News

By Jon Friedman   (Authors note: I recently received a phone call from Manny, one that I hoped would never come. He informed me that due to his serious medical condition, he would no longer be able to create his signature and highly desirable gourd bird feeders. He has been suffering from neuralgia for a number of years and now his nerve pain will not allow him to use his hands, as he must in order to make his utilitarian artworks. His colorful and carefully crafted gourds have been a mainstay in our store for nearly 25 years and hundreds...

(A shorter version of this article was originally published in the January/February, 1997, issue of this newsletter.) In the fall of 1996, my late wife Shani and I went to Kitt Peak, about an hour southwest of Tucson, to do some birding and see the many telescopes located there. The serpentine road that winds its way up the northern end of the Quinlan Mountains on the Tohono O’odham Nation ends at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) that houses one of the most extensive and diverse collections of astronomical observatories anywhere in the world. The 30+ large telescopes occupy the...

Short Selections from the Newsletter Article Archive By Jon Friedman   (Authors note: These four short articles were originally written and published by Jon and Shani Friedman in the August/September and October, 1993, issues of The Wild Bird Store newsletters. I have rewritten some segments and added pertinent information to them prior to this publication.)   When Vultures Sunbathe   Early on a Sunday morning, on the way to the Wild Bird Store bird walk at Arivaca Cienega, we were greeted by a Turkey Vulture, perched high on a telephone pole, with his impressive wings spread. Turkey vultures are sometimes...

Alexander Skutch, My Favorite Ornithologist By Jon Friedman     Introduction Quite a few years ago, I came to the conclusion that Alexander Skutch had become my favorite writer/naturalist where birds are concerned. There are many other writer/researcher/naturalists that I came to admire for various reasons. For example, E.O. Wilson is another expert whose research and writings have expanded my understanding of the natural world and whom I regard as one of the most important scientists this country has produced. And, while Wilson is universally regarded as the world’s foremost expert on ants, biodiversity, the classification of species and nature...

Use of Feathers in American Indigenous Cultures Part Two Article and Photographs by Jon Friedman The original article with the same title, published in the March 2017 newsletter, was inspired, in part, by my 2016 visit to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. I traced the origins of feather use back to the earliest records and explained the beginnings of the understanding, importance and widespread use of feathers by indigenous cultures in North America. The practice of including feathers into daily and spiritual life, and the making of musical and war instruments was, and remains, important...