Meet the purple martin, Memphis favorite bird
JOHN BEIFUSS, Memphis Commercial Appeal
May 15, 2021
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Of course, we mean both those observations as compliments.
Curator of the Backyard Wildlife Center at the Lichterman Nature Center, Schmidt can spot an eastern phoebe or an indigo bunting in places where most people see only a tangle of branches.
With a brain attuned to birdness, she’s quick to identify the signature Porky Pig-esque stutter of the northern parula and the urgent four-“syllable” call of the white-eyed vireo, a cry that birders with perhaps more than a soupçon of thirsty onomatopoeic projection translate as “quick-with-the-beer-check, quick-with-the-beer-check.”
Of course, we mean both those observations as compliments.
Curator of the Backyard Wildlife Center at the Lichterman Nature Center, Schmidt can spot an eastern phoebe or an indigo bunting in places where most people see only a tangle of branches.
With a brain attuned to birdness, she s quick to identify the signature Porky Pig-esque stutter of the northern parula and the urgent four- syllable call of the white-eyed vireo, a cry that birders with perhaps more than a soupçon of thirsty onomatopoeic projection translate as
quick-with-the-beer-check, quick-with-the-beer-check.
Schmidt, 41, is the host of the Bird Talk & Walk series at Lichterman, which currently is devoted to a type of swallow prized for its royal luminescence and its eco-friendly pesticidal appetites, the purple martin.