Rebecca Heisman
@rheisman.bsky.social
Not really on social media much anymore. If you need to reach me, use rebeccaheisman.com/contact!
Hello Bluesky friends! I have some news to share: I've accepted a new full-time environmental education job with a conservation nonprofit in my community. (I have a background in environmental education that predates my getting into science communication and science writing.) [continued...]
I am at an ornithology conference this week and since arriving yesterday I'm up to four people who've asked if I'm working on a second book. At this point my answer is pretty blunt. "Nope! Because the first one didn't sell well enough for the publisher to another one from me!"
More writing by me: My first ever piece for National Wildlife Magazine, on making your yard a safe space for nesting songbirds. www.nwf.org/Home/Magazin...
Making Your Yard a Haven for Nesting Birds
How to create safe places for backyard songbirds to raise their young in your yard or garden
nwf.org
A travesty. Springer Nature offloads SciAm—the most storied science magazine in the US—onto a content mill consortium, LabX, during an almost certainly successful union vote. LabX now says it will lay off 15 people, over 1/3rd of the unit and 60% of the bargaining committee. Pure union busting.
Laura Helmuth@laurahelmuth.bsky.social · last mo.Statement by @sciamunion.bsky.social on Springer Nature's sale of Scientific American and massive editorial layoffs right before a successful union vote is counted. www.wgaeast.org/wgae-scienti...
Ugh. Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh.
Kate Wong@katewong.bsky.social · last mo.Today is my last day at Scientific American, which has been sold to LabX media group. For three decades I've led the magazine's coverage of human origins, archaeology, paleontology, animal behavior, ecology, BIRDS. End of an era. Anyway this feels weird to say, but I'm now available for assignments!
My paper with @davetoews.bsky.social was featured in the cover story for the latest issue of Living Bird magazine @cornellbirds.bsky.social. Check out the lovely accompanying artwork, too. Well-told by @rheisman.bsky.social.
When Evolution Painted Warblers Yellow
Millions of years ago, rare hybridization events ignited the genetic sparks that contributed to the bright yellow colors of some birds in the modern wood-warbler family.
allaboutbirds.org
Hey friends! My latest feature for the @cornellbirds.bsky.social magazine dropped yesterday, about some really cool research into how a long history of cross-genus hybridization may have influenced the cheerful yellow colors of today's warblers. www.allaboutbirds.org/news/when-ev...
When Evolution Painted Warblers Yellow
Millions of years ago, rare hybridization events ignited the genetic sparks that contributed to the bright yellow colors of some birds in the modern wood-warbler family.
allaboutbirds.org
My latest for @therevelator.org! therevelator.org/urban-habita...
City Birds: New Study Shows Urban Habitat Matters for Migrating Species • The Revelator
Nearly half of all stopover sites used by migrating birds in North America fall within urban areas.Nearly half of all stopover sites used by migrating birds in North America fall within urban areas.
therevelator.org
HEY HEY I may not be on social media much anymore but I wrote a thing for @biographic.bsky.social about gulls nesting in unexpected places that maybe aren't so unexpected after all. www.biographic.com/spains-cliff...
Spain’s Cliff-Nesting Gulls Are Actually Beach Bums - bioGraphic
Almost a century ago, egg-poaching humans drove yellow-legged gulls away from beaches. Now the birds are coming back.
biographic.com
Arising from my social media slumber to say that my email newsletter for this month is out. I'm still here writin' about birds. 😎 buttondown.com/rheisman/arc...
Bird of Passage: May 2026
A quick dive into birds' sense of smell.
buttondown.com
How do I politely tell the older gentleman in my area who stumbled across my website and newsletter than I am not perpetually available to personally answer his questions about his local bird sightings via email...
Reminder that although I'm increasingly ambivalent toward social media, I do have a little monthly email you can sign up for with bird news, book recommendations, etc. buttondown.com/rheisman/arc...
