Alexandra Tey

Alexandra Tey is a writer in New York City covering biodiversity and the climate. She is also a skilled photographer, fact-checker, and birdwatcher. Her writing has appeared in Slate, Curbed, and The New York Times. She writes about birds on Substack at Rare Bird.

Currently an editorial intern at The Nation, Alex previously interned at Audubon magazine and the Center for Biological Diversity. At New York University, Alex reported on urban wildlife, transgender activism, the 2024 student protests, Joan Didion, and Slavoj Zizek for the Washington Square News student newspaper.

Alex also leads bird walks for the New York City Bird Alliance, Queer Birders, and the Feminist Bird Club, and has photographed apparel lines for Bird Collective. She is working on a book about the Saltmarsh Sparrow.

writing

Selected clips. You can find a full list of Alex’s bylines here.

May 10, 2024 — The New York Times

Bird Flu Is Already Here. Just Look at the Millions Killed.

“We don’t yet know if H5N1 bird flu will spill over from animals to infect a large number of humans. But already it has wrought devastation upon so many lives.”

April 30, 2024 — Curbed

The Showdown at NYU Over Public Space

“Barricading Gould Plaza wasn’t NYU’s first move to head off protests. Since October, the school has increasingly, even preemptively, shut down access to its once-open spaces. The university that describes itself as ‘a campus without walls’ is now closer to a fortress.”

March 16, 2024 — Slate

This Shouldn’t Be New York City’s Most Common Tree

“The London planetree is a symbol of European settlement, biodiversity collapse, and Robert Moses.” (Selected as one of JSTOR Daily’s 2024 Best of Suggested Readings.)

July 7, 2025 — DEfector

The Anti-Fascist Power Of Trans Women Wrestling In Nacho Cheese

“In rejecting respectability and embracing vulgar, lowbrow art, Twinks vs. Dolls joins a lineage of gay cultures that made no apologies for their crudest elements.”

photos

Birds, landscapes, cities, and people. A list of Alex’s published photo credits can be found here. She’s on Instagram at @alextey.jpg.

contact

You can reach me by email at a [dot] tey [at] pm [dot] me. If you want to talk about a tip, email me there to get my Signal number.

I used to publish sheet music transcriptions here and on YouTube, but I don’t do much of that anymore. These days, I’m active on Bluesky at @birdmotif and inactive on Twitter at @phoebeposting. My Substack is Rare Bird.