BirdNote Daily

Gambel’s Quail and California Quail are both well known for the comma-shaped tuft of inky black feathers poised atop the crown of their heads. For both species, this decorative “topknot” is formed fr…

By late summer, the male Mallard’s need for fancy feathers to attract the females has passed. These birds have molted, and their bright feathers are replaced with mottled brown ones. Subdued colors h…

Burrowing Parakeets excavate deep nest tunnels in sandstone and limestone cliffs in Argentina and Chile. The colony’s many tunnels zigzag and interconnect, creating an intricate labyrinth. Their nest…

Most birds possess the ability to see color. But birds can also see in the ultraviolet spectrum! Hummingbirds — like this Violet-crowned Hummingbird — may zero in on certain flowers because their pet…

Found in Australian forests, male Superb Lyrebirds can mimic calls well enough to convince the bird they’re imitating that the lyrebird is one of their own! While males sing to attract mates, females…

National Battlefield Parks are grassland habitats worth writing home about. Tall grassy fields aren’t typically considered beautiful, much less valuable to conserve. But battlefield monuments and mil…

Brooklyn’s Prospect Park covers more than 500 acres — many of them covered in trees. One bird species that calls the park home is the strikingly beautiful Blue Jay, which nests, forages, and roosts i…

If you’re trying to spot a bird, you should look up — right? While it’s true that there are many beautiful birds to see in the sky, plenty of species are easier to find by keeping your eyes and ears …

The Steller's Jay is a jay... and it's blue. But it's not a true Blue Jay with a capital "B." The bona fide Blue Jay is primarily a bird of eastern North America. Blue Jays and the Steller's Jays hav…

At the close of a summer day, the songbirds go silent. As if on cue, the birds of the night make their voices known. In an Eastern woodland, the eerie trills and whinnies of an Eastern Screech-Owl ar…

The Ross’s Gull is a dainty seabird that’s rarely found south of the High Arctic. Though their bodies are mostly gray, their breast feathers and underparts glow a satiny pink thanks to pigments from …

By August, many birds have just completed the intense rigors of nesting and raising young and now undergo a complete molt. Molt is a cyclic process of feather growth. As new feathers grow in, they pu…

Many bird species can eat the fruits of plants that are toxic to humans — even the white berries found on poison ivy. These birds just aren’t sensitive to the compounds in the berries that are irrita…

Some believe the song of the Wood Thrush to be the most beautiful bird song in North America. Others select the song of the Hermit Thrush. Still others name the singing of the Swainson’s Thrush. How …

At Charity Birds Hospital, a small staff takes care of approximately 2,600 birds at a time, providing antibiotics, medicine, food, and a safe place to rest for injured or sick birds. The hospital is …

Canyons, whether large or small, can host a spectacular variety of birds! Consider Swakane Canyon, in central Washington State. It cuts west from the Columbia River into the Entiat Mountains for nine…

In the rural Southeast, roadside ditches – known as “bar ditches” – carry on for miles. The term bar ditch probably comes from their construction, when dirt was "borrowed" to build up the road. The d…

For as long as humans have been solving problems, we’ve looked to nature for inspiration. In some cases we’ve even imitated other organisms in our inventions through a process called biomimicry, says…

In June of 2022, Adé Ben-Salahuddin worked as a volunteer research assistant on a tiny island off the coast of Maine at a Common Tern breeding colony. Every once in a while, the colony would suddenly…

Bird nests can be hard to find, often hidden in plain sight. Is the clever camouflage simply the result of using building materials that the birds happen to find? A Scottish research team used birds …