Bird of Passage: April 2026
March was another whirlwind month.
buttondown.com
Reminder that although I'm increasingly ambivalent toward social media, I do have a little monthly email you can sign up for with bird news, book recommendations, etc. buttondown.com/rheisman/arc...
Bird of Passage: April 2026
March was another whirlwind month.
buttondown.com
I'm spending less time on social media lately, but I wanted to share that I have a story in the spring issue of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology magazine, about the story behind Red-breasted Nuthatches' quirky habit of painting the entrances of their nest cavities with pine resin. 🪶
Why Do Nuthatches Coat Their Nest Entrances With Sap?
A simple series of experiments looked into why Red-breasted Nuthatches use sticky conifer resin to defend against nest predators and competitors.
allaboutbirds.org
I'm spending less time on social media lately, but I wanted to share that I have a story in the spring issue of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology magazine, about the story behind Red-breasted Nuthatches' quirky habit of painting the entrances of their nest cavities with pine resin. 🪶
Why Do Nuthatches Coat Their Nest Entrances With Sap?
A simple series of experiments looked into why Red-breasted Nuthatches use sticky conifer resin to defend against nest predators and competitors.
allaboutbirds.org
On the left, Jupiter. On the right, a soap bubble. Patterns are expressions of nature's intrinsic poetry. The cosmos loves to rhyme.
Listening to the audiobook for @rheisman.bsky.social's excellent Flight Paths and was thinking "this better have a chapter about driving through a swamp with @rallidaerule.bsky.social" and BEHOLD!!
A little offended Grammarly didn't make a sloppelganger of me
My mom is having knee replacement surgery today, and man, you know you live in a small town when the anesthesiologist for your mom's knee surgery is the same one who did your son's tonsillectomy and oh, he also has a daughter in your son's second grade class.
So... I tried to get caught up on why some people here at mad at Bluesky this week and apparently the people who actually run this place are a bunch of obnoxious pro-AI bros????? I swear, I'm about to just give up on social media entirely...
Have hit 2500 words in my "draft" Word doc but about 400 words of that is just quotes I pasted in as possibilities for the concluding section that I haven't really written yet. Still, progress! Genetics makes my brain hurt but people keep paying me to write about it.
Rebecca Heisman@rheisman.bsky.social · 5mo agoYesterday and today I wrote 1300 words of rough draft for what's eventually supposed to be a 2500 word feature, about some very cool but very dense bird genetics research. I feel pretty good about that amount of progress. Maybe I'll reward myself with a treat tonight.
I have *always* tried to be judicious with em dashes, limiting myself to one every couple paragraphs... but I hate, hate, HATE that now there's always a doubtful voice in the back of my head wondering how many em dashes it takes before someone will dismiss my writing as AI-generated.
Yesterday and today I wrote 1300 words of rough draft for what's eventually supposed to be a 2500 word feature, about some very cool but very dense bird genetics research. I feel pretty good about that amount of progress. Maybe I'll reward myself with a treat tonight.
I had an UNUSUAL volume of writing published in February, so even though I've shared everything individually here before, if you'll indulge me I'm going to string them together here in a thread. Bird science incoming! 🪶🧵
Rebecca Heisman@rheisman.bsky.social · 5mo agoHey look it's my latest email newsletter! A little more barebones than usual, because February was, uh, a lot. buttondown.com/rheisman/arc...
Hey look it's my latest email newsletter! A little more barebones than usual, because February was, uh, a lot. buttondown.com/rheisman/arc...
Bird of Passage: March 2026
Hello dear readers — usually I write a brief column or essay here, but I have to admit the past month has been rougher than usual and I’ve got nothing! One...
buttondown.com
Hey look it's my latest email newsletter! A little more barebones than usual, because February was, uh, a lot. buttondown.com/rheisman/arc...
Bird of Passage: March 2026
Hello dear readers — usually I write a brief column or essay here, but I have to admit the past month has been rougher than usual and I’ve got nothing! One...
buttondown.com
Some birds just have incredibly satisfying Latin names. Spinus pinus. Upupa epops. Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus.
