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Lesser Yellowlegs, Loud and Proud
When the shorebirds called Lesser Yellowlegs sense a threat to their nest, they’ll put up an unforgettable racket to drive the danger away. Smaller and with a shorter bill than the Greater Yellowlegs…
Published on 1 year, 10 months ago
Nictitating Membranes - Nature's Goggles
For most birds, keen eyesight is critical for survival. But many birds lead lives that can be very hard on the eyes — like flying at breakneck speed, racing for cover into a dense thicket, or diving …
Published on 1 year, 10 months ago
Finding Food When it Snows
Fresh-fallen snow is beautiful, but it poses a challenge to birds. The ground where they found food is now covered by several inches of snow. Birds such as juncos and other sparrows flit under bushes…
Published on 1 year, 10 months ago
Costa Rica Winter Sunrise
On a winter morning in Costa Rica, a colorful choir welcomes the day. A pair of Bay Wrens sings a brisk duet just before sunrise. Perched in the upper canopy of the tropical lowland forest, a group o…
Published on 1 year, 10 months ago
Cockatoos and People Trying to Outwit Each Other
In several neighborhoods of Sydney, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos have learned ways to open trash bins and grab some leftover food. Researchers found that birds in a given suburb seem to learn their tras…
Published on 1 year, 10 months ago
Memory of the ‘Ō‘ū
Sam ‘Ohu Gon was one of the last people to see an ‘Ō‘ū, a native Hawaiian bird that’s presumed to be extinct. He’s worked at the Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i for nearly forty years. In 1988, he took…
Published on 1 year, 10 months ago
Tokens of Affection
Birds have many ways of showing affection for their partners. One way is allopreening, where a bird uses its bill to groom a mate, twirling each individual feather in its beak (like these Macaws). Ot…
Published on 1 year, 10 months ago
Rainbow-Billed Toucan: The Flying Banana
The Keel-billed Toucan, also known as the Rainbow-billed Toucan, looks like a bird with a giant banana for a beak. They have a black body, a yellow patch from the face to the breast, and a huge rainb…
Published on 1 year, 10 months ago
Telling Apart Two Cheery Bird Songs
The American Robin and the Baltimore Oriole both have cheery, upbeat songs. At first, you might think there’s no way to tell these two cheery, upbeat singers apart. But there are a couple of differen…
Published on 1 year, 10 months ago
On a Cold, Cold Night
When the bitter cold of winter arrives, songbirds face an emergency: how to keep warm through the night. On normal nights, many prefer sleeping solo in a sheltered spot. But in severe cold, some kind…
Published on 1 year, 10 months ago