BirdNote Daily

Northern Cardinals are known for their iconic red feathers, yet that scarlet hue is actually derived from yellow pigments in their food. Most cardinals’ bodies transform those yellow pigments into th…

Red-tailed Hawks typically have a nesting territory of about a half-mile to a full square mile, depending on how much food there is. Bald Eagles’ nesting territories range from 2½ square miles to as …

Everybody’s heard of a gaggle of geese and a covey of quail. But what’s a group of penguins called? And a “conspiracy” of ravens? Maybe the way we label birds says more about us than it does about th…

Collecting data on wild birds is crucial for their conservation. But it requires huge amounts of effort. One way to help streamline the process is with gizmos called autonomous recording units, or AR…

Sometimes all you need to identify a bird is a single feather. Because collecting bird feathers is prohibited in the U.S. to protect birds from poachers, start by taking a photo with a common object …

The challenge of learning which gull is which brings to mind a crossword puzzle. Take in all the clues, and come up with the right answer. For identifying gulls, we recommend a good bird book, binocu…

Around this time of year, Common Mergansers cross the U.S.-Canadian border on their way to wintering grounds in the Lower 48. But how do they know when to go? Ducks are well insulated against frigid …

Every year, hundreds of bird species migrate between North and South America. Some species likely evolved from ancestors that moved north in search of new breeding habitats: the “southern home” hypot…

Window collisions kill nearly one billion birds every year in the U.S., with many fatalities occurring during spring and fall migration. Judy Pollock, president of the Chicago Bird Alliance, says thi…

In the tidal marshes of the East Coast, the Saltmarsh Sparrow has a breeding strategy described by scientists as featuring an “obligate, promiscuous, and bond-free relationship between males and fema…

As a young child, Kenn Kaufman ventured into his neighborhood in search of the tigers, bears, and dinosaurs, but quickly found that Indiana doesn’t have those. So he set his sights on the next best t…

Because of invasive species and climate change, many of the native birds of Hawai‘i are endangered or have gone extinct. Sam ‘Ohu Gon, Senior Scientist and Cultural Advisor for the Nature Conservancy…

As the colder months arrive, birds that remain in northern climates face the harsh realities of staying warm and finding food. Some birds approach the food problem by storing it in advance — a behavi…

A flock of small shorebirds, like Western Sandpipers, twists and turns, glittering in the sky. When threatened by a falcon, these birds take to the air, flying so close together that it's hard for a …

The American Wigeon is a grazer. Its bill is narrow, with a pointed tip like that of a goose. When feeding on water plants, a wigeon grabs a leaf and rips it off with its strong bill, rather than usi…

In the UK for years, milk came in bottles with foil caps. Great Tits, a common songbird, learned how to peck through the foil. The skill spread. But how? Researchers trained Great Tits in different w…

Put your winter garden to work as a haven for birds. Leaves and brush left to compost provide foraging and roosting places, smother this year’s weeds, and feed next spring’s plant growth. Watch for j…

When Chidi Paige moved from Nigeria to the U.S., she began running a youth STEM program and had to teach lessons on bird identification. She was in for a challenge: she had to learn the local bird sp…

When a male Indian Peafowl unfurls its magnificently-colored tail and shakes it, it creates an ultra low frequency sound that we humans can’t hear. But it seems to get the special attention of female…

The massive Kori Bustard struts across the savannahs of Eastern and Southern Africa. Its crested head sits on top of a long neck and stilted legs. And this winged giant has a colorful companion. A sm…