Laura Erickson's For the Birds

Laura turns 75 today.

In late October and early November, you never know what's going to turn up. Laura mentions her [blogpost FAQ about Late Hummingbirds](https://lauraerickson.substack.com/p/faqs-hummingbirds-wintering-in-the). Listeners may appreciate that link.

Taxonomic rules are the scientific ones affecting birders' life lists. The American Birding Association abides by those, but also imposes some additional rules on counting.

During "Taxonomy Time," bird lists fluctuate depending on what taxonomists have been up to.

Laura talks about the still controversial question about whether Ivory-billed Woodpeckers are extinct or not. The recordings used are the Ivory-billed Woodpecker recordings taken by Arthur A. Allen and Peter Paul Kellogg from Cornell in 1935,

Dead or alive? When critically endangered species are on the verge of extinction, there's a murky period between certainty that a species exists and certainty that it doesn't. The bird recording starting and ending this program is a Mourning Dove. No recordings of Passenger Pigeon or Carolina Parakeet exist, and the Mourning Dove's plaintive call seemed appropriate.

When Laura was in Florida this month, it was a family trip, not a birding one, but she saw plenty of birds.

Laura spent last week in Florida celebrating one son's birthday. In this program, she talks about some notable birds she did not see.

Laura reminisces about the largest migration day she ever witnessed.

In a world of chaos and randomness, chickadees create order and fairness.