I read with some amusement and some horror (about the article she referred to) Sheri Williamson’s article Where do I begin?, which is a response to the ignorance and misinformation being spread in an article that appeared on All Sands. Sheri chose a very appropriate photo which she calls “face-palm worthy.” I call it “makes me want to bang my head against a wall.”
For those of you who don’t know Sheri, she is one of the leading hummingbird experts in the country and has authored A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America (a Peterson Guide), Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds, and contributed to six other references about birds. Her blogs include Life, Birds, and Everything and Birders on the Border, and she runs, with her husband Tom, the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory, where they specialize in educational seminars and field trips about the many hummingbirds (at least 15 species) that make this part of Arizona a must-visit place for every birder.
Now, if I had a question about anything hummingbird related, Sheri would be the go-to person. I would trust any information she gave me because she is a trustworthy, extremely knowledgeable and reliable source.
But the point is, you cannot just blithely believe everything you read or see on TV, whether in a book or online or on HGTV. You must question everything and learn to develop critical thinking skills to do your own homework. Until you know who is a reliable source and can be trusted, check everything. At the very least, do a google search or a wikipedia search to verify the truthfulness of what you are reading.
It is a personal peeve of mine when books whose goal is to attract wildlife continue to recommend invasive plants. Actually it is a peeve of mine every time I see people spreading false or misleading information. It appears that Sheri’s personal peeve is when people spread highly misleading and inaccurate information about hummingbirds, and I am so glad she took the time to point out all of the errors in that article. Thank you, Sheri!
I’m serious, don’t even trust me until you have checked me out. Although I am committed to bringing you well-researched information, I could potentially make an error, and would hope that someone would help me to correct it.
What misleading or false information have you seen?
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About Carole Sevilla Brown
GREAT title, Carole! Thanks for the compliments and blog plug.
.-= Sheri Williamson´s last blog ..Where do I begin? =-.
Recommending using non-native (but not invasive) plants is very common in order to attract hummingbirds or even butterflies. Although it is annoying to see so many sources listing non-native plants for hummingbird feeding, it is not as counterproductive as using non-native plants for butterfly or “pollinator” gardening (which is another pet peeve of mine, and I ranted briefly about this at my blog.
One post of mine you might find interesting is about using native plants to attract hummingbirds.
Great blog, I look forward to your updates.
David
.-= David´s last blog ..Build a suet feeder in five minutes =-.
David, I totally agree that non-native plants are of very little use in a butterfly or pollinator garden because our native insects do not use these exotic them in their larval forms.
I have looked at your blog and you’re writing some very interesting stuff. But the links you gave to your articles returned a “page not found” error, so I have removed them from your comment so people aren’t frustrated by following dead links. They can still get to your blog by following the link to your last post.