Author Archives: Joan E. Strassmann

About Joan E. Strassmann

Evolutionary biologist, studies social behavior in insects & microbes, interested in education, travel, birds, tropics, nature, food; biology professor at Washington University in St. Louis

Two silent eastern phoebes in Burcham Park

Posted on March 17, 2019 by Joan E. Strassmann

Where is your patch, the place you bird every day you can? Mine in East Lansing is Burcham Park. I nominated it for a hotspot and so it is on eBird, though so far only I have recorded birds there, … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Michigan, Migration | Leave a comment

Birding the Western Ghats in Southwest India

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Joan E. Strassmann

The Western Ghats! A hottest hot diversity site recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and known also poetically as Sahyadri. The trick is how to penetrate this land of elephants and tigers, past the pot-holed roads and shrines. … Continue reading →

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Birding as a world citizen: ten tips

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Joan E. Strassmann

My favorite way to bird is related to the slow food movement: stay local, stay focused, and stay appreciative. So how can I keep to my principles when I bird in places as far away as the Western Ghats in … Continue reading →

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Fourteen secrets of a Portuguese bird guide

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Joan E. Strassmann

There are many reasons to bird Portugal. We were lucky to have Bernardo Barreto as our guide. As always with birds, we learned more about life than just about birds. Look under every bridge, into every thicket, and at every … Continue reading →

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Birding from Lisbon, Portugal

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Joan E. Strassmann

Bernardo Barreto picked us up in his dark Ford at 7:30 from the Hotel Berna. We drove northeast out of Lisbon, crossing the Tagus on what might be called the third bridge, upstream from the 25 April bridge, half closed … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Egrets, Environment, National Wildlife Refuge, Portugal | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mexican-Ecuadoran secrets of the tufted jay, Cyanocorax dickeyi

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Joan E. Strassmann

Don’t you wonder why birds are where they are? Have you been on one of those guided birding trips where you hop in and out of the van spending ten minutes here, or five minutes there, to see the most … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Jays, Mexico | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Scissor-tailed flycatchers at Mount Doom in Missouri

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Joan E. Strassmann

Scissor-tailed flycatchers (Tyrannus forficatus) are highly uncommon in Missouri, but there is a pair nesting right by Mount Doom and yesterday we saw them flying in the distance, against the rocky nuclear waste site. The bird guides do not put … Continue reading →

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Birding the California coast at Coal Oil Point, Santa Barbara

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Joan E. Strassmann

Walk the same route over and over so you can get to know the common birds for that place     and notice the rarer ones. Here is a walk I took for three weeks while working at the Kavli Institute … Continue reading →

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2012 in review; much more to come to SlowBirding in 2013!

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Joan E. Strassmann

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: 600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 9,500 views in 2012. If every person who reached the … Continue reading →

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Bald eagle swoops in for the kill – and misses

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Joan E. Strassmann

Currents of shore birds lifted above the Brazoria National Wildlife marshes on a cold February day. Thousands of sandpipers, dowitchers, yellowlegs, stilts, and ducks fled the hunting bald eagle. A blue-winged teal flew across the marsh, now high, then low, … Continue reading →

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