BirdNote Daily

“Clearing” by Camille T. Dungy

18 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, writer Camille T. Dungy shares the poem “Clearing” from her new book, Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden.More info and ...

What Makes Feathers Both Strong and Light

17 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Bird feathers are famously light, but they’re also strong, holding up under tricky flying and high winds. They’re made of beta keratin, a tougher ...

How Toucans Stay Cool

16 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Toco Toucan of South America has evolved to stay cool in the sweltering heat of the tropics. Relative to its body size, the Toco Toucan has the la...

Eavesdropping on Babies

15 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Around this time of year, many baby birds are begging their parents for food. A Hairy Woodpecker chick calls from its nest carved deep within a dying ...

Milkweed: A Whole Ecosystem on a Plant

14 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Milkweed plants are important to Monarch butterflies, which depend on milkweed to raise their caterpillars. But Monarchs aren’t the only ones who be...

Why Do Owls Bob Their Heads?

13 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you were to stand face to face with an owl, including this Great Gray Owl, it would eventually move its head, bobbing rhythmically from side to sid...

Bill McKibben on Leaving Behind a Better World

12 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

 Writer and environmentalist Bill McKibben has been pushing for climate solutions for decades. Now in his 60s, Bill’s working to organize people ag...

Grounded Geese

11 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In spring and summer, the paths around local ponds might have some fluffy obstacles: young goslings along with their caring and defensive parents. Adu...

Seabirds Thriving on Volcanic Slopes

10 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In August 2008, Kasatochi Island erupted in the middle of auklet breeding season, burying tens of thousands of chicks in hot ash. At first, the auklet...

Just Whose Ducklings Are Those?

09 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s spring, and a female duck swims across a pond with ducklings in tow. Some of the youngsters might not be her own. Wood Ducks and others may lay...

How Birds Produce Sound

08 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nearly all birds produce sound through an organ unique to birds, the syrinx. In many songbirds, the syrinx is not much bigger than a raindrop. Extreme...

Music of a City Lake

07 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A city lake is one of the most prized places in a fast, growing environment. It’s also often difficult to distinguish all of the bird calls from eac...

The Elegant Black Tern

06 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Elegant Black Terns breed in summer on secluded wetlands across the northern states and Canada. Because of major losses of wetlands in their breeding ...

Isaiah Scott on Birds in Gullah Geechee Culture

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Isaiah Scott is a twenty-year-old birder who already runs a popular Instagram account called Ike’s Birding Hikes. He has a passion for learning more...

Bald Eagles’ Daredevil Cartwheel Flight

04 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Two eagles locking talons high above the ground might look like they’re risking injury, but it’s a normal courtship behavior called the “cartwhe...

Clean Beach Week

03 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week is Clean Beach Week. Many busy beaches are also where declining species such as Piping Plovers and Least Terns have their nests. Keeping lit...

Megapodes - Mound-Builders

02 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a group of birds that lay their eggs underground — in geothermally heated burrows, or  warm sands, or even mounds of organic material war...

Wetland Birds Thrive

01 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While nearly a third of North American bird species are in decline, many birds that depend on wetlands are thriving. Duck breeding populations in 2009...

Traveling with Blue-winged Teal

30 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Noticeably smaller than Mallards, Blue-winged Teal wings have large patches of powder blue edged in emerald. Blue-winged Teal are long-distance migran...

The Color of Birds' Eyes

29 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Peer into the world of birds, and eyes of many different colors peer back. While eye color isn’t tied to one group of birds or another, a common pat...

Dudley Edmondson on Black Outdoor Role Models

28 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As a kid in Columbus, Ohio, Dudley Edmondson came to love being outside, despite having few outdoor role models who looked like him. As he progressed ...

Yellow Warblers in a Changing World

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In spring and summer, Yellow Warblers sing from treetops to stream sides. While their beauty and songs commonly light up our most vibrant months, they...

Tree Swallows and Feathers

26 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tree Swallows glisten in the June sunlight, as they swoop and glide, their arcs interlacing in the air. When a white feather flutters down among them,...

How Many Eggs to Lay?

25 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When nesting, most birds lay a predictable number of eggs. Bald Eagles: 2. Bluebirds: 4 to 6. Mallards: 10 to 12. But how do they determine when they ...

Seeds of Attraction

24 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What is it that draws us to a romantic partner? Birds have lots of ways to catch the attention of a mate. Most cranes duet with prospective partners f...

