BirdNote Daily

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 (like this American Robin) seek out dried fruits. Nuthatches and...

On a winter morning in Costa Rica, a colorful choir welcomes the day. A pair of Bay Wrens sings a brisk duet just before sunrise. Perched in the upper canopy of the tropical lowland forest, a group of Keel-billed Toucans calls out. In a nearby tree, Purple-throated Fruitcrows (like this one) add their voices to the chorus. Then a male Montezuma Oropendola belts out an electrifying series of notes...

In several neighborhoods of Sydney, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos have learned ways to open trash bins and grab some leftover food. Researchers found that birds in a given suburb seem to learn their trash bin opening technique from nearby birds, leading to subtle differences in how cockatoos raid the garbage throughout the city. This has pitted two highly intelligent species against each other as peop...

Sam ‘Ohu Gon was one of the last people to see an ‘Ō‘ū, a native Hawaiian bird that’s presumed to be extinct. He’s worked at the Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i for nearly forty years. In 1988, he took part in an Audubon Christmas Bird Count, hoping to encounter critically endangered native birds. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org .  Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sig...

Birds have many ways of showing affection for their partners. One way is allopreening, where a bird uses its bill to groom a mate, twirling each individual feather in its beak (like these Macaws). Other birds present their partners with gifts like moss or sticks. A female Arabian Babbler might reciprocate with a gift of her own — or just cut to the chase and lead her suitor to a rendezvous spot in...

The Keel-billed Toucan, also known as the Rainbow-billed Toucan, looks like a bird with a giant banana for a beak. They have a black body, a yellow patch from the face to the breast, and a huge rainbow-colored bill. The big beaks have more than one use: they can be used for fighting with rivals, but they can also help toucans regulate their body temperature in the tropical heat. More info and tran...

The American Robin and the Baltimore Oriole both have cheery, upbeat songs. At first, you might think there’s no way to tell these two cheery, upbeat singers apart. But there are a couple of differences. American Robins usually have a longer song, while Baltimore Orioles usually stop after a phrase or two. Plus, Baltimore Orioles sound sweeter and more melodic than American Robins, who can come ac...

When the bitter cold of winter arrives, songbirds face an emergency: how to keep warm through the night. On normal nights, many prefer sleeping solo in a sheltered spot. But in severe cold, some kinds of birds may have a greater prospect of survival by roosting with others. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org .  Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to...

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 bee...

In some parts of North America, Sandhill Cranes are common as ants at a picnic. In New England, on the other hand, they’ve been almost as rare as pterodactyls — until relatively recently! Birders began reporting cranes scattered throughout the region. When a Sandhill Crane chick hatched in Maine in 2000, it was evident the New England birds were not just strays. Cranes now breed in several parts o...

Do you ever see flocks of birds in your yard that show up in droves one year, but are completely absent the next? Some nomadic species such as Pine Siskins move based on the availability of food and habitat. It’s called “irruptive” migration, and it sometimes leads to backyards full of siskins. While these flocks are a delight for bird watchers, the dense groups can easily transmit diseases such a...

Roads can get people where they need to go. But they often run right through wildlife habitat, creating a deadly hazard for animals on the move. Liz Hilllard, who’s the Senior Wildlife Biologist for Wildlands Network, says roadkill takes a huge toll on birds and other animals every year. Wildlands Network helps transportation agencies create wildlife-friendly designs and build animal-centric bridg...

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. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org .  Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks.  BirdNote i...

Look for the stories birds tell with their tracks in the snow. A crow swaggers, leaving right-and-left steps much as a walking human would. Juncos under a birdfeeder leave a hopping pattern of tiny footprints in side-by-side pairs. Look for beak marks, where a bird picked up a choice morsel or probed the ground. Tell-tale signs sometimes tell stories of life and death. You might see mouse tracks e...

In this BirdNoir mystery, the private eye fields a call from a woman who says a large bird that looks like a Bald Eagle stole a Rainbow Trout from her pond. Through a process of elimination, the detective is able to rule out a few likely suspects and arrive at the probable answer. When you think you’ve spotted an eagle, remember to examine all the evidence. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org...

The emphatic hoots of a pair of Barred Owls resonate in the still of a winter's night. Like many owls, Barred Owls initiate their vocal courtship in winter. And they're among the most vocal. These owls have more than a dozen calls, ranging from a "siren call" to a "wail" to a wonderfully entertaining "monkey call." Barred Owls are among the largest owls in North America. More info and transcript a...

The Wandering Tattler is one of the few birds equally at home along the coast and high in the mountains. They’re found far and wide along Pacific shores, living up to their “wandering” name and gaining names in many local languages throughout the ocean basin. Their nesting habitats in the mountains of Alaska, western Canada and eastern Russia were a mystery for many years. Despite their wide range...

Bluebirds can bring flashes of azure color and mellow songs to where you live. The best way to bring them close to home is with nest boxes. You’ll need an untreated wood box with a one-and-a-half inch hole five feet above the ground. Finding the right place for the nest box is important, too. Shrubs that bear small fruits can entice bluebirds. Find instructions for building an effective bluebird n...

Most baby birds are adorable little floofs — but not all of them. The tongue and palate of estrildid finch chicks are strangely spotted and ringed. They display these markings while they beg for food. Most species’ chicks have mouth markings in colors ranging from black or white to bright yellow, orange, red or blue. The function of these markings has long puzzled scientists. More info and transcr...

In 2018, paleontologist Daniel Field took a closer look at specimens from an amateur fossil collector. His team used micro-CT scanning, kind of like a high-energy CAT scan, to visualize the encased fossils. They were amazed to find a tiny bird skull: the earliest known fossil record of a modern bird. The skull looks chicken-like in the front and duck-like in the back. The bird may have looked and...

Any hobby or special interest has its own jargon. You’ll pick up on the silly slang that birders use as you go – like calling the Yellow-rumped Warbler “butterbutt.” Still, learning a few basics of bird vocab is useful when you’re starting out. It’ll help you ask better questions when you’re confused. Check out the opening pages of a bird field for general info about what to call the different par...

Great Horned Owls excel at nocturnal hunting, thanks to their acute senses and stealth — but their feet let them secure squirming prey. The outermost of their four toes can rotate forward or backward, an advantage that most other birds of prey lack, letting them capture animals as large as raccoons. A four-pound owl can take flight with six pounds of prey. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org...

Razorbills, a cousin to the puffin, nest in colonies on cliffs. Before they lay eggs, Razorbills take part in two unique social behaviors. In one, the Razorbills swim round and round in a tight mass, then dive as one. Next, they surface with heads aligned and bills held open. In another behavior, dozens of birds swim in a line, then zig-zag in a synchronized pattern across the ocean’s surface. Mor...

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are bold, conspicuous, and vocal, thriving in rural and urban areas east of the Mississippi. Like most woodpeckers, Red-bellieds eat lots of insects. But they also like nuts, berries, and seeds. They can be attracted to back yards with suet cakes, berry bushes, or even a cut orange tacked to a tree trunk. But the Red-bellied Woodpecker retains one element of mystery: its na...

The group of birds called “songbirds” — the perching birds — is incredibly broad. Half the world’s 10,000 birds are in the songbird group, and their range of body sizes is mind-boggling. One of the smallest songbirds in North America is the Golden-crowned Kinglet, barely larger than a hummingbird. The largest is the Common Raven, which is almost two feet long and weighs around three pounds. More i...