BirdNote Daily

Nest Building

09 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Want to try building a nest? Consider this... An average American Robin weighs less than three ounces. An average person weighs 170 pounds, or 1,000 t...

Cuckoos - Tent Caterpillar Birds

08 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

One of two species of cuckoos in North America, the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, pictured here, lives in broadleaf forests throughout the East and riparian s...

From Bobwhite Coveys to Pairs

07 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Throughout winter, Northern Bobwhites gather in groups called ‘coveys’ to search for food during the day and share warmth at night. These small qu...

Monk Parakeets

06 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you live in the U.S., parrots might seem like ambassadors from far-off rainforests. Especially since the Carolina Parakeet, a native species once c...

Camille T. Dungy on Nature and Motherhood

05 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Writer Camille T. Dungy’s book Trophic Cascade deals with themes of nature and becoming a mother. The title is an ecological term, referring to the ...

Rapid Evolution in the Galápagos Islands

04 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists have long thought that new species took a very long time to emerge. This thinking has now changed dramatically. On an island in the Galápa...

Kari Sasportas on Advocating for Autistic Birders

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For Kari Sasportas, who helps lead the Feminist Bird Club of Boston, birding is a way to become absorbed in the sensations of the outside world —  ...

White-crowned Sparrow

02 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The White-crowned Sparrow pours out its song over and over on spring and summer days-and even on moonlit nights-often up to 15 times a minute. Now her...

Spring Rain Refreshes a Desert

01 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Springtime in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in southeastern California. Cacti and wildflowers glisten with raindrops, and birds begin to sing. A ...

Have You Ever Seen a Tom Turkey's Beard?

31 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With his brilliantly colored plumage fanned out in display, this tom (male) Wild Turkey is a handsome sight to behold. He has a bright red head, long ...

A Natural Feast for Hummingbirds

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hoping to attract hummingbirds to your yard or balcony? One way is to grow native plants. Native plants provide cover, and they offer nectar in spring...

Kingbirds Steal from Wasps

29 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kingbirds are robin-sized flycatchers that excel at plucking insects from the air. They’ll even tackle prey as big as cicadas. Finding naturally-cam...

Robins and Earthworms: The Backstory

28 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When glaciers pushed south into what is now the U.S. around 20,000 years ago, they scraped off the soil layer and spelled the end of native earthworms...

Common Yellowthroat

27 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Common Yellowthroats are one of the most abundant warblers in North America. They’re adaptable birds, thriving in places that pickier warblers pass ...

Responsible Birdfeeding

26 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A clean feeder is a life-and-death matter to some birds. To protect the birds at your feeder, clean it at least once a week, more often if necessary. ...

Fastest Bird on Two Legs

25 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Imagine an Ostrich, an Emu, a roadrunner, and the world’s fastest man and woman, all lined up for a race. Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt holds the men’...

The Bobolink's Remarkable Journey

24 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As Bobolinks return to North America from the tropics each spring, they have good reason to sing with joy. The two-ounce birds have completed one of t...

Melanin Makes Feathers Stronger

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Many species have black feathers on the trailing edge of their wings, regardless of what color most of their feathers are. Birds as different as gulls...

Birds Expanding the Human Imagination

22 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Glenn Albrecht grew up in a “bird lover’s paradise” in western Australia. But when he saw how coal mining displaced communities, polluted the ai...

Squirrel or Bird?

21 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Identifying birds by ear means getting familiar with each species’ unique voice. And that means learning the other voices in the ecosystem, too. Squ...

Spring Bursts Forth

20 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

People often say that spring “bursts” forth. But this seasonal change isn’t like flipping a switch. It’s more like a series of waves breaking ...

American Woodcock

19 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

At sunset, the male American Woodcock - a plump, robin-sized bird - walks slowly on short legs from the cover of the forest to a nearby clearing. Afte...

Zone-tailed Hawks Mimic Vultures

18 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Zone-tailed Hawks of the American Southwest look a lot like Turkey Vultures. And they often soar among groups of Turkey Vultures. By consorting with v...

Pigeons Love Cities - But We Loved Them First

17 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Though some might see them as winged rats in today’s cities, pigeons have a long-standing bond with people -- especially in our urban environment. F...

Spark Bird: Jerome Gaw at the Aquarium

16 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Jerome Gaw got the chance to volunteer at the Aquarium of the Pacific, he was stoked. He'd loved sharks and marine life since he was a kid. But f...

