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BirdNote

Escape the daily grind and immerse yourself in the natural world. Rich in imagery, sound, and information, BirdNote inspires you to notice the world around you. Join us for daily two-minute stories about birds, the environment, and more.

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Montezuma Oropendola's High-Security Nesting

BirdNote ·

2025/07/11

A male Montezuma Oropendola holds forth in a tree bedecked with twenty or more hanging nests. The nests are intricately woven sacks hanging three feet or more from the branches. Oropendolas favor trees that are separate from other trees and often build near large nests of wasps, whose stinging

Altamira Oriole

BirdNote ·

2025/07/10

It was only in 1939 that this Altamira Oriole was first found north of the Rio Grande River. Now it happily visits residents on the Texas side of the river, especially where a juicy orange half waits in a backyard feeder. Northerly breeding orioles, like Bullock's in the West and the Baltimore in

Thick-billed Longspur

BirdNote ·

2025/07/09

It can feel like there’s nowhere to hide in the shortgrass prairie. But the Thick-billed Longspur calls this place home. The bird’s burbling song helps create the high plains’ soundscape. The species was formerly named McCown’s Longspur after a Confederate general who participated in genocide

Sastrecillos: Un cantante pequeñito

BirdNote ·

2025/07/08

Con un peso similar al de cuatro clips, los sastrecillos ( Psaltriparus minimus) son más pequeños que muchos colibríes. Y aprovechan al máximo su diminuto tamaño. Mientras otras aves insectívoras buscan alimento sobre las hojas, los sastrecillos cuelgan por debajo, atrapando a los insectos pequeños

Least Auklets: Seabirds in Miniature

BirdNote ·

2025/07/07

The family of seabirds called alcids is an eclectic bunch that includes puffins and murres. The largest alcids are about the size of a duck, but the smallest — called the Least Auklet — could fit in the palm of your hand. With their short wings whirring, these miniature seabirds look like swarms of

Help eBird Fill in the Gaps

BirdNote ·

2025/07/06

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 observations from more than 700,000 people — most of them community scientists who care about their local birds. And as more people in more places

What Are Birds Saying with Their Crests?

BirdNote ·

2025/07/05

A bird’s crest is made up of a slender array of feathers on top of their head. These feathers are a bit longer and can be spiked up or slicked back, depending on what the bird is trying to communicate. Even birds without crests, like crows or sparrows, sometimes puff up their short crown feathers

Sizing Up Sharp-shinned Hawks

BirdNote ·

2025/07/04

Sharp-shinned Hawks are swift, bird-catching predators. The male is jay-sized. The female stands a head taller and weighs almost twice as much. Female birds of prey are most notably bigger than males among hawk species that hunt very agile prey, such as other birds. The smaller male will tend to

'What is a birder?' with Rosemary Mosco

BirdNote ·

2025/07/03

Rosemary Mosco’s latest book, The Birding Dictionary, is a tongue-in-cheek guide that defines many of the terms that you might hear on a bird outing, like calling a particularly cute bird a "birb" or shortening the word binoculars to just "bins" or "nocs."

Shorebirds Watch Their Feet

BirdNote ·

2025/07/02

Greater Yellowlegs — not surprisingly — have bright yellow legs and feet. And why? While foraging through shallow water, a yellowlegs can keep track of its legs by the color, which contrasts with the sometimes dark and irregular bottom. A Sanderling, on the other hand, has black legs and feet. Its

Vencejos que siguen la luna

BirdNote ·

2025/07/01

Los dispositivos de rastreo revelaron que los vencejos negros ( Cypseloides niger) pasaron más del 99 % del invierno en el aire, casi sin tocar el suelo durante meses. Y no solo eso: ¡llegaron a alturas increíbles, alcanzando sus mayores altitudes durante las noches de luna llena, a veces por encima

How Writer Amy Tan Helps Backyard Birds

BirdNote ·

2025/06/30

Writer Amy Tan’s work is known all over the world. And thanks to her latest best-seller, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, she’s now also known for her deep love of birds. Tan not only spends time interacting with birds, she also comes up with creative ways to help them. This episode was produced as

The Colors of Chicken Eggs

BirdNote ·

2025/06/29

Except around Easter, chicken eggs usually come in a predictable range of colors: white, brown, and sometimes pale blue or green. Chickens are descended from the Red Jungle Fowl of Southeast Asia, which has been providing eggs for humans for thousands of years. The final color of an egg comes from a

The Plover and the Hurricane

BirdNote ·

2025/06/28

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 from something rather surprising: hurricanes. Superstorm Sandy left behind plant-free, sandy beaches on barrier islands in New York and New Jersey

Pigeon Guillemots Have Fun

BirdNote ·

2025/06/27

Although many seabirds utter groans and croaks, the Pigeon Guillemot produces a lovely series of trills and whistles. As part of their courtship, they fly side by side in large circles and loops, a perfectly synchronized flying act. These guillemots do not breed until they are between three and five

Why Are Blackbirds Black?

BirdNote ·

2025/06/26

Why are blackbirds black? One possible answer is that black is conspicuous against just about all of Nature's backgrounds. Blackbirds, like this flock of Red-winged Blackbirds and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, feed on the ground. Whenever a predator approaches, they take flight. Coming together quickly

How Nestlings Leave the Nest

BirdNote ·

2025/06/25

Young birds leave their nests in different ways. Some shuffle tentatively along the nearest branch and practice flapping their wings, while others take the "big leap." Which path they take depends upon their species and the location of the nest. Young Great Horned Owls clamber out of the nest to

Las aves costeras cuidan sus pasos

BirdNote ·

2025/06/24

No es de sorprender que los patamarillas mayores tengan patas y pies de color amarillo brillante. ¿Por qué? Mientras caminan por aguas poco profundas, un patamarilla mayor ( Tringa melanoleuca; como este) no deja de ver sus patas gracias a su color, mismo que contrasta con el oscuro e irregular

Pelagic Birds by Boat

BirdNote ·

2025/06/23

Some birds spend most of their lives on the open ocean, only coming to land when it's time to breed. These high-sea specialists are called pelagic birds, which include jaegers, petrels, and albatrosses, among many others. The best way to see them for yourself is by setting sail on a pelagic birding

Advice to Beginning Birders from David Sibley

BirdNote ·

2025/06/22

David Sibley, creator and illustrator of The Sibley Guide to Birds, offers this advice to people learning to identify birds: “Spend time at home, paging through the field guide . . . by flipping through the pages of the book and looking at pictures and reading the names, you’ll start to get a sense

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