When Adé Ben-Salahuddin stopped to help a trapped young bird on his way home from work, he found an unexpected source of help: an older Black woman walking by who had just the skills for the problem at hand. This year, Black Birders Week is celebrating miraculous shades of brown by highlighting the beauty and importance of sparrows while also drawing parallels with the struggles and triumphs of Black birders. Learn more about how to participate in this week’s events here . More info and transcri...
May 28, 2025•2 min
There are many benefits for birds that form mixed flocks, from safety and survival to care and feeding. We can see the power of community through the actions of birds every day. And it’s time we took a note from their book. This year, Black Birders Week is celebrating miraculous shades of brown by highlighting the beauty and importance of sparrows while also drawing parallels with the struggles and triumphs of Black birders. Learn more about how to participate in this week’s events here . More i...
May 27, 2025•2 min
In June 2024, environmental educator and co-organizer of Black Birders Week Dara Miles Wilson traveled to Camden, South Carolina to attend her cousin’s funeral. Despite the somber circumstances, two birds surprised her with unanticipated brightness. This year, Black Birders Week is celebrating miraculous shades of brown by highlighting the beauty and importance of sparrows while also drawing parallels with the struggles and triumphs of Black birders. Learn more about how to participate in this w...
May 26, 2025•2 min
Sparrows are remarkable birds that come in a wide range of brown hues. Just as sparrows are frequently dismissed in favor of more "charismatic" species, Black birders have historically been underrepresented in conservation spaces. This year, Black Birders Week is celebrating miraculous shades of brown by highlighting the beauty and importance of sparrows while also drawing parallels with the struggles and triumphs of Black birders. Learn more about how to participate in this week’s events here ....
May 25, 2025•2 min
When we watch birds in flight, they’re often seen against a backdrop of clouds. Clouds have many different types and are listed in the International Cloud Atlas. The asperitas cloud was first described by citizen-scientists and has now been incorporated into the official atlas. 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 th...
May 24, 2025•2 min
The most distinctive characteristic of the California Quail is the black, forward-facing topknot that juts out from its forehead like a small flag. The California Quail – the state bird of California – builds its nest right on the ground. Almost immediately after hatching, the precocial chicks are up and running, following their parents to feed. 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 ot...
May 23, 2025•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...
May 22, 2025•2 min
One of the world champions of long-distance migration is the Arctic Tern. Arctic Terns nest across the far northern reaches of the continent during our summer, then fly south to Antarctica for the rest of the year. Some will circle the polar ice-pack before heading north again, completing a total round trip of more than 50,000 miles. Every year. 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 ot...
May 21, 2025•2 min
As the sun sets over New York City, author Helen Macdonald takes in the wonders of spring migration from the top of the Empire State Building. She watches a long procession of songbirds pass overhead, but her joy is dampened when she notices some of the birds circling endlessly around the building’s brilliant beacon. Turning off the blaring lights of city skylines — and even suburban homes — can help protect migratory birds at night. Today's show brought to you by the Bobolink Foundation . More ...
May 20, 2025•2 min
Orchard orioles are social birds that build their nests in large trees among streambanks and wetlands. The males have chestnut-colored breasts and black backs and wings, while females and immature birds are mostly yellow. After the males fly south in late July and early August, the young birds and females stay behind to forage for late summer berries. Protecting streamside habitats helps these colorful birds, along with a whole suite of other species that depend on clean water and lots of shrubb...
May 19, 2025•2 min
The Swainson's Warbler is one of North America's shyest birds. These birds forage quietly on the ground, flipping over leaves to expose and capture insects. They scurry away, calling in alarm when big-footed humans invade their shadowy habitat. On their wintering grounds, in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, they're even harder to find, because they don't sing in winter. Swainson's Warblers do, however, respond aggressively to a recording of their own song. That's how ornithologists confirmed the p...
