Hey all, I’m going to be doing a webinar this month! I’ll be leading you through several of my past illustrations done for The Institute for Bird Populations’ publications and outreach, and will discuss some of the benefits of scientific illustration over the use of photographs. I will also demonstrate some of the my process for creating digital artwork, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how these illustrations are made.
This webinar is free, but in order to get the link, registration is required! Hope to see you there!
The White Stork is the national bird of Ukraine. Prints of this illustration will be available at the Whitespace Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland on April 6 from 6:30-9 pm. All proceeds will be donated to Ukraine.
Hey folks! Birdwatcher, that board game I illustrated and posted about nonstop during its kickstarter, is now up for preorder! If you missed the kickstarter, here’s your chance to get a copy for yourself - literally, if you like, as it includes a solo mode! Zakir, the developer, really thought of everything.
I have an early copy that we used during playtesting in the development period, and it’s super fun to play, with a variety of different modes and difficulty levels and tons of bonus cards you can use to change it up. Check it out!
MeetBrevirostruavis macrohyoideus! This Enantiornithine bird is notable for the hyoid structure which indicates it likely had a long tongue, similar to today’s woodpeckers. Here it uses that tongue to lick up small insects from early flowering plants, and maybe a bit of pollen too.
Yessss! Finally, I get to share the illustrations I did for Casey Youngflesh and his Ph.D research! Go check out Youngflesh et al. 2022 for the details, but in short, he used a whole lot of bird banding data (from The Institute for Bird Populations’ Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship program) to demonstrate differences in wing shape and body size within species, and how those things are actually changing in response to climate change (as the world gets warmer, birds get smaller). Crazy stuff!
Hey all! If you missed my live webinar, it’s now available on youtube! Learn a bit about how illustration is used in science, take a tour through a bunch of work I’ve done for IBP, and stay tuned at the end for a brief photoshop demo and some Q&A.
I recently finished a really fun private commission! These are speculative hybrids - Cedar Waxwing crossed with Scarlet and Western tanagers. This could probably never happen in reality, but it’s so fun to imagine what the resulting bird could look like if it ever did!
Ughhhh. HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) has made it to Michigan backyard flocks. It’s still across the state from me but that won’t last, and it’s been found in backyard flocks in several other states now as well. AI is a flock eradicator; if any of your birds get it, the whole flock must be culled and there’s a wait period before you can start over.
PLEASE bring in your bird feeders for the next few months to discourage birds from gathering together.
Even if you don’t have outdoor birds like me, you can help protect flock birds in your area by removing feeders and bird baths etc from your yard. This will help to slow the spread to flocks like mine.
If you are in the USA and have flock birds
Bring them in if you can. If you only have a couple, set them up indoors if you can. If you’re like me and you can’t, do your best to move food and water sources into the coops where wild birds won’t see them. You can buy bird prevention netting to wrap your run in, and tarp the top of it to prevent falling excrement from reaching your birds as wild birds pass overhead.
It should go without saying, but I’m gonna say it. You should also avoid going to places where others have birds (like auctions, swap meets, visiting farms or friends that have them), or allowing anyone that’s been where there are birds to visit your property. If you must have visitors, a 10% bleach solution in a tub for them to step in is the bare minimum of biosecurity so they don’t track it in on their shoes.
There are tests for Avian Influenza, which can be done without killing the birds. If you are concerned your birds may be showing symptoms of AI (sudden deaths, decrease in egg production, decrease in water intake, or other illness symptoms), you should contact your state agricultural department (in Michigan, MSU ag department and MDARD handles this kind of stuff, not sure for other states) and inquire about what steps to take to have testing done. They will be able to advise you on what to do.
Good luck to those in states where this is moving around widely now. I hope everyone’s flocks stay safe. Please feel free to add resources for your state if you know them. Many states offer free AI testing!
For people wondering YES if you have exotic birds like parrots this is still something to be worried about. And i would follow Kedreeva’s advice
Oh yes, waterfowl and poultry are the most sensitive to this, but it’s avianinfluenza. It’s been found in plenty of songbirds/passerines, as well as the birds of prey that eat them, and there’s zero reason why psittacines are excluded except that most of them live inside houses.
If you do have completely indoor birds already (like parrots or pigeons or finches) then you need to be leaving your shoes at the door (preferably stepping into a bleach footbath with those shoes before removing them), not allowing your birds down onto the floor (and cleaning floors regularly with something to disinfect), and not allowing your birds outside until this passes, which could be months. You also should not be mixing equipment between enclosures, and doing your best to keep equipment clean and sanitized.
