BirdNote Daily

Over the last few years, writer Emily Raboteau has been going out and photographing a series of bird murals found throughout New York City commissioned by the National Audubon Society. One day, she c…

In Texas, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, people have reported seeing Northern Cardinals that are red on one side and brown on the other, indicating that a bird is half male and half female. This anomal…

Ornithologist J. Drew Lanham's favorite bird is “the one with feathers.” But here, he shares a few species that have been especially on his mind lately — “selected birds of the moment annotated by wh…

Feathers are amazing structures. But after about a year, constant use and exposure to the elements mean they have to be replaced. So how do you replace the roughly 20 feathers in each wing that are e…

Today kicks off Coral Reef Awareness Week. Coral reefs are hotspots of biodiversity, but they’re threatened by warming ocean temperatures, pollution, and overfishing. One thing to be aware of this we…

This American Kestrel evolved to nest in tree cavities or small caves in cliffs. We humans have made life difficult for kestrels. Development has shrunk the open spaces they need. We’ve cleared away …

A movie runs at 24 frames per second, just right for humans to sense as normal speed. Pigeons process the visual world several times faster. The frantic car chase that puts us at the edge of our seat…

Many people would tell you that hearing birdsong puts them in a good mood. Recently, scientists have tried to put numbers to this effect that many of us have noticed. One study found that people who …

Many woodpeckers chisel out deep cavities in tree trunks in order to lay their eggs and raise their brood. The cavities hollowed out by the birds vary in size, depending on the species of woodpecker.…

Amid discussion of renaming birds that are named after people, ornithologist J. Drew Lanham forms a “committee of one” to choose his own names for birds. In this episode, he suggests two “better, mel…

Eagle Cliff in New Hampshire’s Franconia Notch State Park is an important nesting site for Peregrine Falcons. Each year, popular climbing routes in the area close temporarily to give nesting falcons …

Researchers studying birds called Japanese Tits, relatives of the chickadees and titmice in North America, noticed that mates raising chicks together often fluttered their wings near the entrance of …

The spider’s web is an intricate piece of precision engineering. Made from large proteins, it’s sticky, stretchy, and tough. So it’s no surprise that many small birds — including this Anna’s Hummingb…

Male Great Egrets have special long feather plumes called aigrettes, which they use in courtship displays in the spring. These beautiful big birds were nearly hunted to extinction for these special f…

Artist David Shepard designs aloha shirts with illustrations of Hawai‘i's native flora and fauna. David actually trained as a botanist, and one of his shirt designs was inspired by his experience wor…

Tiny Marsh Wrens live in wetlands, usually within cattails, reeds, or bulrushes. After choosing his territory, the male weaves up to 15 dome-shaped shells, lashing together cattails, grasses, or reed…

In this episode, J. Drew Lanham shares how his grandmother’s personal names for  birds helped shape his own relationships with birds. Names such as “redbirds” for Northern Cardinals, “rain crows” for…

As singers go, American Robins are exceptional. They’re often the first birds to sing in the morning, and the last you’ll hear in the evening. While their average song strings fewer than a dozen shor…

If you’re new to birding, you might be baffled by names like Couch’s Kingbird, Wilson’s Warbler, and Townsend’s Solitaire. These birds were named in honor of scientists and their friends long ago. Bu…

After young birds have left the nest and can fly short distances, they still follow their parents and beg for food. They squawk and assume a begging posture, wings drooping and head hunched down. Mos…