BirdNote Daily

Boreal Chickadees live in the boreal forest year-round. How do they survive the harsh winter? First, during summer, they cache a great deal of food, both insects and seeds. Then in fall, they put on …

For biologist and writer Wenfei Tong, the line between people and animals has always felt fuzzy — or maybe feathery, in the case of birds. Wenfei loves to highlight commonalities we share with birds,…

Screech-owls are opportunistic diners. In the Pacific Northwest, they’ll prey on small birds, crayfish, large ants, or earthworms. In Arizona, pocket mice and pack rats. And in Ohio, biologists who n…

Many years ago, when writer and musician Ray Young Bear was training his singing voice, he took a kind of vocal lesson from the blackbirds. “they have the most complicated song in the world — high pi…

Birdfeeders full of seeds or suet can spark nonstop action. Chickadees flitter in and out. Finches expertly crack one seed after another, while jays, doves, woodpeckers and sparrows all join the flur…

There are two kinds of pelicans in North America – the American White Pelican and the Brown Pelican. And they’ve evolved different tactics to catch their prey.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org…

In the Southeast, on the lands of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw, Purple Martins nested in dried gourds hung up by Native Americans. This relationship might have developed because Purple Martin…

In this episode of BirdNoir, the Private Eye hears from his friend Danny, who is having his bird feeders pilfered by a pack of rowdy squirrels. While a determined squirrel thief is hard to stop, the …

A fledgling Great Horned Owl calls to be fed. Judging from the young bird's persistence, the parents seem to be responding only with calls, not with food. These entreaties can go on for weeks. Both p…

Ray Young Bear, a writer and member of the Meskwaki Nation, says that birds are important to Meskwaki spirituality. He says the reverence that Meskwaki culture has for birds and other living beings m…

Of all the birds out there, the corvid family — the crows, ravens, and jays — might have the spookiest reputation. But this idea that corvids are spooky is far from universal — it's mainly in the Wes…

Frigatebirds are seabirds, but one thing you’ll never see is a frigatebird floating on the ocean. Why not? Because their feathers, unlike those of nearly all other seabirds, are not waterproof. Inste…

One of the lesser known hazards of a bird’s life — when flitting from shrub to shrub — is collision with spiders’ webs. And when a bird flies through a web, it’s the spider’s hard work that takes the…

Arguably the most bird rich country on Earth, Colombia is the home of about 20% of all bird diversity worldwide. And there’s a lovely book published by Rey Naranjo Editores titled Field Guide to the …

Author and bird enthusiast Ashley C. Ford says that it’s good to have a list of at least five birds that you’re scared of — like the six foot tall cassowary — just to keep you honest. “It's very impo…

Looking at a Canada Goose, you might not think their bodies are designed for fancy flying. But watch as a flock of geese comes in for a landing at a lake and you might be surprised. If the flock come…

If we had to pick one bird’s voice to symbolize our Eastern woodlands, the Blue Jay’s voice would likely be it. And as a frequent visitor to back yards and bird feeders, the Blue Jay is among the mos…

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…

House Sparrows are ingenious birds that have learned a highly specialized skill: how to open automatic doors. House Sparrows have been seen activating electric-eye sensors to fly into restaurants, su…

Hidden below the outer breast feathers of herons, pigeons, doves, tinamous, bustards and some parrots are patches of special down feathers. These feathers are never molted, and they grow continuously…