When smaller birds join forces to ward off larger birds, it's called mobbing . This behavior — like calling your family for help — is used by many bird species. The best time to observe mobbing is spring and early summer, when breeding birds are trying to protect their nests and young. Birds including swallows, blackbirds, and even these American Crows, seen here mobbing a Red-tailed Hawk, know that there is strength and power in numbers. And they've learned to join forces to protect themselves....
Feb 09, 2023•2 min
While most Sandhill Cranes migrate, the Mississippi population lives year-round in wet pine savanna near the Gulf Coast. Their dependence on this unique habitat caused their population to plummet to just 35 when the savanna began to disappear. Through the Endangered Species Act, an almost 20,000- acre wildlife refuge was established for the cranes and the population has begun to recover. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up fo...
Feb 08, 2023•2 min
Birds at a suet feeder... What a burst of vitality on a chilly morning! What's the attraction? A cake of suet, suspended from a branch in a small wire feeder. Suet is beef fat, a high-energy food critical for birds' survival in the colder months. Suet is an especially strong magnet for birds (including this Northern Flicker) that eat lots of bugs in the warmer months. You can learn about suet feeders -- and what kinds of birds they'll attract -- at Birds.Cornell.Edu . More info and transcript at...
Feb 07, 2023•2 min
The Puerto Rican Tody is a tiny green bird found only in Puerto Rico, where the species is called San Pedrito. But the scientific name for these birds is Todus mexicanus , despite the fact that they don’t live in Mexico — due to a mistake made by European scientists in the 1800s. People in Puerto Rico are working to get the San Pedrito an appropriate scientific name. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad...
Feb 06, 2023•1 min
It’s winter in North America — a good time to head for the subtropical realms of South Florida and listen to the region’s birds, such as the secretive Mangrove Cuckoo pictured here. Rarely seen, it sings sporadically in winter. When it does, you’re sure to take notice. A sweeter voice belongs to the Spot-breasted Oriole. Found in suburban neighborhoods, these birds were brought to Florida in the 1940s from Central America. And we can’t forget the sharp-edged phrases of the White-eyed Vireo or th...
Feb 05, 2023•2 min
House Finches are evolving rapidly and visibly. In 1941, some captive House Finches from California escaped near NYC. They spread rapidly and are now found across most of the US. We know the finches have evolved, because those that survive differ from their parents. Size is one example. Male House Finches in recently established populations are larger than the males that escaped. Females have become smaller and survive better than larger females as nestlings. Evolutionary changes are occurring v...
Feb 04, 2023•2 min
An organization called Journey North consists of a network of community scientists who observe local animal migrations – everything from monarch butterflies to Gray Whales to birds. Observing these seasonal changes can help make you a well-rounded community scientist, attuned to life’s ebbs and flows. And the info collected by Journey North helps build a picture of how wildlife is responding to changes in habitat and the climate. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Sub...
Feb 03, 2023•1 min
When a Carolina Wren like this one sings, something remarkable happens. These birds can sing so loudly that you almost have to shout to be heard over their songs! How can a bird like a Carolina Wren – at just 5½ inches long and weighing only as much as four nickels – produce so much sound? The answer lies in the songbird’s vocal anatomy. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perk...
Feb 02, 2023•2 min
There are fifteen species of cranes across the globe, found everywhere but Antarctica and South America. During the winter, cranes forage and rest together by the thousands. Listen in to the voices of cranes from all over the world. Nothing evokes the spirit of the wild like the voices of these majestic birds. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. ...
Feb 01, 2023•2 min
In the 1980s, mining companies made plans for huge open-pit mines in the mountains of Puerto Rico. An organization called Casa Pueblo successfully campaigned to make open-pit mining illegal in Puerto Rico. Since then, Casa Pueblo has continued to hold cultural events in the town of Adjuntas, including a festival for Julián Chiví — a beloved songbird that lives in the region’s forests. Casa Pueblo’s radio station even has a theme song that’s a tribute to the Julián Chiví. More info and transcript...