This has been steadily progressing across the US as birds migrate. A small farm in upstate NY just had to cull their entire flock of 400. Hundreds of thousands of meat birds at facilities around the US have had to be culled. Turkey farms have had to cull tens of thousands. McMurray Hatchery just lost half their heritage breed flocks to a positive test at one of their larger breeding facilities. There are a half dozen cases in Michigan, getting closer to me. Iowa has begun a blanket cull radius where any flock within 2 miles of an infected flock must be culled, positive or not, to prevent it jumping.
New cases and the major culls that follow in their wake, are being reported daily, and this is still just starting. Migratory season doesn’t end until the middle-end of May. April has barely started. The total death toll so far is upwards of 15 million birds, and that’s going to continue to go up.
Please, please, please. Protect your birds, protect the birds around you. I am begging you to bring your birds in if you can; they will not like it but at least they will be alive to not like it. I posted this originally when I thought we wouldn’t be able to coop everyone, but I have made sacrifices in order to do so since, because this is getting very bad.
Stay safe. My thoughts are with everyone’s feathered kids.
(Current as of April 6th, 2022)
Reblogging to add that there is a current and often-updated map of HPAI case locations in the USA on the USGS site. States that do not currently have cases still need to be wary, particularly the closer you are to states that HAVE had cases.
This is the map as of today, 6 April 2022:
I also want to tack this information on to this main post:
HPAI is transmissible to cats and dogs!
Studies done in 2015/16 and since have found that cats and dogs can pick up this virus from infected meat (as in when they eat wild birds they have caught) as well as through respiratory transmission. Cats and dogs are not generally susceptible to LPAI, the normal strain in north america, but both were found to be susceptible to HPAI.
So, in addition to removing bird feeders and keeping any pet birds on lockdown as much as possible, folks with cats and dogs need to be aware of the dangers to their animals as well. Cat owners should keep their cats indoors or allow them out in covered catios only (you’ll have to read up and decide if leash time is safe, I haven’t looked into it) until migratory season ends. Folks with dogs should not allow dogs off-leash outdoors where they might be able to catch birds or touch bird carcasses. While HPAI mainly causes death in waterfowl and land fowl, songbirds are a reservoir species and can transmit it to mammals interacting with them or their carcasses or feces.
Please be careful out there. This is going to get worse before it gets better.
I know this is already long, but I’m adding on a list of resources and prevention methods for if you own flock birds (poultry, waterfowl, game fowl etc)
Searching the web for “HPAI guidelines 2022” brings up a bunch of links to state agricultural departments pages regarding HPAI in individual states, which should have info about who to contact and what to do if you think you have a positive case. You can find a lot of official scientific info with quick searches, because this is very serious.
Prevention Info for Backyard Flocks
Coop your birds if possible, inside of the entirely enclosed wooden part
If your coop is too small, cover the top of your run completely with waterproof tarp to prevent fecal matter from entering the run. Ensure it is able to drain 2+ feet away from the wall of your run, so that it doesn’t just infect your soil anyway
Do not allow free ranging. They’re gonna be mad, but they’ll be alive to be mad.
If your run has anything other than ½" hardware cloth for wire, wrap it in ½ mesh bird netting to exclude wild birds from getting in.
Sanitize footwear in 10% bleach before entering any enclosure. Bleach solution must be made daily as it degrades fast, contact kill time is usually anywhere from 3-10 minutes. Alternately, keep footwear exclusive to the run in a bin just outside the run, and use those only inside the run. Do not share footwear between enclosures.
Sanitize equipment with 10% bleach
Do not share equipment between coops if you have more than one
Do not allow visitors on your property; if you must, have them park as far from your birds as they can, and sanitize their footwear in 10% solution before allowing them to travel your property.
Do not visit properties or events which will have birds
Do not bring in new birds. If new birds must be brought in, follow quarantine procedures; 30 days isolation away from your flock, perform their chores last, followed by introducing 1 of your current flock to the quarantine area for 2 weeks. (though if new arrivals are not dead in the first week, they likely don’t have HPAI, as it kills within the first 3 days of infection… but quarantine is always a good thing because birds can have lots of nasty diseases).
Keep an eye out for signs of disease, and contact your designated state department to have testing done on any sudden deaths in your flock. Signs of HPAI in poultry can include sudden death; lack of energy, appetite, and coordination; purple discoloration or swelling of various body parts; diarrhea; nasal discharge; coughing; sneezing; and reduced egg production, or soft-shelled or misshapen eggs.