How Do Birds Brake from Flight?

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Birds are often admired for their ability to fly. But braking just in time to avoid a crash landing is amazing by itself. How does a robin go from ful...

Poisonous Birds

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The world is full of poisonous creatures. Some butterflies, beetles and frogs use bright colors to warn birds and other predators that they’re full ...

Counting Ducks with Alison Vilag

13 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Alison Vilag has worked for half a decade as a fall and spring waterbird counter at remote migration hotspots around Lake Superior. For weeks, every d...

Drumming with Woodpeckers

12 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Like a jazz player beating out a drum roll, a woodpecker uses its bill to rap out a brisk series of notes. Early spring resounds with the percussive h...

Bushtits

11 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Weighing about as much as four paperclips, Bushtits are smaller than many hummingbirds. And they take full advantage of their diminutive size. While l...

The Chihuahuan Meadowlark

10 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2022, ornithologists recognized the Chihuahuan Meadowlark as a separate species rather than a subspecies of the Eastern Meadowlark. Named after the...

The Delightfully Odd Magellanic Plover

09 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Magellanic Plover is known for being a bit of an oddball. These shorebirds have a round body like a dove and even feed their young with milk produ...

The World's Most Abundant Bird

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

An estimated 1.5 billion Red-billed Quelea live in Africa today, making them the most abundant of all wild birds. The sparrow-sized Red-billed Quelea ...

Black Swifts Reach for the Moon

07 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tracking devices revealed that Black Swifts spent over 99% of their time in the air during the winter, almost never touching the ground for months. Wh...

Adaptations for Flight

06 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Birds evolved not only wings, but many other adaptations that make it possible to fly. Feathers provide insulation, waterproofing, and a lightweight m...

Birds Move from Fresh to Salt Water

05 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

To hear a Common Loon in the wild during summer, you’ll need to find a northern, freshwater lake where a pair is nesting. But to find that same Comm...

Sage Thrasher and Sagebrush

04 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The glorious song of the male Sage Thrasher rings out every spring from tracts of sagebrush throughout the West. Sagebrush was once widespread in the ...

To Beta or Not to Beta

03 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Male Lance-tailed Manakins pair up to perform choreographed courtship displays for females. Known as cooperative courtship, it involves one alpha male...

Diving Birds Are Dense

02 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While many birds have hollow bones that make flying a breeze, diving birds are built differently. The bones of divers such as Common Loons are denser ...

Black-billed Magpie

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Black-billed Magpie is a familiar sight throughout much of the West. The magpie's bulky nest is a rough sphere of sticks nearly three feet across,...

Dreading the Terns

28 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In June of 2022, Adé Ben-Salahuddin worked as a volunteer research assistant on a tiny island off the coast of Maine at a Common Tern breeding colony...

Northern Saw-whet Owl - A Bird with a Lot to Say

27 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For such a small owl, the Northern Saw-whet has a lot to say. And a lot of ways to say it. Males weigh about as much as an American Robin. And they se...

Rough-legged Hawk

26 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After breeding on Arctic cliffs and tundra hillsides in summer, Rough-legged Hawks winter throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Open country is their id...

Common Eiders Favor Close Relatives

25 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Some species of birds try to save energy by tricking others into incubating their eggs. But if the parasitic female is a related species, she may have...

Volunteer for Project FeederWatch

24 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Project FeederWatch is a community science project studying over 100 species of birds that spend their winters in North America. From November through...

A Heron Nest Starts with Just One Stick

23 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

During winter and early spring, Great Blue Herons build their nests high in the treetops. The male delivers the supplies to the nest site stick by sti...

On Pigeon Patrol at the Train Station

22 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Vahé Alaverdian of Falcon Force, along with his Harris’s Hawk named PacMan, have partnered with the San Francisco Municipal Railway to deter pigeon...

New Sam Peabody

21 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In late winter, White-throated Sparrows erupt into song, easily set to human words: “Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody.” Or “Oh, sweet Canada, C...

Annakacygna – The Ultimate Bird

20 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Like today’s swans, the extinct species Annakacygna hajimei and Annakacygna yoshiiensis were quite large. But unlike their modern relatives, these b...

Wilson’s Phalarope

19 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If any bird is an anomaly, it’s the Wilson’s Phalarope. In a birdbook, Wilson’s Phalaropes are found among the sandpipers. But they forage while...

