Terry Rich

A broad-tailed hummingbird male visits a feeder. Ceredig Roberts

This western bluebird male was among migrating species found earlier this month at Bogus Basin. Terry Rich

Some birds get shortchanged with the names we assign to them. The house wren and house sparrow are on top of the list. We love our houses, but we don’t

Email Print Copy article link Save I’m guessing the tricolored blackbird is one of the most overlooked species in Idaho. There’s no doubt it’s rare, as are any number of other species. But tricolors are so similar to their close relative, the red-winged blackbird, that they can fail to be identified even while we’re looking at them. Plus, red-wings are so common, it’s easy to just walk by a marsh without paying attention to every blackbird out there.

The song of Bullock’s orioles announced their recent arrival.

A male wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) strutting at Deer Island Open Space Preserve near Novato, Marin County, California.

Twenty-five species of birds in North America have “northern” in their names. I’ve never been fond of these generic descriptors. “Western,” “southern” and “common” this or that are similarly colorless.

A lot of people engage in activities that purportedly improve mental sharpness. It’s well established that physical exercise is great for our brains. But activities you can do at the kitchen table might also help. These include crossword puzzles, Sudoku, Wordle and countless variations on these games.

An adult bald eagle sits in its nest along the Boise River with two of its young.

I recently got one of my best photos ever of a male lazuli bunting at close range. When I uploaded the images to my PC, I was struck by how