x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

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.

All Episodes

00:01:45

Identify Bird Sounds on Your Phone

BirdNote ·

2022/02/22

An online tool called BirdNET uses artificial intelligence to identify bird songs and calls. And Cornell’s well-known Merlin Bird ID app now has sound ID, too. It’s as simple as opening the app, choosing “Sound ID,” and hitting record. It can pick out multiple species in the same recording.

en

00:01:42

Games Make Bird ID Fun

BirdNote ·

2022/02/22

When science educator Chidi Page began teaching her students how to identify birds, she wanted a way to engage kids and help them learn quickly. Unable to find one for sale, Chidi decided to make her own game. Similar to the game “Guess Who,” players ask questions about what the game’s characters look like, such as “Does your bird have a crest?” or “Does it have an eye ring?” Chidi named the game “Which Is It,” a phrase that sounded like an inquisitive bird call.

en

00:01:43

The Royal Pigeons

BirdNote ·

2022/02/22

Despite their modern reputation, pigeons were once beloved by royalty. Akbar the Great, ruler of the Mughal Empire in the 16th Century, kept over 20,000 pigeons. Owning pigeons in parts of Europe was a privilege restricted to the nobility. Pigeon ownership became a flashpoint during the French Revolution, when commoners finally gained the right to raise pigeons. Learn more in Rosemary Mosco’s new book, A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching.

en

00:01:45

The Warbler That Loves Pines

BirdNote ·

2022/02/22

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 several Caribbean islands. Early spring is a good time to see them migrating through cities in the Midwest and the East Coast. If there’s a pine or two nearby, look for them picking through pine needles for food. Their song, heard throughout the year, is a sweet-sounding trill.

en

00:01:42

White-tailed Hawks on the Texas Coastal Plain

BirdNote ·

2022/01/18

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. White-tailed Hawks often hunt by kiting: hovering like a kite in the breeze with the wings held in a “V” above the body, dropping suddenly on their prey. When a grass fire breaks out, they hunt small animals fleeing from the fire’s edge.

en

00:01:45

The Nasally Fish Crow

BirdNote ·

2022/01/18

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 forage for food. The two crow species look similar, but have a distinct call that sounds a bit like an American Crow with a stuffy nose. The Fish Crow is found in much of the eastern U.S. and is spreading to new areas north and west to breed.

en

00:01:45

Spark Bird: Rodney Stotts on Bringing Eagles Back to DC

BirdNote ·

2022/01/18

Rodney Stotts is a master falconer who teaches people of all ages about raptors. In the 1990s, he helped reintroduce eagles to the Anacostia River, which runs through Washington, DC. As part of the Earth Conservation Corps, Rodney helped take care of eagle chicks sent from Wisconsin, where the species was more plentiful. Now, Bald Eagles consistently nest along the river, meaning that people living nearby can enjoy them.

en

00:01:36

Flying with Birds and Bats

BirdNote ·

2022/01/18

Bats and birds have evolved very different ways of flying. Birds have stiff feathers projecting from lightweight, fused arm and hand bones; bats have flexible wings of membranes stretched between elongated fingers. While birds use the strong downstroke of their wings to fly, bats support their weight on the upstroke, too, by twisting their wings backward. Bats tend to be more agile in flight, while many birds can fly with greater speed.

en

00:01:38

Meet the Robo-Penguin

BirdNote ·

2022/01/18

Gentoo Penguins are the fastest penguins in the world. A group of researchers used the penguin’s streamlined shape to design a new undersea robot called the Quadroin. This robo-penguin has sensors to measure ocean conditions and currents. It’s particularly suited to studying eddies, which are smaller and short-lived than major ocean currents but help draw nutrients to the ocean surface, supporting the marine food web.

en

00:01:35

Finding Food When It Snows

BirdNote ·

2022/01/18

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 such as juncos and other sparrows flit under bushes where snow doesn’t cover the ground. Finches and chickadees pick at the seed heads of plants sticking out above the snow, while robins seek out dried fruits. Nuthatches and woodpeckers cling to trees as they search for insects within the bark.

