BirdNote Daily

Claire Wahmanholm: You Can Always Hear the Highway

26 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Poet Claire Wahmanholm's work focuses on nature and the environment. As she was walking around a nature preserve north of Chicago, Claire was listenin...

Cactus Wren Nest Orientation

25 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Cactus Wrens, which may nest several times between March and September, carefully orient their nests in tune with the season. These bulky twig structu...

Green-winged Teal by the Millions

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Green-winged Teal are North America's smallest dabbling duck, at just over a foot long and weighing less than a pound. The male has a cinnamon brown h...

Great Tinamou, Eerie Voice in the Jungle

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The eerie sound of the Great Tinamou can be heard in the lowland jungle throughout much of Central and South America. Secretive — and almost impossi...

Hawai‘i as a Model for Conservation

22 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With invasive species and climate change, Hawai‘i has experienced so much loss and extinction since Western colonists arrived. But Sam ‘Ohu Gon, t...

How Cliff Swallows Build a Nest

21 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When Cliff Swallows arrive on the breeding grounds in North America, the dirty work begins. The swallows scoop up mud in their beaks and carefully bui...

Creating Bird Habitat at Home

20 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One of the biggest threats to birds is the decline in biodiversity due to habitat loss — and the traditional, manicured lawn isn’t helping. Growin...

The Secret to Singing Like a Cardinal

19 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Northern Cardinals have vocal abilities that surpass even the most accomplished human singers. When cardinals sing, they sweep their voices from the h...

Recognizing a Stranded Loon

18 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Loons are built for life in the water – so much so that their legs don’t work well on land. During migration, loons sometimes mistake wet pavement...

Aplomado Falcon

17 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Aplomado Falcons were once widespread residents of the American Southwest, but by the 1950s, they'd disappeared entirely from the region. Loss of habi...

Lee Ann Roripaugh: String of Beads

16 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When writer Lee Ann Roripaugh visited the annual staging grounds of Sandhill Cranes in Nebraska, she was in awe of the birds. During their spring migr...

Why a Gorget Glitters

15 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A hummingbird's brilliant throat feathers are called a "gorget," a term applied in past centuries to the metallic swatch protecting the throat of a kn...

How Birds Survived the Asteroid

14 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The asteroid that struck the Yucatán 66 million years ago wreaked worldwide ecological damage, spelling the end for most dinosaurs and destroying the...

White-tailed Hawks on the Texas Coastal Plain

13 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The White-tailed Hawk thrives in the grassy plains of the Texas Coastal Plain, where many tropical species reach the northern limit of their ranges. W...

Spark Bird: John Kessler and the Music of Birds

12 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

John Kessler served as BirdNote’s senior producer for over 18 years. But before BirdNote existed, he was recording the sounds of Seattle for public ...

Burrowing Belted Kingfisher

11 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Belted Kingfisher dashes through the air, warning intruders with its rapid-fire, rattling call. In spring, the best places to see Belted Kingfishe...

Aviary: Bird Echolocation to the Rescue

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode featuring Aviary — the shapeshifting bird superhero — the surprising abilities of birds come in handy when a student gets lost exp...

Birds Dress for Spring

09 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's spring! And for many birds, a time to look their best to attract a new mate. This American Goldfinch has recently molted. Its old, worn-down feat...

Lyrebirds Shift the Earth

08 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Beavers are well known as ecosystem engineers in North America. In Australia, lyrebirds play a big role in shaping their environment when they use the...

House Wren – Little Brown Dynamo

07 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

House Wrens dart from perch to perch and sing almost nonstop. They’re one of the most thoroughly studied songbird species. House Wrens nest in cavit...

Mockingbirds Mimic Frogs

06 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The avian world is full of mimicry artists, but Northern Mockingbirds take it to a new level. Not only can they imitate other birds, they can mimic fr...

High Island, Texas

05 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Each spring, millions of songbirds migrate north from the tropics to nest in North America. It takes 15 hours on average to cross the roughly 500 mile...

Poetry Month: Susan Nguyen

04 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For National Poetry Month, we’re sharing contemporary writers’ work about birds. Poet Susan Nguyen got a hummingbird feeder from her neighbor in 2...

A Hawk That Hunts in Packs

03 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Most raptors are solitary birds, but Harris’s Hawks of the southwestern U.S. live and hunt in groups of two to six. After spotting a prey animal, th...

Two Wings and a Tail

02 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Wilson's Snipe lives in marshes and muddy areas, where it probes for worms and other squirmy delights. But when spring comes, it takes to the air....