May 18, 2025•2 min
When it comes to raising a family, American Robins have got it down. Approximately eight days after the male and female mate, the female builds the nest. A few days later, she lays eggs. She sits on the eggs for 18 hours a day, and the eggs hatch in about three weeks. Both parents feed the nestlings until they fledge, then Mom and Dad feed them for another three weeks, until the kids are on their own. Whew! Time for a break, right? Not a chance. Most robins raise two sets of young each season, a...
May 17, 2025•2 min
Roger Tory Peterson, the best known American figure of 20th Century birdwatching, offered help on birding by ear. Whenever he could, he provided a catchphrase to identify a bird's song. "Witchety-witchety-witchety" captures the song of this Common Yellowthroat. The California Quail seems to say, "Chicago, Chicago, Chicago." Go on a field trip with your local Audubon, and discover more bird songs. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. S...
May 16, 2025•2 min
Conservation photographer Noppadol Paothong says that if you go out to take pictures of birds, you shouldn’t just aim to take an eye-catching photo. He spends long hours in photo blinds, often watching and studying birds rather than photographing them. He has become deeply familiar with some populations of sage-grouse, to the point that he can recognize individuals. Caring about the wildlife you photograph, particularly for rare and declining species, will make you a better photographer, he says...
May 15, 2025•2 min
If you're near High Island, Texas in the spring, you might witness a "fallout," one of the great spectacles of bird migration. Thousands of birds, including Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, orioles, Painted Buntings, and warblers of all kinds, as well as tanagers and Indigo Buntings, like this one, drop from the sky. They've just flown non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico, covering 600 miles in about 15 hours. Exhausted and hungry from bucking the storm, they land at last. More info and transcript at Bird...
May 14, 2025•2 min
Every spring in Northwest Ohio, the shores of Lake Erie transform into a birder’s paradise. Birder and author Kenn Kaufman, who lives in this area, says that of the many species that migrate through here, one group of vibrant, vivacious songbirds stands out from the rest: warblers. Trees leaf out later in the season along the lakeshore, making the tiny warblers easier to see as they forage for food. Northwest Ohio has earned a reputation as the Warbler Capital of the World among birders in the k...
May 13, 2025•2 min
With white and grey feathers, a piercing stare, and noisy screams, the American Herring Gull is a “seagull” that's well adapted to land-locked living. These impressive, raucous birds are abundant over large swaths of North American from Alaska to Puerto Rico. Whether they’re squabbling over table scraps at an inland landfill or scarfing down french fries by the beach, American Herring Gulls are fun birds to watch! This episode is sponsored by Laura Potash of Roslyn, Washington. More info and tra...
May 12, 2025•2 min
Avian motherhood is a mixed bag. Peregrine Falcon mothers share duties fairly equally with Peregrine dads. At the other end of the spectrum is the female hummingbird, which usually carries the entire burden of nesting, incubating, and tending the young. And then, there's the female Western Sandpiper: she usually leaves the family just a few days after the eggs have hatched! More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to...
May 11, 2025•2 min
Crows. Large, black, noisy. The raucous birds of the neighborhood. Some people love them; others aren't so sure. American Crows are crafty and resourceful. Crows have adapted to our modern world. For one thing, they, too have a taste for fast food. Watch for crows at your local fast food joint. They've learned to pick through our trash cans. Like them or not, they're a natural clean-up crew. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign u...
May 10, 2025•2 min
Just an hour south of Tucson, Arizona, Madera Canyon is a nature-lover’s dream. Among the more than 250 bird species found in this region throughout the year, the Elegant Trogon draws spectators from far and wide. These robin-sized birds forage for fruits and insects in the high canopy of oaks, sycamores, and other vegetation along the canyon’s many creekside trails. Trogons are elusive and difficult to spot. But don’t worry; The canyon’s astonishing diversity of birds offer plenty to see and he...
May 09, 2025•2 min
Tiana Williams-Claussen is a member of the Yurok Nation and Director of the Yurok Tribe Wildlife Department. In this episode, she shares the story of how the California Condor, known as Prey-go-neesh in the Yurok language, went extinct on Yurok lands due to the environmental exploitation that followed the California Gold Rush. The Yurok Tribe has forged a partnership with the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to bring condors back home. More info and transcript at Bird...
