In today’s blog post, Stan Tekiela shares with us the intriguing world of the Monarch Butterfly. There are so many amazing and marvelous aspects of nature. Take the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus), for example. This may be the most familiar and recognized butterfly in North America,...
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In this week’s column, Stan Tekiela discusses the elusive bobcat. I’ve been sitting for hours, driving for days, and staring through binoculars at distant hillsides for longer than I can remember, searching for the bobcat (Lynx rufus), the smallest of our wild cats. Today, I am...
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In this week’s column, Stan Tekiela discusses how challenging winter can be for birds. Winter can be a very challenging time for the birds who don’t migrate. The rigors of winter, lack of food, reduced access to fresh water, and extremely long and cold nights do...
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Just in time for Christmas, Stan Tekiela, author and wildlife photographer for many Adventure Publications books, considers the question of which is best—a fake tree or a real one. Are you like me? Each holiday season I ponder the whole fake tree/real tree conundrum. Which one is better for...
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Few animals in the wilderness elicit such strong emotions in people as wolves. Loved by many who cherish wild places and intact ecosystems, wolves are however loathed by others who regard them as competition for natural resources. Stan Tekiela, the author of The Life of Wolves, Coyotes and...
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Migration Remains a Great Mystery Much of migration remains a great mystery to science. While we can only speculate how it started and why it continues, there are a number of facts we do know. Migration allows an expanded bird population, including hummers, to exploit food resources and breed elsewhere. Nearly all...
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In this week’s column, Stan Tekiela explains a few things about the skunk. I recently had a lively conversation about skunks with some friends. While explaining a few things about the animal, it occurred to me that skunks are one of those critters that are commonly...
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Discover the Amazing World of Hummingbirds with Stan Tekiela The hummingbird family, known as Trochilidae, includes more than 325 species. Compared with the other bird families, this one is huge! It is the second largest in size after the flycatcher family, which has around 400 species. Hummingbirds are New World birds...
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In this week’s column, just in time for Thanksgiving, Stan Tekiela muses about dark meat or light meat. I’m pretty sure that when you and your family gather around the Thanksgiving table this year that you won’t spend all your time talking about birds, migration, and how those relate to the dark...
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In this week’s NatureSmart column, Stan Tekiela talks about yellow-bellied marmots. Yes, I admit it, I am a nut about nature. Not just the big amazing birds and animals, such as eagles and bears, but the small critters too. I realized this (again) on my recent...
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