BirdNote Daily

Most duck species court and form pair bonds in winter. In the icy waters of Vermont’s Lake Champlain, Common Goldeneyes are getting hot! This male is displaying his signature move, the “head-throw-ki…

Both the Willow Ptarmigan and these White-tailed Ptarmigan, feathered mostly brown in summer, are utterly transfigured by an autumn molt. As snow begins to mantle their world, both species, now all w…

The word “dove” might make you think of an elegant bird symbolizing peace, while the word “pigeon” might bring up images of rowdy flocks of city birds. But there’s no formal distinction between doves…

The treeswifts of India, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and beyond make their nests out of bits of plants and feathers and hold it all together with some very sticky saliva. A treeswift’s whole nest is …

Juan Pablo Culasso is a nature recordist based in Colombia. Here, he describes how he uses a parabolic microphone to record a singing bird. Juan Pablo is blind, so he uses his hearing to pinpoint a s…

By late January, some resident birds, such as the Northern Mockingbird, are beginning their spring singing. When you step outside on a particularly sunny day this winter, a Fox Sparrow like the one p…

Cuba is home to a unique population of Northern Bobwhites, with plumage patterns and short bills that set them apart from bobwhites on mainland North America. But where these quail came from has been…

In the depths of winter, when open water is frozen over, it can be challenging for birds to stay hydrated. Some birds eat the frozen water all around them. Cedar Waxwings catch snowflakes in mid-air.…

The goose of today’s farmyards was domesticated about 3,000 years ago from the Graylag Goose, the wild species found today throughout much of Europe and Asia. To ancient Egyptians, the goose symboliz…

A single Canada Goose has between 20 and 25 thousand feathers. Some are designed to help the bird fly or shed water. Many are the short, fluffy kind, the down that insulates the bird from the cold. B…

For folks looking to try birding for the first time, getting started can be daunting. Should you learn every species’ call, every subtle feather pattern before you head out to look for birds? While i…

Thomas Poulsom is a hobbyist LEGO builder best known for his models of birds. But making birds out of bricks isn't easy. That’s why he uses special pieces to sculpt something entirely different — lik…

The hoots of the Greater White-fronted Goose inspired a nickname, the “Laughing Goose.”  A little smaller than Canada Geese, these gray-brown birds are named for the band of white around the base of …

Long-eared Owls aren’t rare, and they don’t live in remote locations. But their plumage and habits make them incredibly elusive. The mixture of warm browns and cool, bark-like grays lends the bird an…

The Andean-Cock-of-the-Rock sounds like a cross between a chainsaw and a squealing pig. The national bird of Peru, male birds of this species sport a splendid bright red plumage along with a head cre…

There are five million bird eggs stowed away in museums across the world — and the study of eggs, called oology, can give us great insight into birds. The link between DDT and the decline of Peregrin…

There used to be a saying about somebody who doesn’t eat much — “she eats like a bird.” But how much does a bird typically eat? As a rule of thumb, the smaller the bird, the more food it needs relati…

Every summer, puffins — like this Horned Puffin — grow blazingly colorful layers over the bases of their huge beaks. But in the winter, puffins lead very different lives, and they shed their bright o…

Dwain Vaughns, II, worked as a pilot for 11 years until he developed a rare chronic pain condition called complex regional pain syndrome after an accident. As part of a recreational therapy program, …

For birds and other animals with good natural insulation, winter provides a striking benefit as they scavenge. Bacteria function very slowly or not at all in the cold, preventing dead bodies from rot…