Jan 31, 2023•2 min
Do vultures detect carrion by sight or by smell? The lightbulb moment came to ornithologist Kenneth Stager when a Union Oil employee told him of vultures congregating at the spots along pipelines where gas leaks were occurring. Why would they do that? Because a key ingredient in the odor of carrion is ethyl mercaptan — the same substance companies add to odorless natural gas in their pipelines, so they could smell if there was a leak. So now we know that vultures can spot carrion by either sight...
Jan 30, 2023•2 min
Great Blue Herons nest in colonies, in adjoining trees or with several nests in one tree. But by autumn, the adults and gangly young have left the nests to take up solitary lives, a pattern that is the reverse of many other species. After all the "togetherness" of the nesting colonies, the Great Blue Herons spend the off-season by themselves. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other...
Jan 29, 2023•2 min
It’s easy to imagine that putting up a birdhouse or nestbox is a relatively recent practice. But in Turkey, it has a long history. Since at least the 13th century and continuing through the period of Ottoman rule, birdhouses were placed on all sorts of structures: mosques (like this one – the Yeni Valide Mosque in Üsküdar, Istanbul, Turkey), schools, libraries, houses, tombs, bridges, and palaces. In this culture, birdhouses were viewed as an expression of love and compassion for animals. The Ot...
Jan 28, 2023•2 min
If you see a wild bird with a small metal band around its leg, that means researchers have given the bird a unique ID to keep track of it over the course of its life. You can report the sighting to the Bird Banding Laboratory, a part of the U.S. Geological Survey that studies banded birds across the continent. Analyzing where and when banded birds are seen helps biologists figure out bird lifespans, migratory routes, and how their populations are changing. More info and transcript at BirdNote.or...
Jan 27, 2023•2 min
Tucked away in southeast Texas is one of the most remarkable enclaves of nature. Known as The Big Thicket, this region is home to ten different ecosystems, including cypress bayous, arid sandylands, palmetto thickets, pine forests, marshes, and grasslands. The variety of natural landscapes provides habitat for a broad array of birds, including this Prothonotary Warbler. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get...
Jan 26, 2023•2 min
Thousands of years ago, giant raptors lived on what is now Cuba. Gigantohierax is an extinct genus of eagles whose fossils have been found in local cave deposits and tar seeps. With an estimated weight of nearly 30 pounds, Gigantohierax suarezi , the larger of the two named species, would’ve been the biggest raptor known from the Americas. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other pe...
Jan 25, 2023•2 min
Of the four nuthatch species living in the United States, the most common are the Red-breasted Nuthatch, seen left here, and the White-breasted Nuthatch, on the right. The nuthatch's insistent call matches its aggressiveness. As it works its way down a tree trunk, the nuthatch can spot-and eat-all the tasty morsels missed by the rest of the birds working their way up the tree. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+...
Jan 24, 2023•2 min
California's Salton Sea is hot and smelly - and it's also a Mecca for thousands of wintering birds. This inland sea formed when the Colorado River breached floodgates in 1905, forming a lake 45 miles long. The lake has diminished in size and greatly increased in salt concentration, but a single introduced fish - the African tilapia - persists in abundance. Seabirds visit the Salton Sea to feed on them. The smell comes from occasional massive die-offs of the fish, so abundant that their bones mak...
Jan 23, 2023•2 min
Is there any doubt about the identity of America's best known red bird? Surely it's the cardinal or, as you'll find it in a bird book, the Northern Cardinal. The beautiful bird seen on so many bird feeders takes its name from the cardinals found in the Vatican, whose hats and robes are red. Only the male cardinal — seen right here — is red; females are a tasteful olive-brown with red highlights. Share this show with someone who likes cardinals. Thanks! More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . ...
