Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

Without doubt some of my favorite pieces of American wildlife art are the shorebird and waterfowl decoys produced during the market hunting days during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The dedication to the craft that would eventually turn into an essential piece of Americana was developed according to the needs of those hunters. However, the destructive nature of market hunting took its toll on many wild animal and bird populations, and in some cases, lead to the extinction of several prominent flocking species such as the Eskimo Curlew ( Numenius borealis ) and the Passenger Pigeon ( Ectopistes migratorius ). The legacy of the tools used by those market hunters can be found in the decoys now considered to be collectors items and icons of American shooting and hunting history. Several examples of A. Elmer Crowell's work including Yellowlegs ( Tringa spp. ) and Solitary Sandpipers ( T. solitaria ) Nowadays, those old decoys are more likely to be found on the mantlepiece than i...

The bird world is filled with species that beguile and amaze us with their plumages, displays, flight styles, and call notes. They range from the unusual Wrybill ( Anarhynchus frontalis ) with its right hand facing bill to the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock ( Rupicola peruvianus ) with their vibrant orange plumage and crest to the majesty of the Whooping Crane ( Grus americana ) that continues to recover despite the daunting odds that it faces in its future survival. Those daunting odds are more apparent these days as many species of birds are endangered with a few that are even critical. The little guy in front of the Curlew Sandpiper( Calidris ferruginea ) is the one who needs our help! One of those species is the Spoon-billed Sandpiper ( Eurynorhynchus pygmeus ), a critically endangered shorebird that breeds in the Siberian Arctic and is feared to number at less than 100 breeding pairs! I recently became enamored and concerned about the plight of the SBSA (alpha code being used for co...