BirdNote Daily

High in a leafless cottonwood, a female Great Horned Owl incubates two eggs. As light snow falls on her back, her mate roosts nearby. Since December, this pair has been hooting back and forth regular…

For some birds like hermit hummingbirds, the difference between sexes starts with the beak. Females hermit hummingbirds typically have curved bills while males wield straighter ones. Because the two …

Like the American Robin, the European Robin is a bird of yards and gardens. But it’s not much bigger than a chickadee. The robin’s likeness turns up everywhere from Mother Goose rhymes, Peter Rabbit …

Snow Geese nest from far northeastern Russia to Greenland, in the arctic and subarctic. They winter in large flocks on the deltas of rivers in northwestern Washington, areas along the Eastern Seaboar…

A Merlin hunts boldly from a high perch. A Peregrine Falcon dives on a hapless pigeon, with an air speed approaching 200 miles per hour. The Gyrfalcon can fly down even the fastest waterfowl in a dir…

A chickadee comes in to the feeder, quickly grabs a seed, and flies away. It may return immediately, but it's more likely to wait its turn. When a whole flock of chickadees moves into the yard, it lo…

The Eurasian Hoopoe isn’t picky about where it nests. But whether it builds a home in a tree cavity, termite mound, or nest box, it’ll be stinky. Mother birds coat their eggs in an antimicrobial secr…

The alpine forests of Australia’s southeast are home to an iconic pint-sized gray parrot with a bright red mohawk, and a call that’s been described as a “flying creaky gate.” The Gang-gang Cockatoo h…

The smallest heron in the U.S. by far is the Least Bittern, at just 10 to 12 inches tall. Watching for prey, bitterns lean forward while pulling their long necks back — like drawing a bowstring. Thei…

Acorn Woodpeckers live in family groups of up to 15 individuals. Over time, if enough birds die off, an opportunity arises for unrelated birds to join the group and obtain a mate. Then, battles known…

During winter, the Greater Sage-Grouse is wholly reliant on its namesake species — sagebrush — for both shelter and for food. Scientists call this bird "sagebrush obligate," meaning it needs this pla…

On this episode of BirdNoir, the Mayor of Bricksville calls the Private Eye with a bit of a problem. “Several dozen giant bird-punks loitering on top of City Hall!” The detective figures out the most…

For most birds, wings are for flying. But for Rock Pigeons, they’re also for clapping. When the pigeons erupt into flight, some may slap their wings together above their bodies in a “wing clap.” A ma…

Amy Tan is a world-renowned writer of fiction and non-fiction. She’s best-known for her 1989 novel, The Joy Luck Club, which was later adapted into a movie. Her latest book, The Backyard Bird Chronic…

Acclaimed ornithologist and writer J. Drew Lanham’s obsession with birds began when he was a kid, when he wished to take flight alongside them. He tried out cardboard wings and an umbrella, trying to…

Since 1976, Project FeederWatch has been through many changes, but what has remained is the dedication to collecting data that improves bird science. Dr. Ashley Dayer is a conservation scientist who …

In North America, the European Starling has gained a bad reputation for competing with native bird species for nest cavities. But researchers in Ontario, Canada, were surprised to see three Hairy Woo…

The cries of a Killdeer are familiar across most of the U.S. during spring and summer. But where do they go in winter? Killdeer that breed in the southern half of the US and along the Pacific Coast a…

Knowing when to hunker down and when to move on is a matter of survival for the Red-headed Woodpecker. This noisy bird spends its summers taking insects from the sky in flashy, acrobatic flight. But …

In the fall, Rusty Blackbirds get new feathers with reddish-gold highlights that have a unique and subtle beauty. Their complex little song might sound like a door hinge that needs some grease. Thoug…