The Lustrous Purple Gallinule

23 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What’s the most colorful bird in the U.S.? The Scarlet Tanager? Maybe the Painted Bunting? Well, consider one more lustrous candidate: the Purple Ga...

World Rainforest Day

22 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tropical rainforests are stunning places. Despite covering a small part of the Earth’s surface, they support half of the world’s biodiversity. The...

Incarcerated Women Helping Raise Butterflies

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This spring, Bring Birds Back host Tenijah Hamilton traveled to Washington state to meet up with incarcerated women who are part of the Sustainability...

California Condor

20 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

During the days of mammoths and saber-toothed cats, California Condors thrived over much of the continent. Today, they're one of the most endangered b...

Holy Chickens

19 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The modern chicken, a descendant of the Red Junglefowl, was domesticated thousands of years ago. But chickens haven't always just been farm animals. D...

Black-bellied Plover, Arctic Nester

18 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, June days offer almost continuous daylight to breeding birds, including this Black-bellied Plover. At this hig...

Baby Birds Move Out of the Nest

17 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After they leave the nest but before they take flight, many baby birds - especially robins and flickers - spend time on or near the ground. If you see...

The Endangered 'Akiapōlā'au

16 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The 'Akiapōlā'au is a bright yellow bird with a black eye mask, found only in the upper elevations on the Big Island of Hawai'i. But its most distin...

Cliff Swallow--Strength in Numbers

15 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cliff Swallows gather in spring, in nesting colonies of up to 3,700 nests. Look for swarms of them under bridges, under the eaves of barns, or even th...

Birds Need Water in Summer

14 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Summer is a crucial time to keep your backyard birds supplied with water for drinking and bathing. Birdbaths set at different heights serve a great va...

Why Do Birds Flick Their Tails?

13 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The way that some birds flick, wag, or flare their tails can be distinctive. A flicking or flashing tail might suggest to a predator that a bird is pa...

Gull-billed Tern

12 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Gull-billed Tern are terns with black caps and unusually thick bills– like a gull. This lets them eat more types of prey than other terns that r...

Marsh Voices at Sunrise

11 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In marshes across the country, birds awaken on a summer morning. Tall dense grasses and reeds often make marsh birds hard to see, but their voices car...

Dry Tortugas Archipelago

10 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From a bird's perspective, the Dry Tortugas, a cluster of islands in the Gulf of Mexico, can be a life-saver. Millions of migratory songbirds fly nort...

Changing How You Hear the World

09 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We often hear from listeners that BirdNote has changed the way they see and interact with the world around them. It's had that impact for those of us ...

An Unlikely Burrowing Owl Boomtown

08 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon, a landscape dotted with a thousand concrete bunkers, may not look like an ideal haven for birds.  But the site...

Behind the Scenes

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It takes a lot to bring you the rich sounds of birds yodeling, cooing, and screeching to you each day. It's a meticulous process of researching, writi...

'Akē'akē

06 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Known locally as 'Akē'akē, the Band-rumped Storm-Petrel is one of the smallest and rarest seabirds that nests in the Hawaiian Islands. To protect th...

Birdnote’s Chirpy Cheerful Theme Song

05 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Listeners are always curious about the origin of BirdNote's theme song. In this show, learn how Grammy-Award winning artist Nancy Rumbel and the BirdN...

Insects Are Essential

04 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Insects sustain our ecosystems, as a food source and pollinators of 90% of all plants. But their numbers have dropped by half in the last 50 years, so...

How the Woodcock’s Journeys Connect Us

03 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this show, Marcus Rosten shares his involvement in a study of the American Woodcock with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservatio...

Lilli Holden on Birding with Students in Chicago

02 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Lilli Holden is an emerging environmental leader in Chicago. She visits local schools and leads students outside to see birds. Lilli says the students...

Binoculars 101

01 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A decent pair of binoculars can considerably enhance your enjoyment of birds. In this episode, Dara Miles Wilson — a naturalist with Montgomery Park...

Lauren Pharr on Being a Black Field Biologist

31 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For her PhD, Lauren Pharr took on a challenge: studying Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, which make their nests high in pine trees. But as a Black woman work...

The Freedom Song: Harriet Tubman’s Barred Owl Call

30 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Harriet Tubman was a heroic abolitionist in the cause to end chattel slavery. She was also an excellent astronomer and naturalist — and an expert bi...

