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Illustrator David Sibley and actor H. Jon Benjamin will face off in the bird illustration battle of the century during BirdNote's Year-end Celebration and Auction!
A vanishing blue bird? A raptor impersonator? A wild tom turkey that's tormenting a TV star? There are so many mysteries in the bird world. Luckily, Michael Stein – Private Eye – is here to help us solve them. Cue the jazzy piano, and put on another pot of coffee because this . . . is BirdNoir. Explore the episodes below!
The Mystery of the Blue Bird
The Private Eye gets a call from a friend, Danny, who wants to know why the bluest bird he’s ever seen has vanished. But there are many birds that are blue besides the true bluebirds (which belong to the thrush family). To solve the mystery, the detective needs to know the right questions to ask Danny, finding the relevant information to identify the bird and figure out what happened.
Dial E for Eagle
The private eye fields a call from a woman who says a large bird that looks like a Bald Eagle stole a Rainbow Trout from her pond. Through a process of elimination, the detective is able to rule out a few likely suspects and arrive at the probable answer. When you think you’ve spotted an eagle, remember to examine all the evidence.
Vultures Come to Town
The Mayor of Bricksville calls the Private Eye with a bit of a problem: “several dozen giant bird-punks loitering on top of City Hall!” The detective figures out the most likely reason why these birds have chosen the top of a building as their hangout, and reveals a side of the story that the mayor hadn’t considered before.
The Wild Tom Turkey
The private eye gets a call from H. Jon Benjamin about unusual Wild Turkey behavior. A male turkey (known as a “tom”) won’t leave his car alone. He keeps tapping his beak on the car. Then the turkey starts circling the house and looking in all the windows. The private eye reveals how things look from the turkey’s perspective, which points the way to a possible solution.
That Raptor’s an Impostor!
The Private Eye gets a call from his friend Frank, his eyes and ears in the neighborhood. He’s hearing a Red-shouldered Hawk call, but there’s no hawk in sight. Going through the lineup of usual suspects found in backyards, they examine the surprising talent for mimicry found among common birds and finally put the finger on the trickster.
The One That Got Away
The Private Eye tells his saddest story: his nemesis bird. That’s what birders call a species that keeps giving you the slip. His nemesis is the Painted Bunting, a colorful gem of a bird. When word of the species being spotted nearby reaches the PI, he rushes off to see it, hoping to end his struggle to see the bird at last . . .
Ding-dong Ditched!
The P.I. gets a call from Mrs. Pico, a friendly woman who always has homemade cookies ready for visitors. But someone’s playing a trick on her: knocking on the door and then disappearing! The P.I. suspects the culprit is a bird and helps Mrs. Pico narrow down the list of suspects.
Indigo Bunting lead image © Owen Deutsch
Photo of the Private Eye © Nick Bayard
Osprey © Rik McNicoll
Black Vultures © cuatrok77 / FCC
Wild Turkey © David Slater
Blue Jay © Chris Rycroft / CC
Painted Bunting © Doug Greenberg
Red-bellied Woodpecker © Tom Stovall