Laura Erickson's For the Birds
"For the Birds" began airing on KUMD in Duluth, MN, in May, 1986, and is the longest continually-running radio program about birds in the U.S. Hundreds more episodes are available for free at http://www.lauraerickson.com/radio/.
- Update frequency
- every 3 days
- Average duration
- 5 minutes
- Episodes
- 267
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
Scarlet Tanagers!
An unprecedented number of Scarlet Tanagers turned up on Peabody Street this year, and Laura was thrilled.
00:04:43 |
Thu 30 May 2024
Review: The Breeding Birds of Minnesota
A beautiful, useful, and engaging tour de force.
00:05:16 |
Wed 29 May 2024
Red-headed Woodpecker!
It's a red-letter day when we see one of the prettiest woodpeckers of all.
00:05:23 |
Tue 28 May 2024
Katie's Boo Jays
Laura recalls the birds who inspired her baby daughter's second word.
00:05:44 |
Fri 24 May 2024
Merlin: All Wizards Have Limitations
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has created two extremely useful apps for birders. Merlin is wonderful and useful, but far from perfect.
00:05:47 |
Wed 22 May 2024
Jelly Redux
Laura sparked unprecedented anger in a listener last week because of a program and blogpost from 2007. (All my blogpost/transcripts have photos, and some are longer than the program itself, but this …
00:07:23 |
Tue 21 May 2024
Review: Kenn Kaufman's new book, The Birds that Audubon Missed. Part 2
*The Birds That Audubon Missed* by Kenn Kaufman is a clear-eyed and surprisingly exciting portrait of a time and place that have long ago disappeared, and an important and timely book as well. Laura …
00:05:51 |
Fri 17 May 2024
Kenn Kaufman's new book: The Birds That Audubon Missed, Part 1
Kenn Kaufman has written an important new book. Laura begins her review by talking about her own personal feelings about Audubon and his work before Kaufman's rich and enlightening book gave her a br…
00:05:58 |
Thu 16 May 2024
Lincoln's Sparrow
Laura's been in love with a pretty little sparrow since she first saw it in 1977.
00:06:56 |
Tue 14 May 2024
My favorite spring arrivals
With birds, as with her children, Laura has trouble picking a favorite.
00:05:38 |
Tue 07 May 2024
Rat Poison
Yet more owls have died, this time in Chicago, from rat poison.
00:07:11 |
Fri 03 May 2024
May Day!
Not much is happening in Laura's yard yet, but things will be popping within the coming week or two. (Lang Elliott recorded the Carolina Wren's rolling trill. Laura recorded the wren's song.)
00:04:43 |
Thu 02 May 2024
Don't Count Your Chickens...
Chickens haven't established themselves as wild, feral birds in most places in the world, but they're still the most abundant bird on the planet.
00:05:59 |
Wed 01 May 2024
Here come the chickens!
If chickens found their way to Hawaii on their own, things would have worked out okay for everyone. Unfortunately, they brought humans along, too.
00:05:05 |
Thu 18 Apr 2024
The Sapsucker–Hummingbird Connection
During spring migration, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds usually arrive a couple of weeks after Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers do, for a very good reason.
00:05:51 |
Wed 17 Apr 2024
Hawaii before chickens and humans arrived
Millions of years ago, Hawaii was off to a rocky start.
00:05:47 |
Tue 16 Apr 2024
Chickens, Part 1.5: Kin of Chickens
The rules of counting non-native birds are not always consistent.
00:05:54 |
Thu 11 Apr 2024
Chickens, Part I: Domestication
The most abundant bird on the planet, feeding billions of humans every day, is the chicken. Laura talks about how they became domesticated and some genetic differences between domestic birds and thei…
00:05:38 |
Wed 10 Apr 2024
Solar Eclipse!
Laura remembers a wonderful eclipse from three decades ago.
00:05:57 |
Mon 08 Apr 2024
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