Every bird has a story. Drawings by Jason Polan.

The Sketch

Every bird has a story. Drawings by Jason Polan.

The Shoebill: Or, the Most Terrifying Bird in the World
August 05, 2016 — Are you ready for this thing? I don't think you're ready for this thing.
The House Finch
July 15, 2016 — Thanks to an undercover ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ sting, this bird is more of a backyard staple than a celebrity.
The Chuck-will's-widow and Eastern Whip-poor-will
June 30, 2016 — Nightjars, goatsuckers, whatever you want to call them—these freaky birds are heard but rarely seen.
The Cattle Egret
June 24, 2016 — 4610 The Cattle Egret: The Opportunist Southern folklore depicts Brer Rabbit as the quintessential easy-going trickster, who uses his wits rather...
Loggerhead Shrike
May 27, 2016 — 4611 The Loggerhead Shrike: Looks Can Be Deceiving At first glance, you could be forgiven for thinking that that grey-and-white bird sitting on a...
The House Wren: The Unjustly Accused
May 20, 2016 — 4237 The House Wren: The Unjustly Accused In the early 1900s, when Althea Sherman began noticing House Wrens nesting in her backyard in Iowa...
The Barred Owl
April 29, 2016 — 4488 The Barred Owl: The Interrogator This first time I saw a wild Barred Owl I thought it was going to kill me. Bushwacking alone through a...
The American Coot
December 18, 2015 — 4080 The American Coot: A Tough-Love Parent A couple years ago, just after my daughter was born, my friend gave me a book called Parenting for...
Southern Giant Petrel
November 13, 2015 — 3980 The Southern Giant Petrel: Ogre of the High Seas The Procellariiformes have always seemed to me one of the more distinguished orders of...
Northern Harrier
October 30, 2015 — 3950 Northern Harrier: The Gray Ghost Across North America, from the Arctic Tundra to the grasslands south of the border, if you look in the...
The Lammergeier
October 23, 2015 — 3635 The Lammergeier: Public Enemy No. 1 High in the Pyrenees Mountains lies a boneyard filled with half-devoured skeletons. The keepers of this...
Hoatzin
October 09, 2015 — 3833 The Hoatzin: Misfit, Belcher, Genetic Mystery Deep in the wilderness lurks a fat, foul beast that stinks of manure, barks and caws in...
kakapo
September 25, 2015 — 3756 The Kakapo: A Survivor There are few places on earth that could provide hospitable habitat for a nocturnal, flightless parrot that weighs...
Wilson's Phalarope: The Rebel
September 18, 2015 — 3770 Wilson's Phalarope: The Rebel Wilson’s Phalaropes don’t care for your gender norms. In the bird world, roles for the sexes are fairly...
The Oilbird
September 04, 2015 — 3726 The Oilbird: Is This Thing Even a Bird? You know the type: They go out after sundown and return again in the morning, and regurgitate...
The American Dipper
August 28, 2015 — This pudgy little bird may not look like anything special, but beneath its underwhelming exterior beats the heart of a champion.
The Bar-Tailed Godwit
August 14, 2015 — 3661 The Bar-tailed Godwit: A Marathoner Who Makes It Look Easy You probably already know the amazing story of the Bar-tailed Godwit—who...
The Galapagos Penguin
August 07, 2015 — 3632 The Galapagos Penguin: The Beach Bum Think of a penguin. What do you see? Allow me to hazard a guess: You see a cathedral of snow and ice...
The Black Skimmer
July 31, 2015 — 3618 The Black Skimmer: A Scissor-beaked Night Hunter Bear with me for a brief thought experiment: What if humans had to eat the same way Black...
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
July 24, 2015 — 3594 Wilson's Storm-Petrel: The Water Walker What’s the most ubiquitous bird you can think of? Even the least outdoorsy of us have crossed...
The Lyrebird
July 17, 2015 — 3566 The Superb Lyrebird: An Artist With Commercial Appeal It's safe to say that no bird on earth can rival the viral potency of the Superb...
The House Sparrow
July 10, 2015 — 3547 The House Sparrow: Little Troopers There’s an army in the bushes. You may not have noticed, but there’s a good chance it's nearby...
The Monk Parakeet: A Jailbird Who Made Good
June 26, 2015 — 3505 The Monk Parakeet: A Jailbird Who Made Good There's a legend that holds that Monk Parakeets became established in the United States after...
The Hoopoe: Emissary of Kings, Secreter of Stink
June 19, 2015 — 3437 The Hoopoe: Emissary of Kings, Secreter of Stink It takes a special bird to incur the wrath of a legendary king. “I will punish him most...