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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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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

What’s in a Name? A Bird!

BirdNote ·

2025/06/21

Names are conventions, right? But some names contain something special: a bird! For example, the name Paloma comes from the colloquial name in Spanish for the common pigeon, but as a human name it often refers to doves. Or Garzón, my last name, is derived from Garza, or Heron, in Spanish. Listen to

Black-bellied Plover, Arctic Nester

BirdNote ·

2025/06/20

In the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, June days offer almost continuous daylight to breeding birds, including this Black-bellied Plover. At this high latitude, Black-bellied Plovers can complete their breeding cycle in a month and a half. Not long after the summer solstice, the adults begin their

As the Crowe Flies

BirdNote ·

2025/06/19

Crows play many roles in human cultures, from ominous tricksters to sacred purveyors of wisdom. After exploring the stories behind her family surname, attorney and playwright Alice T. Crowe discovered a deep historical connection between the racist symbology of Jim Crow and the negative image of

If You See a Bird with Leg Bands

BirdNote ·

2025/06/18

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 course of its life. You can report the sighting to the Bird Banding Laboratory, a part of the U.S. Geological Survey that studies banded birds across the

El pradero chihuahuense

BirdNote ·

2025/06/17

En 2022, ornitólogos reconocieron al pradero chihuahuense ( Sturnella lilianae) como una especie única, en lugar de una subespecie del pradero oriental. Recibe su nombre de la región del norte de México en donde se encuentran fácilmente. Los praderos chihuahuenses viven en paisajes de pastizales

Green Jay

BirdNote ·

2025/06/16

Adorned in shades of peridot green, sapphire blue, and onyx black, the Green Jay is a jewel-toned wonder with a voice as loud as its color palette. Their range is split over two regions, one from southern Texas to northern Belize and a second along the Andes Mountains from Venezuela to Bolivia

Father Birds

BirdNote ·

2025/06/15

The male hummingbird leaves the female to build the nest and raise the young alone, but other father birds are more involved. A Peregrine Falcon father shares duties almost evenly with the mother. (Stewart, pictured, nested on a Seattle skyscraper for many years.) But the male Emu of Australia tops

Baby Bald Eagles

BirdNote ·

2025/06/14

Baby Bald Eagles have a lot to learn before they reach adulthood. While still in the nest, they practice fanning their wings and jumping into the air to test their strength. When they’re finally ready for their first test-flight, the fledglings sometimes land unceremoniously on the ground until a

The Oilbird's Lightless Life

BirdNote ·

2025/06/13

Nature has produced some exceptionally strange animals. One such creature is the Oilbird of northern South America. The Oilbird prefers a diet of wild berries and fruits, especially lipid-rich fruits like palm nuts and avocados (which leads to fatty young and the Oilbird's name). This unusual

The Kingfisher and the Halcyon Days

BirdNote ·

2025/06/12

The ancient Greeks believed the gods turned two distraught lovers into kingfishers — or “halcyon birds.” Thanks to divine assistance, these birds would enjoy calm weather during their nesting period. Even today, many kingfishers have echoes of this story in their scientific names.

Celebrating City Birds

BirdNote ·

2025/06/11

Pigeons, geese, and gulls often get a bad rap among city dwellers. But Nicole Jackson, an environmental educator and nature enthusiast, admires these cosmopolitan birds for their resilience and adaptability.

¿Los pájaros carpinteros sufren daño cerebral?

BirdNote ·

2025/06/10

Cuando los pájaros carpinteros tamborilean, azotan sus picos contra la corteza muchas veces por segundo. Los científicos durante mucho tiempo han planteado la hipótesis de que los carpinteros deben tener una forma de proteger sus cerebros de posibles lesiones. Sin embargo, los trabajos más recientes

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