Bird News: Nature Observation & Native Birds, Prehistoric Peacocks & Territorial Blackbirds

The Ghost in the Drawer and the Warning on the Wind

06/24/2026

Every so often, the bird world reminds us that it has been incredibly busy this whole time, completely indifferent to our maps and schedules.

These two stories had me reflecting on who really runs the place. One is an Ice Age mystery that we didn’t even realize was a mystery. The other is very much alive, incredibly loud, and currently ruling a Wisconsin boardwalk with absolute authority.

An intricately preserved prehistoric pterosaur fossil skeleton embedded in limestone, serving as a vintage field guide aesthetic reference for an avian evolution and bird fossil nature journal entry.

Hand-drawn Common Kingfisher art on a ceramic 15oz mug with a yellow handle, perfect as a bird watcher coffee mug.

$34.00

Perch Mug

Hand-drawn reminders of the quiet, enduring lines of nature.

shop the Kingfisher Ceramic Mug

A Lost Peacock from the Taiwanese Pleistocene

We like to think natural history is a closed book with every chapter neatly accounted for. However, a "new" bone recently showed up via a donation from a private collector, upending the entire record.

The bone belonged to a massive, prehistoric peacock known as Pavo miejue. It vanished from the Taiwanese landscape long ago, leaving behind a gap in the timeline that nobody even knew to look for.

The full, fascinating study is over at Yahoo. It is well worth the read.

"The red-winged blackbirds are notoriously aggressive birds to begin with and they ramp that up during breeding season. They're doing what birds are supposed to do."
— Alex Waier, Milwaukee County Zoo

A striking male Red-winged Blackbird displaying its bright red and yellow shoulder epaulets while perched on wetland reeds, perfect for marsh ecosystem identification and birding logs.

$28.00

Watch Cap

Shield your eyes, adjust your view, and stay observant.

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The Fierce Sovereignty of the Atwater Beach Blackbirds

Not every bird needs a few millennia in a fossil record to command our attention. Some prefer a more direct approach, like a high-speed dive-bomb to the back of the head.

Right now, anyone taking a morning stroll down a certain Wisconsin shoreline is learning that lesson remarkably fast. Red-winged blackbirds are nesting in the local reeds, and they are fiercely protective of their summer real estate. Step just an inch too close to the nesting grounds, and you will find out who actually owns it. Hint: It isn't you.

Get the whole, cautionary story over at TMJ4 News.

While these seem like wildly different stories, they really are just two ways of saying the exact same thing: we do not get to dictate when or how the wild natural world shows up. It loves taking anyone and everyone by surprise, and I love watching it.

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behind the lens
Phil Turland
Mintmount
Robert Jakubowski

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