Feeding Frenzy

18 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's late winter at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, Florida. Many birds have finished nesting, and young birds are everywhere...

The Cactus Wren’s Signature Voice

17 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Most wrens in North America are small, furtive birds that stay deep in the vegetation. But the Cactus Wren is large, bold, and brassy. These wrens are...

Join the Great Backyard Bird Count

16 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Over the course of four days in February, the Great Backyard Bird Count gathers heaps of info about birds all over the world — and helps people conn...

Protecting the Rimatara Lorikeet

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With brilliant crimson chests, green backs and blue crests, Rimatara Lorikeets are stunning birds. The last native population of the lorikeets survive...

For White-throated Swifts, Love Is in the Air

14 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For some birds, love is in the air. When a pair of White-throated Swifts wants to get to know each other, they meet up — on the wing — high above ...

Salt Flats as Bird Habitat

13 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the Salt Flats of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, the Indigenous Taino people found a way to harvest salt long before Europeans arrived. But this unique ec...

Double-jointed Hawks and Convergent Evolution

12 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Crane Hawks of Central and South America and African Harrier-Hawks both have legs that bend forward and backward. Each bird’s wonderfully peculiar l...

Why the Black Skimmer Skims

11 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

That’s not a distant dog barking. It’s a Black Skimmer in flight, at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia. This striking, black-a...

Participate in Project NestWatch

10 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Organized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Project NestWatch is made up of volunteers around the world who monitor bird nests, reporting whether the...

Small Birds Mob Big Ones

09 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When smaller birds join forces to ward off larger birds, it's called mobbing. This behavior — like calling your family for help — is used by many ...

The Mississippi Sandhill Crane Makes a Comeback

08 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While most Sandhill Cranes migrate, the Mississippi population lives year-round in wet pine savanna near the Gulf Coast. Their dependence on this uniq...

Winter Birds Love Suet

07 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Birds at a suet feeder... What a burst of vitality on a chilly morning! What's the attraction? A cake of suet, suspended from a branch in a small wire...

Renaming the San Pedrito

06 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Puerto Rican Tody is a tiny green bird found only in Puerto Rico, where the species is called San Pedrito. But the scientific name for these birds...

Winter Birds of Southern Florida

05 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s winter in North America — a good time to head for the subtropical realms of South Florida and listen to the region’s birds, such as the sec...

Birds Are Evolving Rapidly - Today

04 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

House Finches are evolving rapidly and visibly. In 1941, some captive House Finches from California escaped near NYC. They spread rapidly and are now ...

Watch Animals Migrate with Journey North

03 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

An organization called Journey North consists of a network of community scientists who observe local animal migrations – everything from monarch but...

Voices and Vocabularies - How Birds Sing So Loudly

02 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When a Carolina Wren like this one sings, something remarkable happens. These birds can sing so loudly that you almost have to shout to be heard over ...

Cranes’ Voices Across the Globe

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are fifteen species of cranes across the globe, found everywhere but Antarctica and South America. During the winter, cranes forage and rest tog...

Singing for Julián Chiví

31 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1980s, mining companies made plans for huge open-pit mines in the mountains of Puerto Rico. An organization called Casa Pueblo successfully cam...

Turkey Vultures and Gas Pipelines

30 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Do vultures detect carrion by sight or by smell? The lightbulb moment came to ornithologist Kenneth Stager when a Union Oil employee told him of vul...

Great Blue Heron, Alone Again

29 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Great Blue Herons nest in colonies, in adjoining trees or with several nests in one tree. But by autumn, the adults and gangly young have left the nes...

Birdhouses in Turkey

28 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s easy to imagine that putting up a birdhouse or nestbox is a relatively recent practice. But in Turkey, it has a long history. Since at least th...

If You See a Bird with Leg Bands

27 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you see a wild bird with a small metal band around its leg, that means researchers have given the bird a unique ID to keep track of it over the cou...

The Big Thicket - America’s Ark

26 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tucked away in southeast Texas is one of the most remarkable enclaves of nature. Known as The Big Thicket, this region is home to ten different ecosys...

Cuba’s Giant Eagles

25 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Thousands of years ago, giant raptors lived on what is now Cuba. Gigantohierax is an extinct genus of eagles whose fossils have been found in local ca...

