Maja Mielke (she/her)

Thank you so much, Jay! I'm glad you enjoy it 😊

This young hawk uses cars as cover for surprise attacks A city-wintering raptor learned to use traffic patterns for hunting—a sign of remarkable cognitive abilities.

A young Cooper's hawk from New Jersey learned to use queuing cars as a cover for surprise attacks on other birds. 🪶🦅

Read my latest blog post on this remarkable behavior here 👇
beaksandbones.substack.com/p/smart-hawk

#science #scicomm #ornithology #birds

Kākāpō Files II podcast Following the next breeding season of the world’s favourite parrot.

Following the #kakapo breeding season and want more detail? Don't forget to check out the "Kākāpō Files" #podcast from Radio NZ with the wonderful Alison Ballance. #kakapo2026 #conservation #parrots #birds www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/kaka...

Two young kākāpō chicks being held during a health check. Credit: Lydia Uddstrom.

The #kakapo chicks are coming thick and fast! We're now up to 10 hatched. Here are Tiwhiri-A1 and Tiwhiri-A2 receiving a health check at Yasmine's nest on Pukenui/Anchor Island. 📸: Lydia Uddstrom #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds #parrots

A white board showing totals of the 2026 kākāpō breeding season. Credit: Lydia Uddstrom

#kakapo breeding "fridge" update.
Good news: 9 chicks hatched, and 123 fertile eggs in total - including all three 4 year old females having fertile clutches!
Bad news: a few egg deaths in the last couple of days.
Kākāpō breeding seasons are a roller-coaster! #kakapo2026 📸: Lydia Uddstrom

Collage of six photos, showing natural objects such as fruits, tree bark, and plants, all with a warm, orangy color palette.

I took these photos today to remind myself that even in the most gloomy season of the year, there’s still warmth and beauty to be found in nature.

💚💛🧡

#winter #nature #photography #naturephotography

The second #kakapo chick of the #kakapo2026 breeding season hatched this morning: Hine Taumai-A1-2026 on Ako's nest on Te Kākahu. We transferred the egg from Anchor two nights ago. This is Ako's first-ever chick, which is just a few hours old in this video. #conservation #birds #parrots

They're hatching!!! 💚😍💚

Yes! It's actually my favorite drawing tool 😄

Illustration of a singing Eurasian wren. Text next to the bird: The Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) is one of the smallest and loudest birds of Europe. It weighs about 9 g and can be heard at a distance of up to 500 m.

Let’s spread a nice bird fact in the Bluesky universe! 🪶

Illustration by Maja Mielke. Ballpoint pen on paper, colorized digitally in #Krita.

#sciart #birdart #digitalillustration #illustration #natureart

Girls don’t want flowers for Valentine’s Day.

They want you to book them a shark research experience that raises money for science outreach!

I can help. Let’s chat.

Hände weg vom Naturschutz Die EU will zentrale Naturschutzgesetze lockern. Gemeinsam können wir das verhindern. Gib jetzt deine Stimme ab – für starken Schutz von Mensch und Natur!

Schau dir diese Petition an, um Europas Naturschutzgesetze zu schützen. Starke Lobbygruppen wollen sie schwächen. Unterschreiben dauert nur eine Minute. Es wäre toll, wenn du sie auch teilst! #HandsOffNature
www.nabu.de/natur-und-la...

Jasmin, du sprichst mir aus der Seele. 🙏

Pen and watercolour illustrations of waders/shorebirds from the Hartlepool/Teesmouth area of northeast England

A not-completely-exhaustive illustration of our winter shorebirds, but these are the species that you’re most likely to see during winter around Teesmouth (northeast England).
🐡🪶
#birdingNortheast

The flightless #kakapo usually nest underground. Yesterday we found the coolest nest I’ve ever seen: Whetu was 3m above ground in a hollow rata tree. #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds

Illustration of a Vernal hanging parrot with green-red plumage, hanging upside-down. Species name in English and Latin written next to the bird: Vernal hanging parrot (Loriculus vernalis)

A bird whose existence still amazes me: the hanging #parrot that sleeps upside-down like a bat. 🪶🦇🦜🤯

Ballpoint pen on paper, colorized digitally in #Krita.