An April Fool's Birdsong Quiz

01 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this April Fool’s Day quiz from BirdNote, we play the sounds of three birds — only one of which is real. See if you can tell which one, and let...

Flying with Birds and Bats

31 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bats and birds have evolved very different ways of flying. Birds have stiff feathers projecting from lightweight, fused arm and hand bones; bats have ...

The Warbler That Loves Pines

30 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Pine Warbler is one of the few warblers that make appearances at bird feeders. They live year round in pine forests of the southeast U.S. and seve...

Listen for Tapping

29 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Woodpeckers are our most familiar bird carpenters, but other birds also chip out nests in trees and wood structures. Nuthatches — like this Red-brea...

Using Sound to Bring Rails Back into Wetlands

28 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rails are secretive marsh birds, and they’re on the decline. But a researcher playing their recorded calls over a loudspeaker could help bring them ...

BirdNoir: A Dark and Stormy Night

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of BirdNoir, Private Eye Michael Stein gets a call from his friend Billy, a mail carrier. Billy says he hasn’t seen a single bird on...

Birds on the March with Army Ants

26 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As thousands of army ants march through a rainforest in Panama looking for food, countless insects try to escape. Antbirds follow the ants, waiting fo...

In the Dark with Boreal Owls

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Boreal Owls are highly adapted to hunt in long hours of winter darkness. Uniquely, one ear opening in the skull is set high and the other much lower, ...

Do Penguins Blush?

24 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Humboldt Penguins living along the Pacific Coast of Chile and Peru are adapted to cold. But on land, temperatures rise to 100+ degrees, and penguins n...

Songs and Calls – They're Not the Same

23 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

To our ear, the haunting song of this Hermit Thrush is musical, even ethereal. To another Hermit Thrush, the song signals that a male is laying claim ...

Keeping Wood Storks on the Road to Recovery

22 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With their bare heads, long legs and massive bills, Wood Storks seem to have flown out of a fairytale — but in the American South they’re a real-l...

Everybody Knows a Mallard

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mallards are found virtually everywhere there is open water, from city parks and subalpine lakes to sheltered bays and estuaries along the coasts. In ...

Janet Ng on Becoming a Wildlife Biologist

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When Janet Ng was a kid, there was a very specific moment when she realized what she wanted to be as a grown-up: seeing a wildlife biologist being int...

Geese Aloft: Flock Voices of March

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Geese migrate north between February and April, making stopovers along the way to rest and eat. Most are bound for their breeding grounds in the far n...

Flying Dinosaurs: Leaping and Gliding

18 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For years, scientists debated whether the first flying dinosaurs, the ancestors of modern birds, began by running and making little hops off the groun...

Bird Seed

17 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When buying seed for your feeders, it’s tempting to get the biggest, cheapest bag. But not all bird seed is the same. Figure out the nutritional val...

Tune Up Your Ears – East

16 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

By March in the East, cardinals and other songbirds that don't migrate are already singing heartily to attract mates. Many other birds – including Y...

Jacana, aka Lily-trotter

15 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The strange wading birds known as jacanas are nick-named "lily-trotters" for their ability to walk on lily pads. In Jamaica, they're known as "Jesus b...

Create Bird Habitat at Home with Native Plants

14 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Birds have lost many habitats they’ve called home for millions of years, but people can help create bird habitats wherever they live. It all begins ...

Reddish Egret - Lagoon Dancer

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Reddish Egret, a particularly glamorous heron, is best known for its startling antics in capturing fish. When fishing, the egret sprints across th...

Birding 101: Learning How to Strike Out

12 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When you go birding, sometimes you’re in the right place at the right time and there are more species than you can count. Other times, not so lucky....

Rainwater Basin

11 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For 20,000 years, spring rains and melting snow have filled the playas of the Rainwater Basin of south-central Nebraska. As winter ends, 10 million wa...

Sandgrouse: Desert Water-carriers

10 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sandgrouse live in some of the most parched environments on earth. To satisfy the thirst of their chicks, male sandgrouse carry water back to the nest...

The Nasally Fish Crow

09 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The harsh caws of American Crows are one of the most familiar bird calls in North America. Fish Crows sometimes join flocks of American Crows as they ...

Introducing Aviary, the Shapeshifting Bird Superhero

08 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we meet Aviary: the superhero alter-ego of a mild-mannered birder bitten by a radioactive feather mite. Aviary became able to shapesh...

