BirdNote Daily

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 birds they may be, but American Goldfinches never cease to amaze. More info and transcript at BirdNote.o...

Mike Chamberlain is a wildlife ecologist at the University of Georgia and co-founder of the Wild Turkey Lab. He’s spent the majority of his 30-year career studying wild turkeys and says one recent, critical discovery about the nesting habit of hens has made a crucial impact on the conservation efforts. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org .  Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newslett...

In September, this Arctic Tern flies from Alaska all the way to Antarctica. Rufous Hummingbirds follow pathways of mountain wildflowers, from as far north as Alaska south to Mexico. Ruby-crowned Kinglets, migrate altitudinally from the mountains to the lowlands. Each of these birds migrates, but on a very different course. All make the most of food and breeding opportunities that change with the s...

The American Crow’s rattle call is uncommon, and researchers aren’t sure what it means. It could be a gathering call, a predator alarm, or a call between mates. But if you hear it, you might think it sounds like cackling laughter. However, no one has identified a crow noise that indicates glee at the expense of another creature. It’s just a coincidence that the rattle sounds like a laugh. However,...

How does a robin know a worm is in one exact spot? Does it see the worm or hear it? Smell it? Sense its movements through its feet? To find the answer, researchers buried worms in soil in a tray. They covered the soil with a thin but opaque sheet of cardboard, followed by more soil, so the robin couldn’t see the worms. Still, the robin found them with ease. The scientists concluded the birds are l...

Birds that depend on flies for food have many creative ways of catching their prey. Swallows execute sharp turns and quick changes of speed. Bluebirds watch from a perch, pouncing when the time is right. A Chuck-will’s-widow flies with its scoop-like mouth wide open, engulfing moths and other insects. A Merlin snares dragonflies in its talons. Hummingbirds dart into swarms of midges. More info and...

For birds, learning starts early. Birds listen to their parents’ songs and calls from inside the egg. Recent findings have shown that calls from Zebra Finch parents can even prepare their chicks for warmer temperatures before they hatch. Researchers noticed that Zebra Finches make a special high-pitched call, called a heat call, when sitting on their eggs on hot days. Once out of the egg, chicks w...

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 indignities of molting. It’s called molt migration. The places birds go to molt could be important targets for conser...

When woodpeckers drum, they slam their beaks against bark many times per second. Scientists have long hypothesized that woodpeckers have a way of protecting their brains from injury. However, more recent work provides a different picture. High-speed cameras showed scientists that woodpeckers aren’t softening the impacts to their skulls. And researchers also have found signs of cellular damage in w...

Your eye may be drawn to the gorgeous male Wood Duck, but it is the call of the modestly plumaged female you’ll hear. This call tells the male where his mate is, important as the pair stays together through much of the winter and spring. Wood Ducks are among a small number of North American waterfowl that nest in cavities, and many of them nest in boxes we provide for them. More info and transcrip...

Broad-tailed Hummingbirds are small but hardy creatures built for life in the mountains. They survive freezing cold nights by slowing their heart rate and metabolism. And they perform a death-defying stunt for potential mates. Male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds begin their performance by flying up 60 feet or more in the air. Then they dive toward the earth, reaching speeds of up to 50 miles per hour!...

At a glance, swallows and swifts, both graceful fliers, look much alike. But swifts — like this Chimney Swift — have longer, slimmer wings and short bodies, enabling them to glide for long periods. Their glides are punctuated by rapid, stiff bursts of wing-beats. Swallows, on the other hand, flex and flap their wings. Why do swifts have such a peculiar, stiff wing stroke? Picture a bird wing, with...

Bird beaks, or bills, come in many shapes and sizes. And birds use them for just about everything: to collect food, preen, fight, court (as this pair of Laysan Albatrosses is doing), chop holes in trees, weave nests, and more. In order for a bird to fly, its beak must weigh as little as possible. Beaks are covered with a sheath of a tough material called keratin, which grows continuously because a...

Many people take an interest in birds as they get older. But others start very early, like one young BirdNote listener named Ben Bradmon. He has been learning how to identify birds by their calls. His favorite is the Tufted Titmouse. He has also begun deepening his knowledge of birds by sketching them, letting him focus on details of the birds’ appearance and their habitats. More info and transcri...

The Northern Mockingbird isn’t the only mimic bird in town. Brown Thrashers also learn songs from nearby birds and add them to their repertoire. The species has been documented singing over 1,100 different songs: a mix of imitations and invented little melodies. While mockingbirds usually repeat a song or phrase three or more times before moving on, Brown Thrashers tend to repeat a phrase only twi...

There are promising signs that a native Hawaiian bird called the ulūlu is on the way to recovery. Also known as the Millerbird, this small gray songbird nearly disappeared when invasive species including rabbits destroyed most of their habitats on the island of Laysan in the early 1900s. In the 2010s, biologists brought 50 individuals from the Nihoa population and reintroduced them to Laysan. From...

A slim, sleek bird with a spiky crest, Phainopepla comes from the Greek for “shining cloak.” The name refers to the male’s glistening, inky black feathers, which are set off by piercing red eyes. And if the Greek name isn’t helping you picture it, a common nickname might: the goth cardinal. From February to April, they nest in pairs in the arid Sonoran Desert. From May to July, they form nesting c...

Each year, adults and children gather in Crosslake, Minnesota to celebrate the incredible sounds of the Common Loon — the state bird of the land of 10,000 lakes — by belting out their best impressions. Some of the most impressive competitors are in the Youth category, like 2023’s second place winner Malakai. Hear some strikingly accurate loon calls — and some slightly more creative interpretations...

Although some of the Turkey Vulture's habits may evoke our disgust, these remarkable birds also inspire our awe. With wingspans approaching six feet, Turkey Vultures ride currents of air to make their spring and fall journeys, and to cover the miles of their home range in summer. Gliding on updrafts, or pushed along by weather fronts, Turkey Vultures rarely need to flap their wings more than ten t...

A young crossbill starts life with a wedge-shaped beak. As it grows up and starts to feed itself by removing conifer seeds from their tough packaging, the tips of its bill begin to grow rapidly — and then they cross. By the time the bird is a month and a half old, the tips of its bill become fully crossed. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org .  Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly news...

Horned Larks rival meadowlarks as the most colorful birds of North American grasslands. They live in prairies, fields, and tundra, but agriculture and development now intrude on many of the Horned Lark's traditional nesting areas. The farmland Conservation Reserve Program encourages agricultural landowners to plant resource-conserving vegetation. This practice protects topsoil and provides habitat...

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 demonstrated that grackles could point one eye up and one eye down to look at two different objects simult...

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 nest every year, leaving the old, now-empty cavities behind. But they don't stay empty for long. Elf...

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’s lobby to a fountain. The ducks swim about the fountain until the afternoon, when the Duckmaster ma...

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 extra structures in their feather cells called melanosomes. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org ....