Birds at Large Update

It's time for a quick Birds at Large update to show a couple ways birds are being used - and misused - in regular culture.  Yes?  OK.

Maine State Lottery card

The Black-capped Chickadee is Maine's state bird.  The state bird!  And this is how they reproduce it?  Gray flanks?  Black back?  Maine - my beloved home state - should be ashamed of itself.  How are folks going to respect a vaunted institution like gambling if they can't get the details right?

Song Sparrow Interrupts Red Sox - Yankees game

This dazed and confused sparrow made headlines this week by showing up on the Yankee Stadium infield and not leaving. Good way to save $2,600, I suppose. Hope the guy's OK. In other baseball news, the Baltimore Orioles - the team I've long trumped as the best bird-related team in pro sports - is in the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. Good luck, Os!

Anti-Audubon Sign on the Outer Banks

There is a big fight on the Outer Banks these days about limiting the use of off-road vehicles on the beaches where they might interfere with nesting birds. This sign I saw on my way back from a Hatteras pelagic is in reference to the conflict.  Classy stuff!