Tree Swallows Spend the Winter

07 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Most swallow species that nest in North America eat almost nothing except flying insects. When the bugs die off in the fall, the swallows head south t...

Using Birdsong to Check a River’s Health

06 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

John Zaktansky leads the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, which is using recording devices to identify birds by sound on different parts of...

Great Horned Owls Nest II

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When Great Horned Owl eggs hatch, the downy owlets are the size of newborn chickens. Their mother broods them day and night. A few weeks later, the ow...

Giving Chimney Swifts a Place to Live

04 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Before chimneys existed, Chimney Swifts relied on old hollow trees for nesting and roosting. They can’t perch, they can only cling to a rough vertic...

Birdbaths in Winter

03 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Does the image of a frozen birdbath bring to mind a small yellow bird with ice skates? Birds need water in all seasons, for drinking and for bathing. ...

Turkey Vultures on the Move

02 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Before we see or feel spring, we often hear it first — in the testimony of a Red-winged Blackbird, the energy of a Song Sparrow, or the serenade of ...

An App That Helps You Hear High-Pitched Bird Songs

01 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For years, nature recordist Lang Elliott came up with clever ways to hear high-pitched bird songs despite his high-frequency hearing loss. Lang teamed...

Leaping with Sandhill Cranes

29 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With a graceful leap, wings outstretched, Sandhill Cranes welcome the longer days. The stately cranes are courting, renewing an annual dance they perf...

How Noise Pollution Affects Birds

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Clinton Francis is a sensory ecologist who studies how noise pollution affects birds, like this Black-headed Grosbeak. He says sounds from machine...

Observe First, Photograph Second

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When Day Scott teaches people how to take pictures of birds, she emphasizes observing birds carefully before picking up the camera. Sometimes that mea...

Birds, Berries and Germination

26 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Some plants have evolved fruits with edible flesh that attract birds. When birds swallow the fruit, they also ingest the seeds. They transport the see...

Hovering Is Hard Work

25 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hummingbirds are built for hovering flight, with flexible wrists that rotate their wings in a rapid figure-eight motion that generates almost constant...

Biomimicry - Japanese Trains Mimic Kingfisher

24 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1990s, train engineers in Japan built trains able to travel nearly 170 miles per hour. The problem was that when the trains exited a tunnel, th...

Dining with Sanderlings

23 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While many shorebirds have gone south, tiny sandpipers called Sanderlings are easy to find on winter shores. They follow the waves as they lap in and ...

Creating Abstract Paintings of Migratory Birds

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Artist Debra Ramsay became fascinated with the way that birds and their colors mark changes in the seasons. In her “Migrations” project, she paint...

Tennessee Warbler, Nectar Thief

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tennessee Warblers love drinking nectar, but they do it without helping to pollinate flowers. By tapping a hole into the base of a flower, these warbl...

Lesser Yellowlegs, Loud and Proud

20 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When the shorebirds called Lesser Yellowlegs sense a threat to their nest, they’ll put up an unforgettable racket to drive the danger away. Smaller ...

Nictitating Membranes - Nature's Goggles

19 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For most birds, keen eyesight is critical for survival. But many birds lead lives that can be very hard on the eyes — like flying at breakneck speed...

Finding Food When it Snows

18 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Fresh-fallen snow is beautiful, but it poses a challenge to birds. The ground where they found food is now covered by several inches of snow. Birds su...

Costa Rica Winter Sunrise

17 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On a winter morning in Costa Rica, a colorful choir welcomes the day. A pair of Bay Wrens sings a brisk duet just before sunrise. Perched in the upper...

Cockatoos and People Trying to Outwit Each Other

16 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In several neighborhoods of Sydney, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos have learned ways to open trash bins and grab some leftover food. Researchers found that...

Memory of the ‘Ō‘ū

15 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sam ‘Ohu Gon was one of the last people to see an ‘Ō‘ū, a native Hawaiian bird that’s presumed to be extinct. He’s worked at the Nature Co...

Tokens of Affection

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Birds have many ways of showing affection for their partners. One way is allopreening, where a bird uses its bill to groom a mate, twirling each indiv...

Rainbow-Billed Toucan: The Flying Banana

13 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Keel-billed Toucan, also known as the Rainbow-billed Toucan, looks like a bird with a giant banana for a beak. They have a black body, a yellow pa...

Telling Apart Two Cheery Bird Songs

12 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The American Robin and the Baltimore Oriole both have cheery, upbeat songs. At first, you might think there’s no way to tell these two cheery, upbea...

