A Laysan Albatross named Wisdom has been nesting and raising chicks on the island of Midway for nearly 60 years. She was banded back in 1956 and was rediscovered, still alive and healthy, in 2002. Since that time, scientists have watched Wisdom closely. Every year, she has managed to navigate the many perils facing her species and successfully raise a new chick. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free...
Feb 27, 2025•2 min
Tree Swallows and bluebirds — like this Western Bluebird — are among the earliest northbound migrants to arrive, heralding spring a month before the equinox. These species will nest only in cavities, such as old woodpecker holes or man-made nest boxes. But the supply of specialized nest sites is limited, and competition is intense. By arriving early, these swallows and bluebirds improve their chances of securing unoccupied cavities. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? ...
Feb 26, 2025•2 min
During winter and early spring, Great Blue Herons build their nests high in the treetops. The male delivers the supplies to the nest site stick by stick, as the female arranges things. It’s the perfect childhood home for their young, made without blueprints, architects or engineers. But by early May, the chicks are starting to test the limits of their nests! More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free lis...
Feb 25, 2025•2 min
Upland Sandpipers are an emblematic bird of grassland habitats in many regions of the Americas. These shorebirds live far from sea with the largest breeding populations in the north central U.S. But Upland Sandpipers are losing breeding ground to row-crop agriculture, pushing some birds to nest at airports as a substitute for natural prairies. Preserving grasslands throughout their range will help ensure that the Upland Sandpiper’s signature whistling song continues to ring out. This episode is ...
Feb 24, 2025•2 min
One of the most difficult skills to pick up as a birder 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. So if you hang around long enough, you might hear some interesting slang. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign...
Feb 23, 2025•2 min
In this story from Nimiipuu culture, Meadowlark is likened to the ‘reporter’ of Western grasslands, singing its song from the tops of fenceposts and trees. This story takes place before the time of people. Meadowlark warned Coyote about a Monster that was eating all the animals in the Kamiah Valley in the north-central part of what is today called Idaho. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listeni...
Feb 22, 2025•2 min
Twenty years ago today, the first BirdNote Daily episode aired on the radio in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. Since then, through sound-rich stories, we’ve explored the lives of countless birds – and inspired action to protect birds around the world. Join us in celebrating 20 years of stories. Now and forever, this is BirdNote. 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. BirdNo...
Feb 21, 2025•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. ...
Feb 20, 2025•2 min
Standing over three-feet tall, Great Egrets have elegant white feathers and long slender necks. During the breeding season, both males and females grow long frilly feathers called aigrettes. Great Egrets were nearly hunted to extinction for their luxurious plumes in the late 1800s, until conservationists banded together to outlaw their killing. This episode is dedicated to Adrienne Ottenberg and Bob Hartman, with love from BirdNote supporter Jane Curley. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org ...
Feb 19, 2025•2 min
Most wrens in North America are small, furtive birds that stay deep in the vegetation. But the Cactus Wren is large, bold, and brassy. These wrens are well adapted to the desert and can get all the moisture they need from their food. Cactus Wren nests are a regular sight in their range of dry habitats from West Texas to California. The nest looks like a football made of twigs, stuck horizontally in a thorny tree or cholla cactus. It’s easily seen but well guarded by the spiky vegetation. More in...
Feb 18, 2025•2 min
Male and female Northern Shovelers both have that unmistakable trowel-shaped bill, but they differ in plumage. Females and non-breeding males are a mottled beige color. But during the breeding season, male shovelers sport a bright white breast, reddish-brown flanks, and an emerald green head that can rival any mallard's. This episode is dedicated to Bob Goodale whose lifelong love for birds and nature continues to inspire. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe ...
Feb 17, 2025•2 min
After breeding on Arctic cliffs and tundra hillsides in summer, Rough-legged Hawks winter throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Open country is their ideal territory, where the small rodents they depend on are usually so plentiful that the hawks have enough to eat. But the rodents are cyclic, with lower populations in some years, and in those winters, Rough-legs may migrate farther and be more abundant in the contiguous United States. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? ...
Feb 16, 2025•2 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 15, 2025•2 min
For some birds, love is in the air. When a pair of White-throated Swifts wants to get to know each other, they meet up — on the wing — high above the ground. The birds grasp one another and, clinging together, tumble downward, for over 500 feet. Just before striking the earth, they separate, flying nonchalantly back up the canyon wall. Visit a Western canyon, and you might see a pair of swifts literally falling in love. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to ...
