Living Bird Autumn 2021—Table of Contents

Feature Articles

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  A Long-Awaited Homecoming for Peregrine Falcons in the Finger Lakes

  A half-century after DDT put them on the Endangered Species List, Peregrine Falcons finally returned to their storied aerie at Taughannock Falls, New York. We were there to bear witness.

  Story and photos by Andy Johnson

  Montage: a young Peregrine Falcon and Taughannock Falls.
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  A Miracle of Abundance as 20,000 Whimbrel Take Refuge on a Tiny Island

  Vast flocks of Whimbrels were thought to be a thing of the past, until a wildlife biologist discovered nearly 20,000 of these declining shorebirds on a tiny South Carolina island.

  Story by Scott Weidensaul; Photos by Andy Johnson

  Whimbrels. pelicans, and more take to the sky at Deveaux Bank, South Carolina.
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  Wildness on a Whim: Reflections on Whimbrel in the South Carolina Lowcountry

  Essay by J. Drew Lanham

  Whim\(h)wim\ noun: a sudden desire or change of mind, especially one that is unusual or unexplained. Whimbrel by Andy Johnson.
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  How Songbirds Evolved a Sweet Tooth

  Many songbirds seek out sweet foods like fruit and nectar, a taste their dinosaur ancestors couldn’t sense. Now we’re learning exactly how songbirds made the switch to sweetness.

  By Pat Leonard

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  Patterns in Nuthatch Migration Emerge from Citizen-Science Data

  Long known in Red-breasted Nuthatches, irruptive movements are beginning to be detectable in their close relative the White-breasted Nuthatch as well, thanks to citizen-science data.

  By Marc Devokaitis

  White-breasted Nuthatch. Photo by Zane Shantz/Macaulay Library.
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  2021 Annual Report