BirdNote Daily

Some ducks don't sound like ducks at all. Some, like the Harlequin, squeak. Harlequins are unique in other ways, too. Quick and agile in rushing white water, they dive to the bottom of mountain strea…

The Green Heron forages on the banks of small bodies of fresh water. Relying on its plumage for camouflage, it perches motionless — body horizontal and stretched forward — waiting for small fish to c…

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…

The White-vented Storm-Petrel is a small black and white seabird found off the coasts of Chile and Peru. Storm-petrels spend their entire lives at sea, except when nesting. Scientists had long been m…

Woodpeckers - including this Northern Flicker - are master carpenters of the bird world. They're called "keystone" species for their crucial role in creating habitat suited to other woodland wildlife…

The Gulf of Fonseca is shared between El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Ecologist Salvadora Morales studies best management practices in shrimp farming and salt production to benefit shorebirds i…

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge was once where some of the country’s dirtiest weapons were produced, like mustard and sarin gas and napalm. The discovery of roosting Bald Eagles i…

In 2014, the dams on the Elwha River in Washington State were removed. As the river ran free again, salmon from the Pacific were able to spawn upstream for the first time in 100 years, dramatically i…

The feathers of a bird are, for their weight, among the strongest structures in the world. The bones of this Magnificent Frigatebird weigh less than its feathers! To further reduce weight while maint…

There’s a bird in Cuba with plumage in blue, red and white — the same colors as the nation’s flag. The Tocororo, or Cuban Trogon, is the national bird of Cuba. When the Tocororo is kept in a cage, th…

The White-throated Sparrow’s melancholy whistle is hauntingly beautiful. But when you hear an adult sparrow performing, just know that the bird wasn’t always an expert singer. In the fall, listen for…

The cheerful-voiced Chestnut-collared Longspur shares its northern prairie breeding range with grazing cattle. Although heavy grazing can have adverse effects, breeding densities of longspurs jump by…

Along the coast of Sinaloa in México, there are species of shorebirds with one of the longest migrations in the Western Hemisphere. One such species is the Western Sandpiper, here known as el playeri…

The Feminist Bird Club, or FBC for short, is a birding group that’s intentional about making sure people from all backgrounds feel welcome, says FBC board member Jeana Fucello. At this group’s events…

By moving from the faster high air to slower low air, or vice versa, an albatross can propel itself forward. In a series of sinuous loops, the albatross surfs the wind, up and down, repeating the pat…

The ability to fly seems to define birds. But there are more than 50 species of flightless birds throughout the world — from the Ostrich and Kiwi to flightless rails, ducks, and this Humboldt Penguin…

 In this episode of BirdNoir, the P.I. gets a call from someone desperate over a bird stealing a tuft of her precious Pomeranian’s fur. The detective is able to ID the thief, a bird with so light a t…

To figure out the source of a hummingbird’s hum, scientists built a special rig to measure air pressure, twelve high-speed cameras, and over 2000 microphones to observe hummingbirds fluttering in pla…

Connecticut Warblers nest in the northern boreal forests, migrate through the Midwest, and winter in the rainforests of South America. Even with all that traveling, you rarely see one of these birds.…

Marina Castellino and her sister Marcela share a love of birds, especially those living in Mar Chiquita, one of South America’s largest wetlands. Marina got inspired from seeing her older sister’s lo…