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Crested Auklets Entice Their Mates with Scent
Crested Auklets are small seabirds that nest on remote cliffs in the Northern Pacific and the Bering Sea. But it’s their smell that really sets these birds apart. They smell like tangerines! Experime…
Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Pelagic Birds by Boat
Some birds spend most of their lives on the open ocean, only coming to land when it's time to breed. These high-sea specialists are called pelagic birds, which include jaegers, petrels, and albatross…
Published on 5 months, 4 weeks ago
Advice to Beginning Birders from David Sibley
David Sibley, creator and illustrator of The Sibley Guide to Birds, offers this advice for people learning to identify birds: “Spend time at home, paging through the field guide . . . by flipping thr…
Published on 5 months, 4 weeks ago
What’s in a Name? A Bird!
Names are conventions, right? But some names contain something special: a bird! For example, the name Paloma comes from the colloquial name in Spanish for the common pigeon, but as a human name it of…
Published on 6 months ago
Black-bellied Plover, Arctic Nester
In the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, June days offer almost continuous daylight to breeding birds, including this Black-bellied Plover. At this high latitude, Black-bellied Plovers can complete th…
Published on 6 months ago
As the Crowe Flies
Crows play many roles in human cultures, from ominous tricksters to sacred purveyors of wisdom. After exploring the stories behind her family surname, attorney and playwright Alice T. Crowe discovere…
Published on 6 months ago
If You See a Bird with Leg Bands
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 t…
Published on 6 months ago
The Chihuahuan Meadowlark
In 2022, ornithologists recognized the Chihuahuan Meadowlark as a separate species rather than a subspecies of the Eastern Meadowlark. Named after the northern region of Mexico where they're easy to …
Published on 6 months ago
Green Jay
Adorned in shades of peridot green, sapphire blue, and onyx black, the Green Jay is a jewel-toned wonder with a voice as loud as its color palette. Their range is split over two regions, one from sou…
Published on 6 months ago
Father Birds
The male hummingbird leaves the female to build the nest and raise the young alone, but other father birds are more involved. A Peregrine Falcon father shares duties almost evenly with the mother. (S…
Published on 6 months ago