The Robin Rescue

29 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Adé Ben-Salahuddin stopped to help a trapped young bird on his way home from work, he found an unexpected source of help: an older Black woman w...

The Red-winged Blackbird

28 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Red-winged Blackbird is the theme bird for this year’s Black Birders Week. Deja Perkins, who helps organize the event, introduces us to this spe...

City Gulls - Rooftop Nesters

27 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Juvenile Glaucous-winged Gulls are taking flight over downtown Seattle. In Chicago, young Ring-billed Gulls are heading for Lake Michigan. And before ...

Barn Swallow, Natural Pest Control

26 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Barn Swallows have adapted to nesting near people, and build their cup-shaped mud nests in barns or garages, or on protected ledges, often near each o...

The Secretarybird: Eagle on Stilts

25 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Secretarybird of sub-Saharan Africa looks like a slim eagle set on the long, slender legs of a crane. Secretarybirds can fly but prefer to hunt on...

Making Wind Farms Safer for Birds

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Climate change poses a big threat to all life on earth, and birds are no exception. Garry George is the director of the Clean Energy Initiative for th...

Voices and Vocabularies - Robin's Evening Song

23 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

During the day, an American Robin, a member of the thrush family, sings a lovely, familiar song of rich phrases. But as the sun begins to set, robin s...

Voices and Vocabularies - Songs Long and Short

22 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When a Sage Thrasher, perched on a clump of sagebrush, tips its head back to sing, the notes rush forth. They often sing non-stop for at least two min...

Drinking on the Wing

21 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Many birds drink while standing — dipping their beaks into a pond or birdbath, taking a beakful, and then tossing their heads back to swallow the wa...

Western Tanagers Are Flashes of Bright Color

20 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Western Tanagers dart from tree to tree, on the lookout for delicious bugs. They’ll find them by scanning the tree bark — or maybe snatching them ...

Instrumental Bird Sounds

19 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Birds communicate with a fascinating array of instrumental sounds, and nearly all are made with their feathers or bills. The territorial drumming of a...

Júlia d’Oliveira on Recreating Extinct Animals

18 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Júlia d’Oliveira is a paleoartist who brings extinct species to life in artwork. For each species she illustrates, she learns everything she can ab...

Don’t Separate People from Nature

17 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The environmental movement has historically been very white. As a conservation scientist for the National Wildlife Federation, Corina Newsome works wi...

Birds that Sound Like Cats

16 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Named after their distinctive cat-like “mew” call, Gray Catbirds are mimic thrushes, related to mockingbirds and thrashers. They can imitate a wid...

Brooklyn's Blue Jays

15 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Brooklyn’s Prospect Park covers more than 500 acres — many of them covered in trees. One bird species that calls the park home is the strikingly b...

Bee Hummingbird

14 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Bee Hummingbird, found only in Cuba, is the smallest bird in the world. An absolute miniature, even among hummingbirds, it measures only two and a...

The Eyes of an Owl

13 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Peer into an owl's face – there is something almost human about its large, forward-facing eyes. The Great Gray Owl, which stands two feet tall and w...

Chickadees Clean Up After the Youngsters

12 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Imagine this Black-capped Chickadee flying toward its nest, carrying fresh insects for its chicks. A moment later, it emerges with a tiny white pouch ...

Working to Protect the Capercaillie

11 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The native pinewood forests of the Scottish Highlands are home to many species, but among the most striking is the Western Capercaillie – the larges...

Parakeets Underground

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Burrowing Parakeets excavate deep nest tunnels in sandstone and limestone cliffs in Argentina and Chile. The colony’s many tunnels zigzag and interc...

Spring Birdsong in the Arctic

09 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Spring has reached the Arctic. Low-growing wildflowers carpet slopes of tundra, and arriving migratory birds begin to sing: Lapland Longspurs, Hoary R...

Learning to Listen - Patterns in Songs of the Song Sparrow

08 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Heidi Hoelting, a musician, listens carefully to the songs of birds. In her piano studio at her home in the woods, she wrote down several variations o...

What Are Birds Saying

07 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A bird’s crest is made up of a slender array of feathers on top of its head. These feathers are a bit longer and can be spiked up or slicked back, d...

A Drive Along on a Bar Ditch

06 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the rural Southeast, roadside ditches – known as “bar ditches” – carry on for miles. The term bar ditch probably comes from their construct...