May 08, 2025•2 min
The male Ruffed Grouse stands on a resonant fallen log in the shelter of a brushy thicket, thumping the air with his wings. He raises them and, cupping them forward, beats the air. He's slow at first, then faster, creating a reverberating drum roll. This announces his territory and his desire for a mate. The name "Ruffed" derives from the male's long neck feathers which, in display to the female, flex outward to form a thick neck ruff. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNot...
May 07, 2025•2 min
Sailor and artist, Brechin Morgan, circumnavigated the globe solo. Alone on the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, he welcomed the companionship of a Swallow-tailed Gull, flying off of the bow stay in front of the boat, like a little shadow of moonlight floating back and forth, almost all night long. Brechin saw other birds on his voyage, too. He said, "They were friends in the middle of the void. Amazing visitors – I couldn’t understand how they managed to get 1,500 miles from the nearest piece...
May 06, 2025•2 min
Male Bobolinks are first to arrive on their breeding grounds in the grasslands. Why are there fewer Bobolinks than in decades past? Probably because the landscape of North America has changed so much. Bobolinks originally nested on native prairies of the Midwest and southern Canada. Much of the land where they nested has come under intense cultivation. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening...
May 05, 2025•2 min
The Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary in Northwest California is an important stop along the Pacific Flyway, one of the four main routes for bird migration through North America. Visitors are sometimes surprised to learn that this wildlife sanctuary is also the city of Arcata’s wastewater treatment facility. By combining conventional wastewater treatment to natural wetlands, the city has created habitat homes and migratory resting places for over 300 species of birds, including many shorebirds...
May 04, 2025•2 min
The first Sunday of May is International Dawn Chorus Day, a day to appreciate the beauty of birds’ dawn songs. Dawn Chorus Day began as a small event in Birmingham, England in the 1980s and has grown to be a worldwide celebration of birdsong. You can join in wherever you are by listening to the singers in your neighborhood – like this Eurasian Wren. Just make sure you get up nice and early! Today’s show brought to you by the Bobolink Foundation . More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want m...
May 03, 2025•2 min
There’s just something about penguins. Pleasantly plump, they stand upright and teeter like toddlers. Although often depicted in black and white, most are actually more colorful. Seven species have long, jaunty golden feather tufts above their eyes. King Penguins and Emperor Penguins have necks that glisten gold. The Little Penguin is blue and white. Penguins are found in the Southern Hemisphere, from the Equator to Antarctica. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? Subsc...
May 02, 2025•2 min
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are the only hummingbirds that nest in the Eastern states. Most Ruby-throats spend the winter in Central America. By March, some males are already returning to the Southeast. But it's well into April before they reach the northern states. Female hummingbirds arrive a couple weeks later. What hummingbird might you see in your region? Check out hummingbirds.net. Put up a feeder and attract one to your yard. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? S...
May 01, 2025•2 min
Puffins are known for their flashy bills, striped like a giant piece of candy-corn. New research has found that the bills of Atlantic Puffins glow brightly under ultraviolet blacklights. Neon, curved streaks appeared between the different colored segments of a puffin’s bill in this lighting. It’s possible that the UV highlights help the birds further stand out to potential mates. For the experiment, researchers made special puffin sunglasses to protect the birds’ eyes. More info and transcript a...
Apr 30, 2025•2 min
It's dawn on a spring day in the Big Cypress Swamp of Florida. Mist rises from quiet water into Spanish moss hanging from the cypress branches. A Limpkin is foraging for apple snails. When it touches a big, round shell, it grabs it quickly and pulls it from the water. Then, moving to solid ground, the Limpkin positions the shell, and using the curved tip of its lower mandible, it scissors loose the operculum and pulls out the snail. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org . Want more BirdNote? ...
Apr 29, 2025•2 min
