In the U.S. there is a common bird that was imported some years ago and was released in Central Park, New York. It has since spread throughout the country. It is not my favorite bird, but in east Africa it has many relatives that are splendid. One is called the Superb Starling, and you can see Shailee holding it above. Like Stephanie, she is doing research on a specific bird, and this is the one she calls hers. Shailee is working out of Columbia University on her field work in Mpala. She is quite fond of her birds but her birds are a lot harder than Stephanie’s to trap. Birds are not known for their brains, but Shailee says hers are smart. I was invited, along with a group of undergraduate students from Cornell and Ciara, out to one of her study sites where she had trapped one. For some, including Ciara, it was the first time they had handled a live wild bird.
You can see the smiles on their faces in the Feathered Friends section of my current adventure,