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This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

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Defector

a close-up shot of a large gray bird called a harpy eagle looking unrepentant in a tree

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Creaturefector

Yes, I Attacked That Woman, And I’d Do It Again


<p>charismatic megafauna (they/them)</p>


Typing

Sabrina Imbler

1990s Single Male Anna Hummingbird Calypte Anna Western USA And Canada (Photo by T. Ulrich/Classicstock/Getty Images)

Hummingbird

The Hummingbirds Brought Me Around

A still from a video capturing a red male cardinal staring menacingly at his reflection in the side-view mirror of a white car

Screenshot 2024-12-18 at 10.22.25 AM

Birdfector

It’s So Confusing Sometimes To Be A Bird

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Barry Petchesky

A 16 foot sculpture of a pigeon named dinosaur at the Highline in New York City on November 4, 2024. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/AFP)

US-LIFESTYLE

Arts And Culture

The Big Pigeon Isn’t Scary Enough

two penguins stand in front of an inflatable rainbow arch in a penguin enclosure

Screenshot 2024-08-22 at 10.55.14 AM

Sphen The Gay Penguin Broke The Ice

<p>Matt Ufford is the head of video and audio at Yahoo Sports.</p>


ufford-author

Matt Ufford

A yellow-headed caracara close to reasonably priced children’s clothes and locked-up deodorant. Photo: Matt Ufford

caracara

Wings Week

Let The World Come To You On The Wings Of Vagrant Birds

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Tom Ley

Jokic bird

Nikola Met A Bird

Greenfinches and Goldfinches on and around a bird feeder.

Busy Bird Feeder

You’re A Birder, James Hetfield

An image of Flaco in his chain-link exhibit at the Central Park Zoo

Screen Shot 2024-02-27 at 10.23.36 AM

What Do We Owe Zoo Animals?

Flaco

Flaco Never Escaped

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Kelsey McKinney

Flaco, a brown and black Eurasian eagle owl who escaped the Central Park Zoo, roosts in a tree in New York's Central Park with a squirrel nearby.

Flaco, an escaped Eagle owl, remains in Central Park

Animals

Flaco Gave Us A Willingness To See The World

An African grey parrot looking at the camera

Let The British Parrots Say “Fuck”

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<div class="p-rich_text_section">Tom Scocca is the editor of <a href="http://indignity.net">Indignity</a>, a subscription-supported newsletter of news, essays, and commentary.</div>
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Tom Scocca

A male blue jay, perched on a branch with green foliage in the fore- and background.

Blue Jay

Margin Of Error

The Omens Are Bad

A beautiful Streaked Shearwater in flight seen in the sea of Toshima.

Get Ready With Me (A Streaked Shearwater)

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 15: Flaco, a Eurasian eagle owl that escaped from the Central Park Zoo, continues to roost and hunt in Central Park, February 15, 2023 in New York City, New York. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

Flaco Has Flown Free

LAKE FOREST, CA - JULY 16: Dr. Scott Weldy of the Orange County Bird of Prey Center holds a Cooper"u2019s hawk just prior to releasing it near Lake Forest on Thursday, July 16, 2020. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

Bird Of Prey Release

North American Birds Will No Longer Be Named After People

A pigeon looks in the photographer's camera in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on November 17, 2016. / AFP / dpa / Frank Rumpenhorst / Germany OUT (Photo credit should read FRANK RUMPENHORST/DPA/AFP via Getty Images)

GERMANY-ANIMALS-PIGEON

Birds Are More Like Us Than You Think, Olivia Rodrigo


<p>Visual Editor. Runs <a href="http://defectorstore.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">defectorstore.com</a>. Philadelphia-based, if you couldn’t tell.</p>


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Dan McQuade

The new Saint Joseph’s Hawk, flapping his wings next to a statue of a real Hawk, with the slogan THE HAWK WILL NEVER DIE

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St. Joe’s Just Couldn’t Get Any More Hawk Feathers

a magpie nest in a tree. the nest is built from a bunch of anti-bird spikes, which are long spiky needles attached to strips.

Magpie nest, Antwerp (BE), photo Auke-Florian Hiemstra

There’s No Such Thing As Hostile Architecture When You’re A Bird

birds

This Is A Public Service Announcement For Every Bird

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 13: Starting pitcher Zac Gallen #23 of the Arizona Diamondbacks gestures at home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus #18 during the fourth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field on May 13, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona.

zac-gallen

Zac Gallen Is Now An Enemy Of The Birds

NCAA Division I Mascot Analysis - Four mascots listed Florida Atlantic: Owlsley Temple: Hooter Kennesaw State: Scrappy Rice: Sammy Also a milk carton with "WHERE IS HOOT?" and a picture of him on it and an OWLFECTOR logo with two little owls perching on it

owls-defector

College Basketball

Owl You Need To Know About Owl Mascots

Flaco 6

Oh No! The Big, Beautiful Owl Got Out!

A domestic pigeon that has been dyed pink with hair dye.

pink pigeon 2 phyllis tseng WBF

Justice For Flamingo, Who Did Not Consent To Being Dyed Pink

Wisdom the Laysan Albatross resting on her nest

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Wisdom The Laysan Albatross Is The Most Beautiful 71-Year-Old In The World