On a Cold, Cold Night

11 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When the bitter cold of winter arrives, songbirds face an emergency: how to keep warm through the night. On normal nights, many prefer sleeping solo i...

Trumpeter Swans Rebound in Arkansas

10 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trumpeter Swans weigh over 25 pounds and measure about five feet from beak to tail. They were nearly hunted to extinction by the turn of the twentieth...

Sandhill Cranes Are Expanding Their Range

09 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In some parts of North America, Sandhill Cranes are common as ants at a picnic. In New England, on the other hand, they’ve been almost as rare as pt...

Migrations: Pine Siskin Irruption

08 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Do you ever see flocks of birds in your yard that show up in droves one year, but are completely absent the next? Some nomadic species such as Pine Si...

Making Roads Safer for Wildlife and People

07 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Roads can get people where they need to go. But they often run right through wildlife habitat, creating a deadly hazard for animals on the move. Liz H...

Song of the Mountains: The Brown-backed Solitaire

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Brown-backed Solitaires are ordinary-looking: medium-sized, gray-brown birds. But they have one of the most melodic, complex songs in the world, ringi...

Bird Tracks in the Snow

05 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Look for the stories birds tell with their tracks in the snow. A crow swaggers, leaving right-and-left steps much as a walking human would. Juncos und...

BirdNoir – Dial E for Eagle

04 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this BirdNoir mystery, the private eye fields a call from a woman who says a large bird that looks like a Bald Eagle stole a Rainbow Trout from her...

Here Come the Barred Owls

03 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The emphatic hoots of a pair of Barred Owls resonate in the still of a winter's night. Like many owls, Barred Owls initiate their vocal courtship in w...

Wandering Tattlers Traverse the Pacific

02 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Wandering Tattler is one of the few birds equally at home along the coast and high in the mountains. They’re found far and wide along Pacific sh...

Bluebirds Close to Home

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bluebirds can bring flashes of azure color and mellow songs to where you live. The best way to bring them close to home is with nest boxes. You’ll n...

Baby Birds' Bizarre Beaks

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Most baby birds are adorable little floofs — but not all of them. The tongue and palate of estrildid finch chicks are strangely spotted and ringed. ...

The Wonderchicken!

30 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2018, paleontologist Daniel Field took a closer look at specimens from an amateur fossil collector. His team used micro-CT scanning, kind of like a...

Birding 101: Bird Vocab Basics

29 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Any hobby or special interest has its own jargon. You’ll pick up on the silly slang that birders use as you go – like calling the Yellow-rumped Wa...

The Ferocious Feet of the Great Horned Owl

28 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Great Horned Owls excel at nocturnal hunting, thanks to their acute senses and stealth — but their feet let them secure squirming prey. The outermos...

Razorbills Swim in Synchrony

27 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Razorbills, a cousin to the puffin, nest in colonies on cliffs. Before they lay eggs, Razorbills take part in two unique social behaviors. In one, the...

The Red-bellied Woodpecker and Its Curious Name

26 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are bold, conspicuous, and vocal, thriving in rural and urban areas east of the Mississippi. Like most woodpeckers, Red-bellie...

Songbirds: The Large and Small of It

25 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The group of birds called “songbirds” — the perching birds — is incredibly broad. Half the world’s 10,000 birds are in the songbird group, a...

Blackbirds' Strange Music

24 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Blackbird songs have a strange music. The Red-winged Blackbird can be heard in nearly every marsh on the continent — bold, brassy, and piercing. The...

Ducks That Whistle

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Whistling as they fly, Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks are gorgeous waterfowl with bright pink bills and legs, chestnut necks and backs, and black under...

Bohemian Waxwings – Exquisite Winter Visitors

22 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's winter, and apples litter the ground. A few still hang, frozen and thawed again and again. Suddenly a flock of hundreds of birds rises from the g...

The Tui of New Zealand

21 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Tui is one of New Zealand’s most remarkable birds, intelligent and with iridescent feathers. Its down-curved beak fits perfectly into native flo...

Why Is My Robin Half White?

20 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A bird with abnormal white feathers, like this American Robin, may have a genetic condition called leucism. Leucism prevents pigments from reaching so...

Welcoming Back Common Loons

19 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The call of the Common Loon is a symbol of the far north. But the species once nested as far south as southern New England, Ohio, Iowa, and California...

Groove-billed Anis, Communal Nesters

18 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Groove-billed Anis gather in loose groups. And with good reason. They nest communally. As many as four or five pairs of birds may use one nest, a bulk...