Even if you don’t have any confirmed cases in your state, consider at least making a plan for what you’re going to do if it heads your way or pops up nearby. Being prepared makes this a LOT easier to deal with.
I’m going to bed. If you have questions, try a search engine first. Right now this post contains basically everything, and links to find out anything the post is missing.
· ALERT: We’ve all heard by now about this dangerous piece of legislation that just passed the house and could effect everyone who keeps a pet in America, not just reptile people.
Tomorrow night at 7 PM CST I will be LIVE with Phil Goss of USARK and Ryan and Erica McVeigh of VivTech products to discuss what this new legislation is, how dangerous it is, and how it impacts herpetoculture, zoos and scientists, and ordinary pet keepers alike. We will take your questions and concerns and let you know what you can do to help. JOIN US at 7PM Feb. 9th exclusively at
A last-minute amendment to the COMPETES Act, H.R. 4521, was slipped in, presumably to avoid attention and pushback from the millions of Americans who will be affected, and to bypass congressional hearings. The language creates a major change to the provisions of the Lacey Act that regulate species deemed by US Fish & Wildlife Service to be injurious. While promoted under the guise of protecting the country from invasive species, the true goal of the legislative change is to ban as much of the wildlife trade as possible. Many of the organizations pushing this change oppose keeping animals in zoos, public aquariums, research facilities, and sometimes even as pets. While these organizations do not have the public support to implement their agenda outright, they have been effective in hijacking otherwise legitimate initiatives to achieve their ideological goals quietly, piece by piece.
Currently, the Lacey Act allows US Fish & Wildlife Service to promulgate rules that list species that could be injurious “to human beings, to the interests of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, or to wildlife or the wildlife resources of the United States.” Every state in the US also has legal and regulatory mechanisms for banning species that could cause harm to native species and habitats. The current federal Lacey Act list, and most state lists, are often referred to as “Black Lists.” Any species on the list is prohibited, while any species not on the list is allowed to be imported into the respective jurisdiction, sometimes with stipulations such as permit or health certificate requirements. This method of regulation is often regarded as best regulatory practice because it allows jurisdictions to prevent unwanted environmental and health threats that are relevant to their region without being overly burdensome to organizations, businesses, and individuals.
The language in the COMPETES Act would change the Lacey Act list to what is often referred to as a “White List.” If the bill passes, only species that go through an administrative rulemaking process and are found not to be a risk or an injurious species would be allowed to be imported into the United States. Any species not listed would be presumed to be injurious and would be banned from import. All species would be in essence regarded as guilty until proven innocent.
There are multiple problems with taking this regulatory approach.
First, it is impossible to prove a negative. Meeting the burden of proof to show a species would not be injurious is onerous and will require significant time and financial resources. Navigating the petition and listing process will be next to impossible for the average person, not to mention the problems in overcoming any subsequent legal challenges to listings.
The Lacey Act is a federal law, meaning if a species could be injurious anywhere in the United States including its territories and possessions, it could be considered injurious. Due to the vast differences in climate and habitats, effectively regulating potentially invasive species in Ohio or Minnesota requires evaluating drastically different criteria than in Florida or Hawaii or Puerto Rico. However, the Lacey Act is inflexible and leaves no room for more localized regulations. If a species could be a threat in south Florida, it is deemed to be a threat in Minnesota as well. Therefore, rules to prevent invasive species are most effective when implemented at the state level and not as a one size fits all approach for the entirety of the country.
“White Lists” also create enforcement problems. With a “Black List,” law enforcement primarily needs to be able to identify protected and banned species. Even in these cases, law enforcement can have difficulty and federal regulations ban imports of some species solely based on similarity of appearance to another protected or banned species. The only purpose of these bans are regulatory agencies perceive it would otherwise be difficult for law enforcement personnel to implement the law. This can lead to extremes. For example, Pennsylvania bans all crayfish species. This law is primarily an attempt to prevent invasions of rusty crayfish and a few other cold-water species that legitimately threaten native ecosystems. However, this also means the orange dwarf Mexican crayfish, a popular tropical aquarium species, is banned. An ecological risk screening by US Fish & Wildlife Service gives the species a climate match score of 0 (the lowest score possible and a key indicator that species presents no invasion risk) for the entire state of Pennsylvania. There is also little to no risk of confusing an orange dwarf Mexican crayfish with species that would actually harm the state’s aquatic ecology. Despite no reasonable purpose for banning the species in Pennsylvania, keeping orange Mexican dwarf crayfish is a crime at the state level, and could even become a federal felony if prosecuted under criminal provisions of federal law pertaining to state, tribal, and foreign wildlife violations.
