BirdNote Daily

John Edmonstone was born on a timber plantation in British Guiana, and enslaved by Scotsman Charles Edmonstone. He learned taxidermy techniques by accompanying a naturalist on expeditions. In Scotland, he became a free man and began working as a taxidermist. One of his students was a teenaged Charles Darwin, who would later use the skills he learned from John to preserve and study the Galapagos bi...

Birds have developed many strategies for protecting their young. But only one species can tuck its chicks into pouches under its wings, then fly the young to safety. It’s the Sungrebe of Central and South America. Despite the name, they are not closely related to grebes. Sungrebes swim and dive on quiet freshwater streams. Both sexes incubate the eggs in a nest on branches just above the water. Bu...

Blackpoll Warblers make one of the longest migrations taken by a songbird in the world. Blackpoll Warblers that breed in Alaska fly southeast in the fall, appearing throughout the Midwest and eastern U.S. on their way to the Atlantic Coast. Then, they make a nonstop flight over the water to reach South America. Scientists uncovered the stranger-than-fiction details of Blackpoll Warbler migration t...

In this episode, ornithologist J. Drew Lanham reads a letter he has written to an Olive-sided Flycatcher, a beloved bird that he pleads with to visit the dead pine tree on the edge of his home by a mountain lake. 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 is a nonprofi...

It's the time of year that geese migrate south for the winter. Isn't it? So why are there so many geese still hanging around, setting up housekeeping on our parks and golf courses? Did they decide to forgo the long trip north? In the early 1900s, non-migratory geese were brought in by the hundreds to populate wildlife refuges. Now, while many Canada Geese migrate south for the winter, these other...

When a pair of Western Grebes decides it’s time to mate, they call loudly and approach one another. Each bird curves, then straightens, its long neck gracefully. They then face each other, necks on the water’s surface, their bills flipping up drops of water. If attraction prevails, they rush together and off they go across the water, running on the surface side by side. Standing straight up with n...

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. The starlings fly in a tight, synchronized group, sometimes to avoid a predator. More info and tr...

It’s a wistful moment when your backyard birds — like these Black-capped Chickadees — depart their nestboxes. By October, it’s time for one last duty as nestbox landlord: to clean it out . Cleaning will reduce the incidence of parasites in the box and make it more inviting to next spring’s tenants. It will also help you know for sure if it gets used again. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org...

A parrot’s eyes are located on the sides of its head. So, if it wants to look at something — say, a delicious piece of fruit — it has to cock its head one way or the other do it. And if it looks with its left eye, then uses its left foot. Scientists call this handedness . That’s when one hand — or foot — is used consistently over the other for doing complex tasks. Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are alm...

These Emperor Penguins feed on fish and squid in the icy ocean. Getting into the sea is easy, but getting out is another story. How does a penguin haul its plump, 80-pound body up and over icy ledges that are several feet high, while avoiding nearby predators? Underwater video has revealed an amazing adaptation that allows the penguin to launch out of the water like a feathered torpedo. More info...

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.  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 is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductib...

Autumn brings many species of wintering ducks and seabirds to our waters. Watch carefully. Some dabble along the surface, feeding along shallow edges of lakes and estuaries. Others dive under the water, using their feet and occasionally their wings for propulsion. The male "dabblers" are often bright and colorful, whereas the females are mottled brown. The "divers" tend to be less colorful. More i...

Wildlife biologist Janet Ng works for the Canadian Wildlife Service. And for her waterbird surveys, one of the most important tools of her trade is a kayak. Many species that breed in the Arctic pass through lakes in southern Saskatchewan on their way north, making it a great place to survey the birds’ populations and track how they’re doing year to year. But some birds are hard to see, hidden in...

Mexico's Bumblebee Hummingbird is one of the smallest birds in the world. Less than 3 inches in size and weighing less than a bottlecap, they’re easily confused with a bumblebee as they buzz by. But as tiny as they are, they defend their breeding territories fiercely. Perhaps that’s why the ancient Mexicas associated hummingbirds with their most important god: Huitzilopochtli, the god of war…and o...

To find out if a crow can recognize an individual human face, Professor John Marzluff of the University of Washington wore a mask while trapping, banding, and then releasing seven American Crows on campus. Later, when he walked through the campus wearing the mask, it was automatic! A big group of birds scolded and divebombed him. He thinks it's a benefit to the birds' survival to point out and rec...

A blip on weather radar might not be a cloud — it could be thousands of birds! Biologists use radar to keep track of migratory birds, insects, and bats. An online resource called BirdCast combines decades of biological research, citizen science observations, and radar data to forecast the movements of migratory birds. You can use these predictions to help plan a birding trip. More info and transcr...

Hooded Mergansers, affectionately known as “Hoodies,” nest across most of the northern US and well into Canada. They’re especially prevalent around the Great Lakes, though some winter as far south as Florida. By November, courtship and pair formation is well under way. And by early spring, Hoodies will seek out secluded woodland ponds, where they nest in tree cavities or manmade nestboxes. Hooded...

In this episode, ornithologist J. Drew Lanham reads a letter he has written to a wood-pewee, a flycatcher with an “understatedly simple and definitive” song that says the bird’s name. 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 is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift m...

After hawks and eagles, some of the sharpest eyes belong to hawk-watchers, experienced spotters who count raptors during spring and fall migration. Groups like HawkWatch International organize census counts of hawks (like this Red-tailed Hawk) and other raptors. HawkWatch sites lie along primary migration routes like mountain ridges and coastlines, where updrafts of rising air funnel the birds’ no...

The song of the Black-capped Chickadee pretty much the same throughout the U.S. and Canada — with just a few exceptions, like on some Massachusetts islands. Chickadees on Martha’s Vineyard and tiny Tuckernuck Island nearby have developed songs entirely their own. It’s likely that the birds’ isolation from mainland birds led them to develop unique behaviors. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org...

Monk Parakeets, also known as Argentine Parrots, are native to South America but have become popular as pets – thanks in part to their intelligence and ability to mimic human speech. But in some areas, such as Mexico, these birds have become invasive. After being released or escaping, some Monk Parakeets have formed feral populations that have quickly spread, competing with native bird species for...

Millicent Ficken spent her career studying bird behavior and communication. The first woman to earn a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Cornell in 1960, Ficken authored over 100 scientific papers. She discovered that male hummingbirds have a whole repertoire of songs rather than just one, outlined the linguistic differences between penguin species, and showed that chickadees take turns...

Chickadees and titmice, nuthatches and jays, and woodpeckers, like the Pileated pictured here, all love suet. As do birds whose beaks can’t open seeds, like tiny kinglets, and almost any wintering warbler. The Brown Creeper, usually creeping up tree trunks, is a cool bird to discover at your suet feeder. And in the West, look for mobs of tiny Bushtits, taking a break from their normal diet of inse...

Many Brown-headed Nuthatches make their home in the tall longleaf pines of the Apalachicola National Forest in Florida. Twittering constantly, the birds probe for tiny insects or extract seeds from cones in the trees’ upper branches. Forests of longleaf pine once dominated the sandy coastal plain from Virginia to Texas, but the tall, straight pines proved irresistible for their lumber. Now, much o...

If you're enjoying BirdNote Daily, we think you'll love the podcast, Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant! Journey deep into the heart of the world’s most remote jungles, savannas, tundras, mountains, and deserts with wildlife biologist Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant as she studies wild animals in their natural habitats. Rae and her teams spend years studying these animals – in order to protect their futures. G...