CSI: Audubon
December 13, 2016 7:54 PM   Subscribe

Audubon Magazine profiles Pepper Trail, Forensic Ornithologist.

Among his other accomplishments, Trail created the North American Feather Atlas.
posted by zamboni (10 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
Despite my initial imaginings, using ornithological expertise to help solve crimes against birds makes more sense then solving crimes against humans. Still, that's a damn cool job done by a damn cool person.
posted by figurant at 8:14 PM on December 13, 2016


The feather atlas alone is a treasure. I have this collection tattooed on my arm now.
posted by rtha at 8:37 PM on December 13, 2016 [10 favorites]


Nowadays the Feather Atlas, which doesn’t have any dedicated funding and is managed by a single volunteer and Trail, has grown into a digital destination that gets 1.4 million hits a year

Jesus.
posted by rtha at 8:42 PM on December 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


This is my new favorite thing.
posted by pipoquinha at 9:10 PM on December 13, 2016


Before I clicked on the actual links, I assumed Pepper Trail must be, like, Mark Trail's cousin or something, and this was a bird-centric spinoff strip.

But this dude is so cool that I'm not even disappointed:
Give him a single feather or a small fragment of a claw or a cooked hunk of breast meat, and he’ll tell you the species of bird from which it came.
!!!
posted by dersins at 9:30 PM on December 13, 2016 [3 favorites]


Pepper Trail didn’t set out to make a name for himself in the dark world of avian-associated crimes. He was born in Virginia—his great-grandfather was Paris Pepper Trail, and his great-uncle was Peach Trail
This is great!
posted by Songdog at 4:48 AM on December 14, 2016 [3 favorites]


The interesting scientist and the story are great, that is. The crimes against protected species are awful.
posted by Songdog at 5:06 AM on December 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


This reminded me of the FPP about the retirement of the Caltech glassblower, in terms of the scientific community not having a ready replacement for someone who has a niche.

Your Feather Atlas tattoo is amazing, rtha.

Thanks for posting - I really enjoyed reading this. (Aside from, as Songdog says, the crimes against protected species. Those poor hummingbirds, all squeezed to death.)
posted by minsies at 7:01 AM on December 14, 2016


This is my new favorite thing.

The fact there is someone named Pepper Trail is my new favorite thing. That he speaks in this way is a bonus:

As familiar as Trail is with death, these hummingbirds pack an emotional punch. “Their very tininess makes them delightful and charming. Their extraordinary flying ability makes them impressive and awe-inspiring,” he says. “Our power compared to their power is so great that it seems particularly perverse and cruel to kill them.”
posted by NorthernLite at 8:33 AM on December 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


Somebody please write a series of cozy mysteries about this guy. PLEASE.
posted by joyceanmachine at 11:40 AM on December 14, 2016 [3 favorites]


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