Maja Mielke (she/her)

@maja-mielke.bsky.social

Biologist, nature artist, science writer & bird enthusiast.

I write 'Beaks & Bones,' a science blog on birds.
Subscribe now 👇 for fascinating bird science stories! 🪶
https://beaksandbones.substack.com

Contact: https://maja.mielke.ws/contact/

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 14, 2026, 4:30 AM

Day 14 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge.
🪶🐦🍁✒️

The Victoria Crowned Pigeon!

(reference photo by sf shen from Unsplash)

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #birdsofmastodon #ink #drawing #art

Ink drawing of a Victoria Crowned Pigeon.

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 13, 2026, 4:14 AM

Day 13 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge.
🪶🐦🍁✒️

The Himalayan Monal!

(reference photo by Pratap Gurung, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #birdsofmastodon #ink #drawing #art

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 12, 2026, 4:34 AM

Day 12 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge.
🪶🐦🍁✒️

The Sharp-shinned hawk!

(reference photo by ewransky, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #ink #drawing #art

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 5:28 AM

Day 11 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge. 🪶🐦🍁✒️

The Shoebill!

(reference photo by Happysurd Photography from Unsplash)

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #ink #drawing #art

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 6:06 AM

Day 10 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge. 🪶🐦🍁✒️

The Crimson Rosella!

(reference photo by Stephen Tafra from Unsplash)

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #birdsofmastodon #ink #drawing

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 4:22 AM

Day 9 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge. 🪶🐦🍁✒️

The Rook!

(reference photo by Andrey Larionov from Unsplash)

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #ink #drawing #art

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 4:24 AM

Day 8 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge. 🪶🐦🍁✒️

The Spectacled owl!

(reference photo by Chris from Surrey, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #ink #drawing

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 4:32 AM

Day 7 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge. 🪶🐦🍁✒️

The Bee hummingbird - the smallest bird in the world!

(reference photo by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #ink #drawing

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 4:20 AM

Day 6 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge. 🪶🐦🍁✒️

The Paradise Tanager!

(reference photo by Drew Avery, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #ink #drawing

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 5, 2026, 6:17 AM

Day 5 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge. 🪶🐦🍁✒️

The Atlantic canary!

(reference photo by Juan Emilio from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #ink #drawing

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 4, 2026, 6:30 PM

Day 4 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge. 🪶🐦🍁✒️

The Gouldian finch!

(reference photo by William Warby from Unsplash)

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #ink #drawing

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 6:42 AM

Day 3 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge. 🪶🐦🍁✒️

The Resplendent quetzal!

(reference photo by Carlos Damian from Unsplash)

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #ink #drawing

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 2, 2026, 4:35 AM

Day 2 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge. 🪶🐦🍁✒️

The beautiful little 'I'iwi!

(reference photo by Melissa McMasters from Memphis, TN, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #ink #drawing

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Oct 1, 2026, 7:18 AM

Here we go! Day 1 of my Ink-Birdtober challenge. 🪶🐦🍁✒️

We start with the Lilac-breasted Roller from Africa.

(reference photo by Laya Clode from Unsplash)

#inktober #birdtober #birds #birdart #sciart #ink #drawing

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Sep 30, 2026, 9:22 AM

Only one day left until October! 🍁🧡🍂

Last year was the first year I finished the #Inktober challenge—31 ink drawings in 31 days!

This year, I’ll go fully avian and use the #Birdtober prompt list by Andrea Holmes.

Who wants to join? Let’s connect and do this together!

#sciart #birdart #drawing

Ink drawing of a village weaver hanging upside down under his nest, working on the construction with his beak.

The Birdtober prompt list, with 31 bird names listed in three columns. Title of the list: Birdtober Official 2026 prompt list. The background of the image is light green, and there are three bird illustrations in both upper corners and the lower left corner.

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Sep 30, 2026, 8:48 AM

Retrieving cached food requires much more than just remembering where you buried your snacks.

Scrub jays also remember what they cached and when—and retrieve perishable snacks first! 🐦️🧠🩵

👇️ Learn more in my latest post for Beaks & Bones! 🪶🧪
beaksandbones.substack.com/p/episodic-l...

#ornithology

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Sep 10, 2026, 7:19 AM

Jetzt könnt ihr den Vogel des Jahres 2027 wählen! 🐦️ 🪶
www.vogeldesjahres.de

Ich bin Team Kranich. Wen wählst du?

@maja-mielke.bsky.social Sep 2, 2026, 9:05 AM

Brand new #research found that iron-containing cells in pigeons' livers may help them sense the Earth's magnetic field.

#Nature is weird. 🤯 #Birds are amazing. 🐦

👇 Read the full story in my latest Beaks & Bones post.
beaksandbones.substack.com/p/pigeon-mac...

#scicomm #ornithology #pigeons 🧪🪶

@digs.bsky.social Aug 31, 2026, 8:49 PMReposted by @maja-mielke.bsky.social

325 #kakapo! The chicks from this year's record breeding season are now juveniles and so have been added to the population. In 1995 there were just 51 kākāpō left. Recovery of critically endangered species _is_ possible with sustained effort. #kakapo2026 #conservation #parrots