Alexandra Tey
is an environmental journalist.
Alex covers biodiversity and the climate with a particular interest in birds as a writer, fact-checker, and photographer in New York City. Her work has appeared in Slate, Curbed, and The New York Times; she has interned at The Nation, Audubon, and the Center for Biological Diversity. At New York University, Alex served as editor-in-chief of the Washington Square News student newspaper.
As a birdwatcher, Alex leads bird walks for the New York City Bird Alliance, Queer Birders, and the Feminist Bird Club. She is working on a book about the Saltmarsh Sparrow and writes on Substack at Rare Bird.
writing
Selected clips.|All bylinesFact-checkingSubstack
This Little Bird Is in Big Trouble—and Trump Is Making Things Worse
Even before the current assault on biodiversity, one East Coast songbird had slipped through the cracks and was plummeting toward extinction.
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.
The Bald Eagle Perfectly Embodies America's Flaws
We as a nation have come to identify a set of virtues in the bald eagle that we claim for ourselves — when, in truth, they are virtues we both lack.
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.
Trans Girl Baseball Makes Me A Better Woman
When I picked up a glove and ball alongside women I now call my friends, the kid I once was began to reconcile with the woman I wanted to be.
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 less active on Twitter at @birdmotives. I post photos on Instagram at @birdmotives, writing on Substack at Rare Bird, and sightings on iNaturalist and eBird.