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Birdsong Mnemonics with Christian Cooper
Birder and author Christian Cooper says learning to identify bird calls feels like unlocking a sixth sense. Birding by ear is a skill that takes time to develop, but you’ll start to recognize pattern…
Published on 1 month ago
Play and Brain Size
Many birds that play do it alone by swinging, sliding, or rolling around. Some species interact with objects, like dropping a stone and picking it up again. But a select few birds – like these crows …
Published on 1 month ago
The Eagle, the Cactus, and the City on the Lake
In one of the most iconic founding legends of the Americas, a Golden Eagle devouring a serpent atop a cactus marked the spot where the Mexicas would build Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire. O…
Published on 1 month ago
The Joy of Robins with J. Drew Lanham
J. Drew Lanham is a poet and ornithologist whose work intertwines his lived experience as a Black man in the American south and his love of wilderness. Both have taught him that joy is a source of st…
Published on 1 month ago
A Library of Feathers
Esha Munshi co-founded the Feather Library, a digital library that collects and documents the feathers of Indian birds. Launched in 2021, the library has high-resolution photographs of more than 100 …
Published on 1 month ago
Red-throated Loons of Deception Pass
The word “loon” comes from the Old Norse word for “lame.” Because their feet are so far back on their bodies, loons cannot walk on land. But in flight, they’re graceful, and under water, they're swif…
Published on 1 month ago
Chestnut-collared Longspur
The cheerful-voiced Chestnut-collared Longspur shares their northern prairie breeding range with grazing cattle. Although heavy grazing can have adverse effects, breeding densities of longspurs jump …
Published on 1 month ago
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gulls have a reputation as serious predators of other birds like puffins, grebes, and songbirds as big as a grackle. Just over a century ago, these birds were nearly wiped out by f…
Published on 1 month, 1 week ago
Spark Bird: Thomas Poulsom and the LEGO Robin
As he trained to be an arborist, Thomas Poulsom started developing two new interests: birds and building with LEGO bricks. After first building a European Robin, he went on to create LEGO models of m…
Published on 1 month, 1 week ago
Red Knots Refuel in the Delaware Bay
The Red Knot is a true marathon traveler, flying up to 9,000 miles between the Arctic tundra and Tierra del Fuego. But their journey depends on a critical stopover: Delaware Bay, where they feast on …
Published on 1 month, 1 week ago