Clever Nuthatches

24 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Of the four nuthatch species living in the United States, the most common are the Red-breasted Nuthatch, seen left here, and the White-breasted Nuthat...

Birds Winter at the Salton Sea

23 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

California's Salton Sea is hot and smelly - and it's also a Mecca for thousands of wintering birds. This inland sea formed when the Colorado River bre...

Northern Cardinal - Meet the Cardinal

22 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Is there any doubt about the identity of America's best known red bird? Surely it's the cardinal or, as you'll find it in a bird book, the Northern Ca...

Common Poorwills Can “Hibernate”

21 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Common Poorwills don’t sing much when the mercury drops. But they can do something else that is remarkable. As the winter cold deepens, these petite...

An Ever-Growing Library of Bird Sounds

20 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Most of the bird sounds you hear on BirdNote come from the Macaulay Library, a vast collection of over one million bird calls and songs curated by the...

Woodpeckers Love Ants

19 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Woodpeckers, as a group, eat far more ants than most other birds do. Many other vertebrates tend to avoid ants because of their stings or because of t...

The Skatebirder

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dave Mull is not your typical birder — he's a professional skateboarder, or a “skatebirder” as he puts it. He brings binoculars with him when he...

Identifying a Bird in Flight

17 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most difficult skills to pick up as a birdwatcher is how to identify birds in flight. You have to sort through a series of visual clues all...

Saving the Puerto Rican Parrot

16 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2017, Hurricane Maria tore through the island, causing widespread destruction for both people and for birds. The critically endangered Puerto Rican...

Thick-billed Euphonia - Deceitful Mimic

15 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Northern Mockingbirds can learn to mimic the sounds of just about any bird. They mimic to show off, not to deceive. But this Thick-billed Euphonia, a ...

King Penguins - World's Largest Kazoo Band

14 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While it’s still winter in many parts of North America, it’s summer in Antarctica. And the King Penguins are singing! Some form breeding colonies ...

Help eBird Fill in the Gaps

13 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

eBird, an online tool for submitting bird observations, allows scientists to keep track of birds around the world. eBird now has over one billion bird...

Yellow-rumped Warbler - The Winter Warbler

12 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

By winter, most warblers have migrated south. But the Yellow-rumped Warbler, which birders affectionately call “butterbutt” is a lesson in adaptat...

Spark Bird - Glenn Albrecht and the Gray Fantail

11 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Glenn Albrecht grew up in western Australia, where he became enamored with birds.As he grew up, Glenn witnessed how coal mining devastated the Austral...

The Song of the Canyon Wren

10 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Canyon Wren makes its home on the steep rocky outcrops and vertical stone cliffs of the coulees and mesas of the West. The birds are found from Me...

BirdNoir: Staging a Bird-Murder

09 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of BirdNoir, the Private Eye sees some suspicious activity: a House Sparrow tries to steal a nestbox from Tree Swallows, but then flee...

The Music of Herring Gulls

08 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For some of us, it’s hard to get excited about gulls. But they are just as fascinating – and have as much to tell us – as other birds. Take the ...

A Wide World of Crows

07 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Crows are found on every continent except South America and Antarctica. And while there are a lot of similarities, there are a lot of differences, too...

Bohemian Waxwings Wander South

06 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In winter, when snow blankets the northern states, nearly all of the songbirds that graced the days of summer are gone. But there’s one special wint...

The Acoustic Value of the Cloud Forest

05 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Mashpi cloud forest in Ecuador grows where water vapor from the Amazon meets the Andes mountains. A lush forest home to over 400 bird species, it ...

Ptarmigan Toes

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With its rubbery-sounding rattles and clownish red eyebrows, the ptarmigan is quite the stand-out northern bird. As winter approaches, the ptarmigan’...

Meadowlark and the Monster

03 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this story from Nimiipuu culture, Meadowlark is likened to the ‘reporter’ of Western grasslands, singing its song from the tops of fenceposts a...

The Music of Long-tailed Ducks

02 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Long-tailed Ducks are back for the winter from the north, where they nested on tundra ponds and marshes. These diving ducks spend the winter in deep s...

Wrens from North to South

01 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are nearly ninety species of wrens in the world, and quite a few are exceptional singers. Nearly all of them reside in the Western Hemisphere, w...

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

31 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

National Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is birdy at any time of year. But in winter, this mixture of cypress swamp and pineland comes alive with ...