en

00:01:45

Trumpeter Swans Rebound in Arkansas

BirdNote ·

2022/01/18

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 century. In Arkansas, a small flock of Trumpeter Swans began spending the winter at Magness Lake in the 1990s. It has now grown to one of the biggest winter swan flocks in the Southeast. In recognition of its value to the swans, Magness Lake has been designated an Important Bird Area.

en

00:01:43

Dining with Sanderlings

BirdNote ·

2022/01/18

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 out, probing the swirling sand for prey. They often eat various small crustaceans such as mole crabs, isopods, and amphipods. But they also enjoy miniature clams, polychaete worms, and horseshoe crab eggs. They’ll even catch flying insects or eat plant matter.

en

00:01:45

Hovering Is Hard Work

BirdNote ·

2022/01/18

Hummingbirds are built for hovering flight, with flexible wrists that rotate their wings in a rapid figure-eight motion that generates almost constant lift. Eurasian Skylarks, on the other hand, hovers by fluttering its wings 10-12 times per second, singing all the while. Some raptors such as American Kestrels use a different strategy: by flying into the wind, they can float in place while they scan for prey.

en

00:01:43

Storm-Petrels: Myth and Reality

BirdNote ·

2022/01/18

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. Their fondness for feeding in cold, salty water could make them an indicator for changes in ocean conditions due to climate change.

en

00:01:45

Non-Vocalization: Many Ways to Make Noise

BirdNote ·

2022/01/18

Many birds have creative ways to make noise without using their voices. Ruffed Grouse use their wings to make echoing booms. Wilson’s Snipes make a high-pitched sound called winnowing as air passes across their tail feathers. Palm Cockatoos swing a stick against a tree to tap out a beat.

en

00:01:45

Rodney Stotts on Becoming a Falconer

BirdNote ·

2022/01/18

Rodney Stotts decided to become a falconer after years of working with injured raptors and teaching young people about wildlife. When he reached out to potential mentors, some couldn’t picture him, a Black man, as a falconer. But Rodney eventually found a mentor and began training and handling birds of prey. Now a certified master falconer himself, he introduces kids from the Washington, DC, area and beyond to the majesty of raptors.

en

00:01:45

Spark Bird: Chidi Paige and the Yellow Warbler

BirdNote ·

2022/01/18

When Chidi Paige moved from Nigeria to the U.S., she began running a youth STEM program and had to teach lessons on bird identification. She was in for a challenge: she had to learn the local bird species quickly. On a birding trip, she spotted a Yellow Warbler in a pine tree. The beautiful warbler got Chidi hooked on birding. She has designed several games to make learning bird identification fun for kids.

en

00:01:37

Biomimicry - Japanese Trains Mimic Kingfisher

BirdNote ·

2021/12/21

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, the air in front of their bullet-shaped noses expanded rapidly, creating a loud “tunnel boom.” The chief engineer, a birder, looked to the shape of a kingfisher’s bill to design long, narrow train noses that parted the air. The trains became both quieter and more efficient.

en

00:01:45

Unlikely Duets: Extreme Bird Sounds

BirdNote ·

2021/12/21

This show pairs birds that make sounds on opposite extremes: the highest-pitched bird, the Black Jacobin hummingbird, duets with the Southern Cassowary, one of the lowest-pitched birds. The faint, buzzy song of the Grasshopper Sparrow joins the voice of the White Bellbird, the loudest bird in the world.

en

00:01:45

Spark Bird: Rosemary Mosco's Bird and Moon

BirdNote ·

2021/12/21

Rosemary Mosco was drawn to birds as a shy child, because they rewarded patience. In college, she struggled to connect with her classes in anthropology. She began volunteering with a group in Toronto that tries to stop birds from hitting windows. At the same time, she created a cartoon about a lonely bird that befriends the moon and flies around the city having adventures. She now combines art and science as a cartoonist and science writer.

en

91 results