Great Horned Owl III

05 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This Great Horned Owlet - about 2-1/2 months old and already as big as its parents - is quite well feathered, although its underparts remain downy. It...

American Kestrel

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The American Kestrel is the smallest, most numerous, and most widespread North American falcon. This bird is built for speed, its long pointed wings o...

Pigeons Make Milk

03 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Pigeons, one of the most ancient of domesticated animals, feed their nestlings a peculiar, milky substance, straight from the adult’s beak to the ba...

American White Pelicans

02 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

American White Pelicans have a nine-foot wingspan, nearly that of the California Condor. In summer, they breed mainly in the interior west of the Unit...

California Quail, Up and Running

01 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The most distinctive characteristic of the California Quail is the black, forward-facing topknot that juts out from its forehead like a small flag. Th...

How Much Birds Sing

30 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A typical songbird belts out its song between 1,000 and 2,500 times per day. Even though most bird songs last only a few seconds, that's a lot of warb...

Thirsty Rufous Hummingbird

29 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hummingbirds need to consume five times their body weight each day. This Rufous Hummingbird of the West is looking for flowering plants to quench that...

Delhi’s Jain Bird Hospital is Free

28 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

At Charity Birds Hospital, a small staff takes care of approximately twenty-six hundred  birds at a time, providing antibiotics, medicine, food, and ...

The Plover and the Hurricane

27 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Piping Plovers are tiny, sand-colored shorebirds that nest on the beach. They’re threatened in much of their range. But plovers have gotten a boost ...

Sean Hill on Nature, Place, and Black Life

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Poet Sean Hill performs three poems that encapsulate his dynamic relationship to birds, travel and life as a Black wanderer in the great outdoors. Fir...

A Lost Hummingbird is Found Again

25 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Santa Marta Sabrewing is a hummingbird species so rare, they’ve only been documented twice in recent years. Native to the mountains of Colombia,...

White-throated Swifts

24 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A pair of White-throated Swifts twists and turns, sailing through the air. Dashing headlong across the canyon toward an unyielding wall, the birds dis...

The Early Bird

23 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We've all heard that the early bird gets the worm. But research shows that birds dining early and heavily may lower their life expectancy. Socially do...

The Legendary Phoenix

22 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The ancient Greeks and Egyptians described a mythical bird called the Phoenix, a magnificent creature that was a symbol of renewal and rebirth. Accord...

What’s a Field of Grass to a Bird?

21 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Although a field of grass might not seem like valuable habitat at first, many birds have adapted to nest in grassland habitats and nowhere else. In No...

House Wrens and Dummy Nests

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There may be no busier bird during the nesting season than a male House Wren. Just a day or so after completing his spring migration from the tropics,...

Raising the World’s Deadliest Bird

19 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You might think the first bird species that humans raised in captivity would be a relatively small one, like a chicken. But evidence suggests that peo...

Spring Migration Across the Globe

18 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Each spring, millions of birds head north. From Ecuador, beautiful Scarlet Tanagers fly to the eastern US and Canada, many traversing the Gulf of Mexi...

Great-tailed Grackle

17 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Great-tailed Grackles live up to their name. The glossy black males trail their long, V-shaped tails behind them as they fly, almost like a plane towi...

Brewer’s Sparrow, Sagelands Singer

16 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most musical and complex bird songs in the US is that of the Brewer's Sparrow. It's a veritable aria, ringing forth from the sagebrush of E...

Recycle Your Eggshells to Help Nesting Birds

15 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Female birds need to eat calcium to have enough of the mineral to lay their eggs. But it can be hard to find enough of it to eat in nature. We can hel...

The Eagle Eye

14 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ever heard the term “eagle eye”? An eagle’s vision is incredibly sharp, and its eyes can weigh more than its brain. The secret to the bird’s e...

Magpies Help Each Other Remove Tracking Devices

13 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tracking birds can be tricky — even with GPS technology. Around 70% of bird species are just too small to carry a GPS battery. But recently, Austral...

Stefania Gomez - Swifts

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Each September, thousands of Vaux's Swifts roost in the chimney of Chapman Elementary School in Portland, Oregon, a stopover on their southern migrati...

A Kettle of Vultures

11 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the daytime, hot air rises as the sun heats the ground. The rising column of air is called a thermal, and it’s the perfect way for a Turkey Vultu...

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet Tunes Up

10 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is one of the smallest songbirds on the continent, weighing in at just a little more than half a chickadee. Mostly green and ...