BirdNote Daily

The Maui Bird Conservation Center helps care for Hawai‘i’s critically endangered bird species, some of which have gone extinct in the wild. Jennifer Pribble, the center’s Wildlife Care Supervisor, li…

New Zealand was once home to a massive parrot that stood three feet tall, about hip-high to most adult humans. It’s estimated that the bird weighed around fifteen pounds, and it probably didn’t fly. …

Many oceanic species like grebes, loons, pelicans, and gulls migrate far inland to raise their young near freshwater lakes. Ring-billed Gulls, for example, breed throughout the northern U.S. Forster’…

While Sierra Taliaferro was working as a Naturalist in Broward County, Florida, in 2021, she collaborated with Broward County Library to help enhance the public’s knowledge about birding. More people…

Owls are magnificent animals that share our cities with us, and live in some of the most extreme environments on Earth. They range in size from huge, like the Blakiston’s Fish-Owl of Eastern Asia, to…

The flocking movements of homing pigeons are governed by a pecking order. Higher-ranked birds have more influence over how the flock moves. Leading birds change directions first, and followers swiftl…

We often think of birds migrating south in the fall. But many species kick off their big trips surprisingly early in the year. Shorebirds nesting in the Arctic tundra are an extreme example. Birds li…

Northern Gannets, fish-eating seabirds, dive headfirst into the ocean at speeds of up to 60 miles an hour, pursuing their prey. Sometimes, they get help. Dolphins herd fish into dense, frantic concen…

A flock of shorebirds flying wingtip to wingtip seems to act like a single organism, rolling and twisting in exquisite patterns. Flocks like these use a combination of two organizational patterns. On…

Birds were one of the earliest subjects for human artists. A cave painting in France over 30,000 years old shows the unmistakable outline of an owl. Paintings on Ancient Egyptian palaces and tombs fe…

When a hawk is about to capture a songbird, the songbird has one last trick: a fright molt. It’s when a bird loses feathers due to sudden stress. This usually involves feathers near the tail or rump,…

The slim, 4½-inch Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is found over much of the East and Midwest and in parts of the West, too. It actively searches trees and bushes for small bugs to eat, often hovering briefly a…

When a bird of prey flies over, a flock of crows may dive-bomb the predator and give it a noisy escort out of town. An Eastern Kingbird, like this one, will clamp its feet onto the back of a hawk to …

In general, the bigger the bird, the higher the number of feathers. Someone counted the feathers on a Tundra Swan and came up with 25,216. At least 80% were on the swan’s neck. Penguins, on the other…

Sam ‘Ohu Gon is the Senior Scientist and Cultural Advisor for the Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i. He's something of a rare combination: academically trained in conservation biology as well as traditio…

Visit a shallow wetland in summer, and you might see this slender, black-and-white shorebird with outrageous red legs. The Black-necked Stilt uses its long legs for wading as it feeds on tiny insects…

By carrying more people in a single vehicle, mass transit can use less energy than cars. Taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can help the hundreds of bird species put at risk by climate c…

Black-crowned Night-Herons feed primarily on fish, but they will consume everything from earthworms to clams to eggs of nesting birds and refuse at landfills! Because they are high on the food chain,…

Shorebirds' lives take them to many places other than the shore. Most of the shorebirds we see along our coasts migrate to the Arctic in summer. Here, many nest on the tundra, some along rushing stre…

The rainforests of Eastern and Northeastern Australia harbor many species of birds found almost nowhere else. This Eastern Whipbird — which is more often heard than seen — hangs out in the dense unde…