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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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All Episodes

A Bird in the Hand

BirdNote ·

2026/02/08

You’ve probably heard the old saying: “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” Well, it’s a very old saying, and it’s gone through some changes over the years. In each era, the pragmatic wisdom is clear: Hold on to the sure thing rather than taking a gamble on something better. The saying even

February Summer in Argentina

BirdNote ·

2026/02/07

In February, winter still holds sway over much of North America. But in Argentina, it’s summer, and birds are in full voice. Argentina’s national bird, the Rufous Hornero, belts out a rapid trill while the Rufous-bellied Thrush sings its lovely song. In the tropical forests of northeastern Argentina

Family Time with Red-throated Loons

BirdNote ·

2026/02/06

Millions of birds from around the world begin their lives in the Teshekpuk Wetlands of northern Alaska. In 2025, author and environment reporter Lynda Mapes visited the region to see how new fossil fuel developments are impacting wildlife in America’s Arctic. In this episode, Lynda recalls spending

To Breathe Like a Bird

BirdNote ·

2026/02/05

Birds have a highly efficient breathing anatomy that powers the exertion of flight. It is driven by large, thin-walled air sacs located throughout the body cavity that operate like bellows. This parabronchial system for extracting oxygen from the air has a far greater surface area than the lungs of

The Wild Parrots of San Francisco

BirdNote ·

2026/02/04

Flocks of Cherry-headed Conures, a species native to South America, are now found throughout San Francisco. While a local legend claims that a pet shop owner introduced them by burning the shop down, it’s more likely that that a few of these loud-mouths exasperated their owners until they

Baños de polvo: Un spa natural

BirdNote ·

2026/02/03

Aunque suene extraño, la tierra ayuda a las aves a mantenerse limpias. Aves de todos los tamaños suelen rascar una depresión en el suelo y echarse polvo encima, para luego agitarse con energía y desprenderlo. Experimentos han demostrado que usan el polvo para evitar la acumulación de aceites en las

Conserving Wetlands for Black Rails

BirdNote ·

2026/02/02

Black Rails are marsh-inhabiting birds, more often heard than seen. Many Black Rails nest in marshes along the Atlantic seaboard and in the Midwest. But in winter they concentrate in the coastal marshes of East Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, areas that face many threats. Sadly, according to the 2025

Voices and Vocabularies: House Finch or Purple Finch

BirdNote ·

2026/02/01

In parts of the United States, House Finches overlap with similar-looking Purple Finches. Their distinct songs help us sort them out. House Finch songs are jumbled and have a sharp, buzzy note — especially during the breeding season. Purple Finches’ songs, on the other hand, are smoother and lack

Ornithographies

BirdNote ·

2026/01/31

Photographer Xavi Bou creates incredible images of birds and their movements by combining his love of photography and technology with his love for birds and nature — as seen in his book, Ornithographies. He’s especially drawn to European Starlings and their movements as a flock, called a murmuration

New Zealand Bellbird

BirdNote ·

2026/01/30

A forest in New Zealand rings with the sound of bellbirds, also known as Korimako or Makomako. Many bellbirds sing together, especially in the morning. Pairs sing duets. And a pair may counter-sing with its neighbors, perhaps letting them know that this patch of land is taken. It all builds to a

Wild Goose Dacha

BirdNote ·

2026/01/29

No human dreams of relaxing on the shores of Novaya Zemlya, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean that’s best known as a Soviet testing site for nuclear weapons. Yet a growing flock of Pink-footed Geese have begun to make this militarized zone their summer home. Though this region was once too cold for

The Value of a Dust Bath

BirdNote ·

2026/01/28

It might sound strange, but dirt helps birds scrub themselves clean. Birds of all sizes, like the Eurasian Skylark pictured here, often scrape a depression in the ground and flick dirt onto their bodies, shimmying to shake it off. Experiments showed that birds use dust to prevent oils from building

Los loros salvajes de San Francisco

BirdNote ·

2026/01/27

Bandadas de cotorros cabeza roja ( Psittacara erythrogenys), una especie nativa de América del Sur, ahora pueden verse por todo San Francisco. Aunque una leyenda urbana afirma que la dueña de una tienda de mascotas las introdujo al incendiar su tienda, es más probable que algunas de estas aves

Female Birds Sing in the Tropics

BirdNote ·

2026/01/26

In temperate climates like North America, it’s often male songbirds that sing the most. Typically the males migrate north before females and establish territories for the short breeding season, using their songs as a way to claim a spot. But many female birds do sing, even in colder climates (like

Preening 101

BirdNote ·

2026/01/25

If a bird’s feathers get too dried out, they become brittle. To prevent that from happening, most birds have a gland located above the base of the tail that produces oil. They use their beaks to massage oil from the gland into their feathers to keep them supple. A bird first grips a feather in its

The Heart of a Bird

BirdNote ·

2026/01/24

Birds’ four-chambered hearts run larger than those of mammals, relative to body size, and they are coupled with extremely efficient cardiovascular systems. The energy demands of flight require these adaptations. An exercising human has a heart rate around 150 beats per minute. In contrast, an active

Magnificent Frigatebird Drum Roll

BirdNote ·

2026/01/23

Magnificent Frigatebirds are huge, gangly seabirds found around the warm waters of the Western Hemisphere. When it comes time to mate, males inflate giant red throat sacs, then rattle and drum their bills against them to create jazzy percussive sounds.

‘Ākohekohe

BirdNote ·

2026/01/22

Sporting a fancy tuft of feathers on its forehead and a bright orange nape, Maui island’s ‘ākohekohe is one Hawaiʻi’s strikingly beautiful native forest birds. ‘ākohekohe are also critically endangered. Habitat loss and disease from invasive mosquitoes are major threats to their survival.

Letter to a Pileated Woodpecker

BirdNote ·

2026/01/21

In this episode, ornithologist J. Drew Lanham reads a letter he has written to a Pileated Woodpecker, a large species of woodpecker that is sometimes mistaken for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

El reloj despertador de la naturaleza: ¿Qué gallo...

BirdNote ·

2026/01/20

Los gallos no necesitan poner una alarma para saber cuándo cantar: su reloj biológico interno les permite anticiparse al amanecer con una precisión sorprendente. Para nosotros, los humanos medio dormidos, puede parecer que todos cantan al mismo tiempo. Pero la ciencia ha descubierto que los gallos

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