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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 Harpy Eagle Is a Huge, Powerful Hunter

BirdNote ·

2025/01/30

Harpy Eagles spend their lives in tall, remote tropical forests in Central and South America, flying from tree to tree in search of food. The eagles are named for the Harpies of Greek mythology, women with the bodies of birds who, on Zeus’s command, snatched people from the earth. Since it takes

The Verdin’s Winter Roosts

BirdNote ·

2025/01/29

For small songbirds, surviving a cold winter night can be challenging. Their bodies lose heat faster than those of larger birds. So little birds have found resourceful ways to stay warm — like huddling close together with other birds. But the Verdin, a tiny bird of the Southwest, does something few

Espátula rosada

BirdNote ·

2025/01/28

De todos los colores atrevidos que la naturaleza ha dado a las aves, el rosa brillante podría ser el más sorprendente. Precisamente, el ave de rosa más atrevida de todas vive a lo largo del Golfo de México durante todo el año: la espátula rosada. Estas aves sobresalen, especialmente cuando vuelan

Spark Bird: Christian Cooper’s Red-Winged Blackbird

BirdNote ·

2025/01/27

Christian Cooper wasn’t always interested in birds. His parents were teachers, his dad a science teacher, so nature was always part of his life. When he was a kid, his parents made him take a woodshop class, where he had to build something. So he decided to build a birdfeeder and hang it in his

Dowitchers Get a Second Wind

BirdNote ·

2025/01/26

The two American species of dowitchers, Long-billed and Short-billed, are similar in appearance but have distinctive calls. And they’re some of the continent’s most dramatic songsters. On their northern breeding grounds, Short-billed Dowitchers ascend as high as 150 feet in the air then glide slowly

Following the Honeyguide

BirdNote ·

2025/01/25

The Greater Honeyguide's demanding call is not aimed at a member of its own species. Instead, the bird guides people in search of honey through the forest, directly to bee hives. The bird flies to a colony of bees living in a hollow tree. The human follower exposes the hive with an ax and takes much

Rhea Nesting Is Mind-boggling

BirdNote ·

2025/01/24

A typical bird nest will have maybe four to six eggs neatly arranged by the parent to hunker down on. But in one Rhea nest, you may find between 50 and 80 eggs! And they’re not all from the same set of parents. Male Rheas mate with several females and then build a single nest on the ground to hold

Moonwalking Manakins

BirdNote ·

2025/01/23

The Golden-headed Manakin is a tiny bird with dance moves that would turn a pop star green with envy. Johanne Ryan, a nature educator who lives in Trinidad, describes this bird’s remarkable breeding display, which features a moonwalk and tail-flicks.

Listening From Inside the Egg

BirdNote ·

2025/01/22

Shorebird chicks hatch into a dangerous world, so they need to be vigilant from the start. Researchers in Australia noticed that some shorebird chicks began chirping in their final days in the egg. The chirps fell silent when the researchers played recordings of a Little Raven, which hunts for young

Invierno: El refrigerador de la naturaleza

BirdNote ·

2025/01/21

Para las aves y otros animales con un buen aislamiento natural, el invierno supone una gran ventaja a la hora de buscar carroña. Con el frío las bacterias funcionan muy lentamente o no funcionan para nada, lo que impide que los cadáveres se pudran. En las latitudes septentrionales, los cuervos y

Pigeons Can Correct Their Mistakes Like AI

BirdNote ·

2025/01/20

Birds have to be smart to survive — but their minds often work a little differently than ours do. In a new study, researchers trained pigeons to identify different types of shapes, peck a button to give their answers, and receive a treat for the correct response. The pigeons learned to fix their

The Beauty of Webbed Feet

BirdNote ·

2025/01/19

Webbed feet are ideal for birds that swim, on the water’s surface or under. In fact, they’re such a nifty adaptation that they evolved, independently, in several bird groups. Ducks and geese, gulls, cormorants, loons, pelicans, penguins, puffins and boobies all have webbed feet.

Powder Down

BirdNote ·

2025/01/18

Hidden below the outer breast feathers of herons, pigeons, doves, tinamous, bustards and some parrots are patches of special down feathers. These feathers are never molted, and they grow continuously. The tips break down into a dust the consistency of talcum powder. Using a fringed claw on its

Storm-Petrels: Myth and Reality

BirdNote ·

2025/01/17

Sailors once believed Wilson’s Storm-Petrels foretold a dangerous tempest. There might be a grain of truth: the tiny seabirds might find a little shelter from the gusts near a ship. Wilson’s Storm-Petrels are found in every ocean. When foraging, their feet patter across the surface, stirring up prey

The Haunting Voice of the Common Loon

BirdNote ·

2025/01/16

The call of the Common Loon brings to mind a summer visit to northern lakes. A "yodel" call is given by a male on his breeding territory. With his neck outstretched, the male waves his head from side to side, sending his eerie calls across forests and open water. The yodel entices females and

Why Do Grebes Eat Their Feathers?

BirdNote ·

2025/01/15

Eared Grebes eat brine shrimp and aquatic insects for sustenance, but rigid exoskeletons make them hard to digest. So these grebes – along with their other grebe cousins – evolved to use their feathers as a way to slow down digestion. The feathers form dense balls in the digestive tract and appear

Una mañana en Oaxaca

BirdNote ·

2025/01/14

Una mañana de invierno en Oaxaca, México –un gran momento para visitar a los viejos amigos que pasaron el verano en los Estados Unidos–. Las reinitas coronadas y las tangaras aliblanca, que invernan en el oeste de México, se mezclan con los colibríes colicastaña locales, los capulineros grises y un

Different Beaks, Different Foods

BirdNote ·

2025/01/13

For some birds like hermit hummingbirds, the difference between sexes starts with the beak. Females hermit hummingbirds typically have curved bills while males wield straighter ones. Because the two sexes are better at drinking nectar from flowers that match their respective beak shape, males and

The Robin's Namesake

BirdNote ·

2025/01/12

Like the American Robin, the European Robin is a bird of yards and gardens. But it’s not much bigger than a chickadee. The robin’s likeness turns up everywhere from Mother Goose rhymes, Peter Rabbit stories, and whiskey labels to postage stamps and Christmas cards. On at least two occasions, the

A Swirl of Snow Geese

BirdNote ·

2025/01/11

Snow Geese nest from far northeastern Russia to Greenland, in the arctic and subarctic. They winter in large flocks on the deltas of rivers in northwestern Washington, areas along the Eastern Seaboard, and throughout the Mississippi Flyway. Watching Snow Geese in flight, author and naturalist Barry

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