While “Black Lists” create some regulatory difficulties such as this, these issues are exponentially aggravated when implementing a white list, as practical enforcement of a white list will require law enforcement officials to reliably identify every species, whether listed or not. This is impossible, as millions of species exist on planet earth. Therefore, it is likely species that present effectively no risk of actually being injurious would be excluded from the “White List” due to perceived burden to law enforcement, whether reasonable or not. Even worse, these regulations would apply across the entire US and not be confined to any single state.
Not only do species identification issues lead to overarching bans on otherwise non-injurious species, but problems can arise even when species are completely legal. Customs officials and wildlife inspection agents at ports of entry are tasked with clearing shipments of wildlife imported from abroad. Often, getting the shipments cleared and to their final destination as quickly as possible is paramount for the health and welfare of the animals. Misidentifications and mistakes by inspectors can lead to holding and seizure of perfectly legal shipments, resulting in significant stress on the animals being transported. This already can be an issue within the currently regulatory framework. But moving from a current Lacey Act “Black List” to a “White List” would result in even more instances of mistakenly held and seized shipments due to the increased complexity for custom officials and inspection agents. This will significantly increase cost of enforcement and reduce animal welfare by potentially prolonging transit times.
The proposed legislation would not only significantly impact importing animals into the United States, but also limit transportation of animals between states. Due to a 2017 D.C. Court of Appeals ruling, species listed as injurious under the Lacey Act can be moved across state lines in accordance with state laws (though many states already ban relevant Lacey Act “Black Listed” species that pose a threat to their native ecology considering their state’s respective climate and habitats).
The COMPETES Act would override the court ruling and outlaw interstate transport of all species considered injurious under the Lacey Act. Since every species not on the “White List” would be considered injurious, the proposed Lacey Act white list would not only prevent imports of most species into the US from abroad, but also ban movement between states. While animals possessed before the implementation of the white list would still likely be allowed to be kept under state law, unless the species is lucky enough to make it onto the proposed Lacey Act “White List,” transporting across state lines for any reason, whether because of a move, selling or gifting animals, or even taking an animal temporarily to another state for medical care (a common occurrence for fish, reptile, amphibian, and bird keepers, since finding a veterinarian specializing in treating non-mammals can sometimes be difficult) could result in federal prosecution.
Prosecution under the Lacey Act can be severe and heavy handed. Each violation can be prosecuted as a federal felony with a maximum punishment of $20,000 and/or five years imprisonment. Additional civil penalties could also be levied.
Changes proposed in the COMPETES Act will affect bird keepers, reptile and amphibian enthusiasts, and any other organization, business, or person who works with non-native wildlife. The definition of “wildlife” covers almost every animal, no matter how many generations it may be removed from its wild counterparts, with very few exceptions aside from dogs and cats. The consequences for reptile and amphibian keepers, bird owners, aquarists, and other pet owners if the COMPETES Act passes will be severe. This means every reptile, amphibian, arachnid, bird, fish, coral, and invertebrate will be subject to the new restrictions, whether captive bred, ranched, farmed, aquacultured, maricultured, or collected from a wild source or fishery. With more than 10,000 species of birds, reptiles, amphibians, arachnids, fish, corals, and invertebrates kept by hobbyists and in trade, it is likely only a small fraction of species would initially be able to overcome the onerous listing process on the “White List.” The process of petitioning to add species to the “White List” will be costly and time consuming, and likely be challenged in court by well-funded animal rights organization, resulting in long and costly delays, if successful at all. Most species will likely be considered injurious without any reason other than an unsurmountable burden of proving otherwise. For species that do manage to make it onto the “White List,” prices will likely rise significantly. Undescribed and newly discovered species will almost certainly cease to exist in the American hobby and trade. Even domestic captive breeding, aquaculture, and fisheries will be severely curtailed as companies and individuals will, for the most part, be limited solely to the “White Listed” species. For all intents and purposes, this legislation will dramatically change the hobby and pet trade as we know it, resulting in significantly reduced availability of species, diminished interest in pet keeping, severe retraction in the size of the industry resulting in substantial job losses, both in the US and abroad, and an extreme reduction in the scientific, economic, cultural, educational, and conservation benefits of the bird, reptile, amphibian, and aquarium hobbies and trade.
Let your senator know your views on the last-minute amendment to the COMPETES Act, H.R. 4521. - end article
