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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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Here Come the Merlins

BirdNote ·

2026/10/08

Smaller than a pigeon — but fierce enough to knock one from the air — are the powerful, compact falcons known as Merlins. Climate change is pushing ranges of many birds farther north, but more and more Merlins have been nesting farther south, in towns and cities across the northern United States

Migration Takes Guts — Until It Doesn’t

BirdNote ·

2026/10/07

This Bar-tailed Godwit makes one of the longest migrations of any animal — a 7,200-mile non-stop flight each autumn from western Alaska to New Zealand. In his book A World on the Wing, Scott Weidensaul explores the remarkable transformation godwits undergo to make this migration possible. Their

Observación estática de aves

BirdNote ·

2026/10/06

Salir a observar aves a toda velocidad puede significar detectar muchas especies, pero hay una alegría tranquila en la observación estática. Elige un lugar: bosque, campo o pantano. Encuentra un asiento seco y lleva tus binoculares a tus ojos. Quédate quieto y fúndete con el entorno. Unos 20 minutos

Migrations: A Whimbrel’s Wayward Journey

BirdNote ·

2026/10/05

Biologists with Manomet tagged a Whimbrel named Lindsay with a GPS tracker. She has spent the summer breeding in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the northern coast of Alaska. As fall migration begins, she heads straight into a storm in the Gulf of Alaska. The tempest slingshots her toward

October Migrants - Look Who's Back!

BirdNote ·

2026/10/04

In the October sunlight, a Lincoln's Sparrow – like this one – sings energetically from a hedgerow. Soon a Fox Sparrow chimes in. Both nested in Alaska last summer but will spend the winter farther south. The Snow Geese are moving, too. A massive movement of birds takes place in the fall. The exodus

Flyin' in the Rain

BirdNote ·

2026/10/03

Most birds are mostly waterproof. Their feathers, aided by oil from preen glands, keep them pretty watertight. So why do birds avoid flying during rainstorms? It may have more to do with the air than with the water. Rainstorms tend to occur when atmospheric pressure is low. Air in a low-pressure

Where Swallows Go in Winter

BirdNote ·

2026/10/02

Through all of spring and summer, swallows dart and sail overhead, their airborne grace a wonder to behold. But by October, the skies seem empty. Most swallows have flown south, in search of insects. The eight species of swallows that nest in the U.S. — including the Cliff Swallow — migrate south to

Questions That Get Kids Curious About Nature

BirdNote ·

2026/10/01

Brianna Amingwa is a birder, environmental educator, and mom of two bird-loving boys. In this episode, Brianna shares one of her favorite, tried-and-true techniques for sparking curiosity with kids outside. This easy activity has a funny name: INIWIRMO. It’s an acronym for I Notice. I Wonder. It

The Eurasian Tree Sparrow

BirdNote ·

2026/09/30

In Lafayette Park in St. Louis, Missouri, a dozen or so Eurasian Tree Sparrows from Germany were released. But unlike other introduced species such as the similar-looking House Sparrow, they did not spread very far and remained in a limited area in the Midwest. It’s not fully clear why, but it’s

Aves reproductoras llegan en bandadas a las Grandes...

BirdNote ·

2026/09/29

Las aves migratorias conectan las Grandes Llanuras del Norte con muchas partes del hemisferio occidental. El gorrión alas blancas ( Calamospiza melanocorys), el gorrión de Baird ( Centronyx bairdii), el playero batitú ( Bartramia longicauda) y muchas otras aves invernan desde América Central hasta

Which Bird Has the Most Feathers?

BirdNote ·

2026/09/28

In general, the bigger the bird, the higher the number of feathers. Someone counted the feathers on a Tundra Swan and came up with 25,216. At least 80% were on the swan’s neck. Penguins, on the other hand, have lots of small feathers all over their bodies. The largest species is the Emperor Penguin

Great Horned Owl Family in Autumn

BirdNote ·

2026/09/27

Compared to many birds, Great Horned Owls remain with their parents a long time. They hatched in early March, from eggs laid in late January. By April, both parents were hunting through the night to feed their young. But for the last two weeks, the adults have not fed the young. The owlets have

Prions Filter-Feed Like Whales

BirdNote ·

2026/09/26

Birds called prions have an especially creative approach to getting their food. They pass seawater through their mouths and filter it to catch tiny animals such as krill and other small crustaceans. It’s similar to how baleen whales feed, leading to the prion’s nickname: the whale-bird. The sides of

Song of the Mountains: The Brown-backed Solitaire

BirdNote ·

2026/09/25

Brown-backed Solitaires are ordinary-looking: medium-sized, gray-brown birds. But they have one of the most melodic, complex songs in the world, ringing out year-round in high-altitude forests from Mexico to Central America. Listen to this show in Spanish here .

Help Birds Survive Heat Waves

BirdNote ·

2026/09/24

It's easy to feel helpless during a heat wave, as if there's nowhere to hide from the sun. Birds feel much the same. Extreme heat poses a risk to young birds of many species. Here are three things we can do to protect birds and ourselves from heat.

The Secret Lives of Goldfinches

BirdNote ·

2026/09/23

American Goldfinches are one of our most familiar birds, but they lead lives that are anything but ordinary. These birds will sometimes raise two broods a year, have a secret weapon against cowbirds, and have the ability to distinguish between songs that — to our ears — sound the same. Backyard

Las pirangas capucha roja, destellos de color brillante

BirdNote ·

2026/09/22

La piranga capucha roja ( Piranga ludoviciana), también conocida como tangara carirroja, salta de árbol en árbol en busca de insectos. Los encuentra revisando la corteza de los árboles o atrapándolos en pleno vuelo, una táctica conocida como cazar al vuelo. Al llegar el invierno, estas pequeñas aves

Migrations: Molt Migration

BirdNote ·

2026/09/21

At the end of summer, the once-bright feathers of a male American Goldfinch look ragged. Growing new flight feathers in a process called molting makes him more vulnerable to predators. Before migrating to wintering grounds, many songbirds stop at a secondary location to undergo the awkward phase of

Ridgway's Rails on San Francisco Bay

BirdNote ·

2026/09/20

Once abundant around San Francisco Bay, the Ridgway’s Rail — formerly known as the California Clapper Rail — is now endangered. In the 19th Century, unregulated hunting plundered the species. In the 20th Century, rampant development reduced salt marsh habitat by 85%. But in the 21st Century, the

Fairy-Wrens Sing Secret Passwords to Unborn Chicks

BirdNote ·

2026/09/19

Superb Fairy-wrens teach their embryonic chicks a secret code. This "incubation call" contains a special note that will later serve as a password. When the chicks have hatched, this password enables the adult birds to identify their babies in the darkness of their domed nest. A species of Australian

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