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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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Looking Two Ways at Once

BirdNote ·

2024/08/15

Great-tailed Grackles are known for their long, expressive tails, and their wide vocabulary of odd sounds. But this bird has another special trait. A researcher named Jessica Yorzinski has shown that Great-tailed Grackles can look at two different objects at once. In a careful experiment, she

Making a Home Among the Saguaros

BirdNote ·

2024/08/14

In the arid Arizona desert, where cacti thrive but trees are scarce, the Gila Woodpecker and Gilded Flicker carve out nest cavities in living saguaros. Tall, old saguaros may be pocked with twenty or more nest holes, bearing witness to decades of woodpecker families. The woodpeckers excavate a new

The Peabody Ducks

BirdNote ·

2024/08/13

Twice every day, a rapt audience gathers at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee to see six local celebrities: five ducks and the hotel’s head Duckmaster, Kenon Walker, who leads them in “The Duck March.” With John Philip Sousa music playing, the ducks march across a red carpet through the hotel

Scintillating Starlings

BirdNote ·

2024/08/12

In Africa, where there are dozens of starling species, a quick look reveals a variety of visual stunners. Some of the names hint at their dazzle: Superb Starling, as well as Golden-breasted, Emerald, Purple, Violet-backed, and Splendid Glossy Starlings. Starlings sparkle because they have special

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

BirdNote ·

2024/08/11

A male Buff-breasted Sandpiper courts a female on their breeding grounds far north of the Arctic Circle. He raises his wings, flashing their silvery-white undersides, as he sings his clicking serenade. These birds spend much of the year on grasslands in Argentina, migrating to the Arctic in late

Migration and Fat

BirdNote ·

2024/08/10

If long migratory flights are amazing, what goes on inside a bird’s body during those flights seems absolutely astonishing. To store fat, birds may eat three times as much and forage over many more hours than normal, as they prepare for long-distance travel. Blackpoll Warblers double their weight in

The Crafty Carolina Wren

BirdNote ·

2024/08/09

Though half the size of a robin, the Carolina Wren has a powerful singing voice that seems to come from a much bigger bird. Many people remember their song with the phrase, “teakettle-teakettle-teakettle!” When these secretive birds venture into the open, look for their cocked tail, bright white

Protecting Endangered Birds from Maui’s Wildfires

BirdNote ·

2024/08/08

The Maui Bird Conservation Center helps care for Hawai‘i’s critically endangered bird species, some of which have gone extinct in the wild. Jennifer Pribble, the center’s Wildlife Care Supervisor, lives onsite. A year ago, several wildfires broke out on Maui island in Hawai‘i, killing over a hundred

A Giant Parrot of New Zealand

BirdNote ·

2024/08/07

New Zealand was once home to a massive parrot that stood three feet tall, about hip-high to most adult humans. It’s estimated that the bird weighed around fifteen pounds, and it probably didn’t fly. But it didn’t need to, because there were no land predators at that time — between sixteen and

El bienteveo común: un cazamoscas poco convencional

BirdNote ·

2024/08/06

Un paseriformes, también conocido como cazamoscas, excepcional llamado bienteveo común se enfrenta a oponentes mucho más grandes, a veces incluso montado en el lomo de un halcón durante unos segundos para ahuyentarlos. Los fornidos bienteveos tienen el tamaño de un petirrojo, viven a lo largo de

Bringing Birding Adventures to Broward County

BirdNote ·

2024/08/05

While Sierra Taliaferro was working as a Naturalist in Broward County, Florida, in 2021, she collaborated with Broward County Library to help enhance the public’s knowledge about birding. More people became interested in birding as a safe outdoor activity during the pandemic. Sierra and others

An Amazing World of Owls

BirdNote ·

2024/08/04

Owls are magnificent animals that share our cities with us, and live in some of the most extreme environments on Earth. They range in size from huge, like the Blakiston’s Fish-Owl of Eastern Asia, to the songbird-sized Elf Owl, weighing less than half a deck of cards. Owls play key roles in their

Pigeon Flocks Follow the Leader

BirdNote ·

2024/08/03

The flocking movements of homing pigeons are governed by a pecking order. Higher-ranked birds have more influence over how the flock moves. Leading birds change directions first, and followers swiftly copy the leader's movements. And birds at the front of the flock tend to make the navigational

For Shorebirds, Summer Ends Early

BirdNote ·

2024/08/02

We often think of birds migrating south in the fall. But many species kick off their big trips surprisingly early in the year. Shorebirds nesting in the Arctic tundra are an extreme example. Birds like the American Golden-Plover have a small window of time to build a nest, find a mate, and lay eggs

Gannets and Dolphins

BirdNote ·

2024/08/01

Northern Gannets, fish-eating seabirds, dive headfirst into the ocean at speeds of up to 60 miles an hour, pursuing their prey. Sometimes, they get help. Dolphins herd fish into dense, frantic concentrations near the surface, while gannets take advantage and plunge into the shoals from aloft

Precision Flight in Flocks: How Does It Work?

BirdNote ·

2024/07/31

A flock of shorebirds flying wingtip to wingtip seems to act like a single organism, rolling and twisting in exquisite patterns. Flocks like these use a combination of two organizational patterns. One is a “cluster”: lots of birds flying together in a loose, three-dimensional cloud. The second is a

Birds in Art Through the Ages

BirdNote ·

2024/07/30

Birds were one of the earliest subjects for human artists. A cave painting in France over 30,000 years old shows the unmistakable outline of an owl. Paintings on Ancient Egyptian palaces and tombs feature birds with intricately detailed flight feathers, colors, and postures, allowing researchers to

Having Your Tail Scared Off

BirdNote ·

2024/07/29

When a hawk is about to capture a songbird, the songbird has one last trick: a fright molt. It’s when a bird loses feathers due to sudden stress. This usually involves feathers near the tail or rump, where they’re most likely to be attacked as they flee. It can be a saving grace when the bird is

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher: Little Bird with a Big Story

BirdNote ·

2024/07/28

The slim, 4½-inch Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is found over much of the East and Midwest and in parts of the West, too. It actively searches trees and bushes for small bugs to eat, often hovering briefly and flaring a long black-and-white tail.

To Mob or Not to Mob

BirdNote ·

2024/07/27

When a bird of prey flies over, a flock of crows may dive-bomb the predator and give it a noisy escort out of town. An Eastern Kingbird, like this one, will clamp its feet onto the back of a hawk to send it packing. How do they know which birds to chase off and which to ignore? By genetic wiring, or

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