#sciart #illustration #birdart

A juvenile female kākāpō on a nest. Credit: Andrew Digby

Yesterday we found juvenile female #kakapo Ongaonga on a nest on Pukenui/Anchor Island. At just under 4 years old (her hatch day is 12th Feb), she's the youngest female ever recorded nesting. Today we also found Matilda nesting - she's just 2 days older. #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds

A kākāpō on a nest with two eggs. Credit: Andrew Digby

Three more #kakapo nests found on Pukenui/Anchor Island yesterday. Here's Konini with her two eggs. We have found nests for 26 out of the 36 adult females on the island, with more to come in the next few days. It's a big year! #conservation #kakapo2026 A

Did you know that cormorants have feathers that both absorb and repel water? This improves their maneuverability while keeping them insulated in cold waters. 🪶

Read more here:
beaksandbones.substack.com/p/cormorant-...

Photo of a cormorant standing on a tree trunk in the water, looking over his right shoulder towards the sun. Water in the background.

It’s been a looong time since I’d taken out my camera for bird photography. But last weekend we had beautiful weather, and I decided to give it a go again.

This cormorant was so kind to pose for me.

#photography #naturephotography #birdphotography #birds #wildlife

A female kākāpō on a nest with three eggs. Credit: Andrew Digby

Female #kakapo Kohengi on her three eggs on Pukenui/Anchor Island today. We don't yet know if they're fertile, but will investigate soon. So far fertility on Anchor is very high: only 8 infertile out of 33 checked. We expect many more infertile eggs though. #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds

Rakiura lays third egg - 28 January YouTube video by Department of Conservation

Rakiura's laid her third egg! Doing so well #kakapo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrwd...

The first picture of the next generation of #kakapo! 💚

#birds

The upside-down life of hanging parrots How to defecate while hanging upside down without soiling your beautiful green plumage.

Meet the 'bat parrot' that is sleeping upside down! 🦜🙃💚🪶

... another beautiful, fascinating bird threatened by habitat loss. 😥

beaksandbones.substack.com/p/hanging-pa...

#bird #parrot

Last week no living person had seen a #kakapo lay an egg. Now you can watch it on our webcam: Rakiura laid her second today (15:01 on 25/1/2025). She'll probably lay another in 3 days' time. #conservation #kakapo2026 #birds www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/kak...

Kākāpō Cam: Rakiura live stream Watch the live stream of Rakiura the kākāpō on the remote, predator-free island of Whenua Hou/Codfish Island in Aotearoa, New Zealand. This is the first breeding season for this critically threatened ...

We've got a new #kakapo webcam! It's on Rakiura's nest on Whenua Hou. She laid an egg yesterday (we caught that on camera), but isn't incubating it yet. Follow to (hopefully) watch her lay more! #conservation #birds
www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/kak...

A female kākāpō on a nest, with one egg visible. Credit: Andrew Digby

Three #kakapo nests found on Anchor Island today! Here’s Waikawa, on two eggs. #conservation #birds #parrots

Want to adopt a kākāpō as well to support the great work of the Kākāpō Recovery Program? 👇
www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/kak...

#kakapo #conservation 🪶

Nora has mated!!! She's the kākāpō we adopted, and I'm so excited to hear that she might have chicks once more. Let's hope she'll lay fertile eggs. 🪺🪶 #kakapo

💚 GO, NORA, GO! 💚

These hummingbirds evolved dagger-like bills for aggressive fights Male hermit hummingbirds use their sharp, long, and straight bills in aggressive fights—all to impress females.

#Hummingbirds are more than just the fairy-like, fragile beauties they're often portrayed as. 🧚‍♂️🪶
They're also aggressive fighters. ⚔️

Read about the "dark side" of hummingbirds in my latest newsletter! 👇
beaksandbones.substack.com/p/dagger-bills

#scicomm #beaksandbones #biology #birds #science