozark Mountains After 100 Years

  Habitat restoration and prescribed fire have made the Ozarks hospitable to the squeaky nuthatches for the first time in a century. All they needed was a helping hand to get there.

  By Greg Breining

  Brown-headed Nuthatch by Noppadol Paothong/Missouri Department of Conservation.
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  The Race to Save African Vultures

  A dozen species of African vultures are in population freefall—hunted for cultural uses or felled by poisons meant for lions. Conservationists and local people are scrambling to stem the damage.

  By Scott Weidensaul