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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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Puffin Bills Glow

BirdNote ·

2025/04/30

Puffins are known for their flashy bills, striped like a giant piece of candy-corn. New research has found that the bills of Atlantic Puffins glow brightly under ultraviolet blacklights. Neon, curved streaks appeared between the different colored segments of a puffin’s bill in this lighting. It’s

Cómo un ave llegó a parecerse a una oruga

BirdNote ·

2025/04/29

La plañidera cenicienta es una pequeña ave gris cenizo que vive en el bajo dosel del bosque de la cuenca amazónica. Y ha llevado la mimetización al siguiente nivel: Cuando se ve desde arriba, acostado solo en su nido en forma de copa, su polluelo es casi idéntico a una oruga altamente tóxica, una

Bird Songs of April

BirdNote ·

2025/04/28

The month of April inspires poets, sometimes with contradictory results. Poet TS Eliot describes April as "the cruelest month." Shakespeare strikes an upbeat note, writing, "April hath put a spirit of youth in everything." Let April speak for itself. Listen to the birds.

Soaring with Redtails

BirdNote ·

2025/04/27

A Red-tailed Hawk soars on broad, rounded wings, the epitome of effortless flight. Without flapping, it traces a leisurely, rising circle. The hawk is riding a thermal, a column of warm rising air generated near the earth's surface by heat from the sun. The Red-tail periodically circles to stay

Burrowing Owls: Howdy Birds

BirdNote ·

2025/04/26

A Burrowing Owl is about as big as a can of beans on stilts. Between the long legs, bright yellow eyes, and signature bobbing salute, these little birds are comical members of the western ecosystem. Cowboys riding Western rangelands have a nickname for these little owls. They call them “howdy birds”

A Lost Hummingbird is Found Again

BirdNote ·

2025/04/25

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, they were officially described in 1946. No one reported another sighting until 2010. They became a “lost” species, eluding every attempt to find them

A Kettle of Vultures

BirdNote ·

2025/04/24

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 Vulture to hitch a ride. Like an elevator to the skies, the thermal gently wafts the vultures upward. They move in a slowly ascending spiral around the

Raising the World’s Deadliest Bird

BirdNote ·

2025/04/23

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 people in New Guinea reared the cassowary, often called the world’s deadliest bird, as much as 18,000 years ago, long before the domestication of

Poetry in the Parks

BirdNote ·

2025/04/22

For her signature project You Are Here, U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón sought to connect people and nature through poetry. In addition to curating a book of poems by the same name, Limón also partnered with Shauna Potocky and others at the National Park Service to design poetry installations at seven

Great-tailed Grackle

BirdNote ·

2025/04/21

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 towing a banner ad. And while not quite as flashy, the brown-feathered females have impressively long tails, too. Also known as the Mexican Grackle, this

The Legendary Phoenix

BirdNote ·

2025/04/20

The ancient Greeks and Egyptians described a mythical bird called the Phoenix, a magnificent creature that was a symbol of renewal and rebirth. According to legend, each Phoenix lived for 500 years, and only one Phoenix lived at a time. Just before its time was up, the Phoenix built a nest and set

Recycle Your Eggshells to Help Nesting Birds

BirdNote ·

2025/04/19

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 help our backyard birds by offering them some extra calcium in bird feeders and by recycling our used egg shells.

Kinglet Fireworks

BirdNote ·

2025/04/18

Most of the time, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet is neither ruby nor regal. A tiny songbird washed in faded olive-green, the male shows a hint of crimson atop of his head — hardly a ruby crown. But don’t forsake the kinglet for flashier birds. When courting a female or dueling with another male, the kinglet

Brewer's Sparrow, Sageland Singer

BirdNote ·

2025/04/17

One of the most musical and complex bird songs in the U.S. is that of the Brewer's Sparrow. It's a veritable aria, ringing forth from the sagebrush of Eastern Washington's Columbia Basin. Shrub-steppe is disappearing from the interior west as it is cleared for irrigated crops. The quintessential

Pablo Neruda’s Celebrated Birds

BirdNote ·

2025/04/16

Pablo Neruda is considered one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. Though the Chilean poet is best known for his writings about love, birds were also close to his heart. He composed more than 20 poetic profiles of birds native to Chile including hummingbirds and albatrosses.

Una cardenal con carácter

BirdNote ·

2025/04/15

Puede que nunca hayas visto un cardenal norteño en la naturaleza, pero probablemente lo has visto en tarjetas navideñas o en la portada de algún libro de aves. Durante la temporada de reproducción en primavera, el biólogo Eric Lind y su equipo capturan y anillan aves en Constitution Marsh, en el

From Bobwhite Coveys to Pairs

BirdNote ·

2025/04/14

Throughout winter, Northern Bobwhites gather in groups called coveys to search for food during the day and share warmth at night. These small quail arrange themselves in a circle, with their tails in the center and heads outward, huddled up like a wreath of plump birds to survive frost and snow. But

The Eagle Eye

BirdNote ·

2025/04/13

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 exceptional vision is the density of visual cells – the rods and cones – of its retina.

Nest Building

BirdNote ·

2025/04/12

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 times as much as a robin. A robin's nest, made of grass and mud, weighs about seven ounces, so yours will weigh 450 pounds. You'll need to collect

Music to Our Ears

BirdNote ·

2025/04/11

One of Jessica Rugh Frantz’s favorite things about being the director of development at BirdNote is getting to hear from listeners about how much they love our programs. Listener support is what makes this show possible. Just like how we love our backyard birds and take steps to help them thrive, we

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