Feb 14, 2025•2 min
That’s not a distant dog barking. It’s a Black Skimmer in flight, at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia. This striking, black-and-white bird with a red bill and red feet has a most unusual way of feeding. It flies low along the surface of the water with its beak open. Closely related to terns, skimmers nest on sand islands in closely packed colonies. They depend on undisturbed islands and abundant small fish in coastal lagoons for their survival. More info and transcript at Bi...
Feb 13, 2025•2 min
Invasive European Starlings are one of the most common birds in North American cities. Recent genetic research into European Starlings shows that populations in North America may have become better adapted to thrive in arid environments and colder temperatures compared to the milder climate of their home range in Europe. Evolution is an ongoing process, and sometimes the best examples can be found in birds that live right alongside us in cities. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want mo...
Feb 12, 2025•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 include 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 ...
Feb 11, 2025•1 min
From their cheerful melodies to their vibrant color and skillful acrobatics, there’s a lot to love about Eastern Bluebirds. Look for them along country roads, city parks, and other open woodlands with plenty of grassy patches where they can hunt for snacks. Today’s show is in memory of Bud Oehler, whose trail of nest boxes helped bring Eastern Bluebirds back to Southwest Iowa. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+...
Feb 10, 2025•2 min
With its rubbery-sounding rattles and clownish red eyebrows, the ptarmigan is quite the stand-out northern bird. As winter approaches, the ptarmigan’s feet grow feathers, and its claws grow longer. All that added surface area means the ptarmigan practically has its own set of snowshoes. 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...
Feb 09, 2025•2 min
The idea of the "swan song" recurs from Aesop to Ovid to Plato to Tennyson. Ovid described it, "There, she poured out her words of grief, tearfully, in faint tones, in harmony with sadness, just as the swan sings once, in dying, its own funeral song." But it's based on a sweet fallacy – that a swan sings only when it nears death. And calling the sounds that a swan makes a "song" might be a bit off, too! More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsle...
Feb 08, 2025•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 per...
Feb 07, 2025•2 min
In winter, when snow blankets the northern states, nearly all of the songbirds that graced the days of summer are gone. But there’s one special winter visitor that fills the absence: the Bohemian Waxwing. In autumn, waxwings wander south from the boreal forest into the northern states and along the Rockies. Sometimes, they venture even farther south. In fact, it’s this itinerant life that earned them the name “Bohemian.” More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to...
Feb 06, 2025•2 min
Red-headed Woodpeckers have mastered the art of high-contrast fashion. Both males and females have deep-crimson head feathers. Their clean white body feathers are offset by large patches of ink black feathers on their neck, wings, and tail. This is why you’ll hear some folks refer to them as "flying checkerboards." This episode is dedicated to Bob Goodale whose lifelong love for birds and nature continues to inspire. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our...
Feb 05, 2025•2 min
In this episode of BirdNoir, the Private Eye sees some suspicious activity: a House Sparrow tries to steal a nestbox from Tree Swallows, but then flees the scene in terror. He stakes out the nestbox to see what the Tree Swallows are doing to keep intruders away. 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 makes these shows possib...
Feb 04, 2025•2 min
Kenon Walker got one of the most unusual job offers you can get: be the Duckmaster of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. That means he would lead the hotel’s five ducks on a daily march to the fountain in the lobby, a bizarre and beloved tradition that draws visitors from all over. But when he was first offered the job, Kenon was hesitant to take it because all the previous Duckmasters he knew of were white. Or so he thought. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to...
Feb 03, 2025•5 min
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 02, 2025•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 Bi...
Feb 01, 2025•2 min
How long can a bird fly without touching the earth? To find out, Swiss scientists attached sensors to Alpine Swifts. The sensors showed long periods when the swifts were gliding and not flapping their wings. Were the birds asleep? Scientists don’t know for sure. It could be that Alpine Swifts sleep during the summer breeding season — and don’t sleep at all during migration. But why do they stay aloft so long? Swifts can’t perch because they have very short legs. So if they can manage it, avoidin...
Jan 31, 2025•2 min
Harpy Eagles spend their lives in tall, remote tropical forests in Central and South America, flying from tree to tree in search of food. The eagles are named for the Harpies of Greek mythology, women with the bodies of birds who, on Zeus’s command, snatched people from the earth. Since it takes many months for a nestling to mature, Harpy Eagles raise a youngster just once every two or three years. Listen to this episode in Spanish here . More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more Bird...
Jan 30, 2025•2 min
For small songbirds, surviving a cold winter night can be challenging. Their bodies lose heat faster than those of larger birds. So little birds have found resourceful ways to stay warm — like huddling close together with other birds. But the Verdin, a tiny bird of the Southwest, does something few other birds do to keep warm: it builds extra nests to roost in, in the winter. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ ...
Jan 29, 2025•2 min