Jan 22, 2023•2 min
Common Poorwills don’t sing much when the mercury drops. But they can do something else that is remarkable. As the winter cold deepens, these petite members of the nightjar family can enter a hibernation-like state — and stay like that for hours — or even weeks! Scientists call it torpor . It happens when an animal slows its body functions to conserve energy and heat. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get a...
Jan 21, 2023•2 min
Most of the bird sounds you hear on BirdNote come from the Macaulay Library, a vast collection of over one million bird calls and songs curated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The library relies on both professional field recordists and dedicated volunteers to capture the sounds of birds all over the world. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. ...
Jan 20, 2023•2 min
Woodpeckers, as a group, eat far more ants than most other birds do. Many other vertebrates tend to avoid ants because of their stings or because of the noxious chemicals they contain, like formic acid. But woodpeckers just love them. A Pileated Woodpecker’s diet may be up to 50% ants! More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift ...
Jan 19, 2023•2 min
Dave Mull is not your typical birder — he's a professional skateboarder, or a “skatebirder” as he puts it. He brings binoculars with him when he skateboards and doesn’t mind putting his board down to check out a bird. But the birds aren't really a distraction for Dave. Tuning into his surroundings, including the birds, helps him stay in the zone and provides inspiration for tricks. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for Bird...
Jan 18, 2023•2 min
One of the most difficult skills to pick up as a birdwatcher is how to identify birds in flight. You have to sort through a series of visual clues all at once, at high speed: silhouette, wing shape, how fast it flaps, and patterning. An experienced birder will take in all these and other clues that are hard to put into words — and might say something like: “Look! A hawk! Must be a Cooper’s Hawk — it has that giss.” In other words, it has all the telltale signs. But where did this bit of birdwatc...
Jan 17, 2023•2 min
In 2017, Hurricane Maria tore through the island, causing widespread destruction for both people and for birds. The critically endangered Puerto Rican Parrot was devastated by the storm when they lost their food sources. However, the Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program helped save the birds in the wild with feeding stations. The program is working to boost the species’ numbers through captive breeding. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsle...
Jan 16, 2023•2 min
Northern Mockingbirds can learn to mimic the sounds of just about any bird. They mimic to show off , not to deceive. But this Thick-billed Euphonia, a tiny songbird in South America, employs what scientists call “deceitful mimicry.” When frightened by a predator near its nest, a Thick-billed Euphonia imitates the alarm calls of other birds nesting nearby. This stirs them into action as they rush in to harass the predator. The euphonia, meanwhile, sits tight while others do the dirty work. More i...
Jan 15, 2023•2 min
While it’s still winter in many parts of North America, it’s summer in Antarctica. And the King Penguins are singing! Some form breeding colonies that number in the tens of thousands. When many pairs of these colorful birds tip their heads back and sing, it sounds like the world’s largest kazoo band. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-d...
Jan 14, 2023•2 min
eBird, an online tool for submitting bird observations, allows scientists to keep track of birds around the world. eBird now has over one billion bird observations from more than 700,000 people — most of them community scientists who care about their local birds. And as more people in more places join in, eBird becomes an even better way for researchers to understand birds. In this show, learn how you can make your birding more useful to science. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want m...
Jan 13, 2023•2 min
By winter, most warblers have migrated south. But the Yellow-rumped Warbler, which birders affectionately call “butterbutt” is a lesson in adaptation, notes Bryan Pfeiffer, a writer, naturalist, and educator who lives in Vermont. “In winter, when most of their kin are enjoying insects in the tropics, Yellow-rumps are finding food across parts of the West, the southern U.S. and north into New England,” he says. “With insects in short supply, the Yellow-rump turns to fruit . . .” More info and tra...
Jan 12, 2023•2 min
Glenn Albrecht grew up in western Australia, where he became enamored with birds.As he grew up, Glenn witnessed how coal mining devastated the Australian countryside — and the birds that lived there. He’s since become an environmental philosopher. He’s developed a new vocabulary to describe human relationships with the natural world. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. B...
Jan 11, 2023•2 min
