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The Music of Birds Migrating in the Night
Ornithologist Bill Evans has helped us better understand the sounds that birds make as they migrate at night. Known as nocturnal flight calls, many s…
2 years, 4 months ago
The Vampire Finch
Vampire Ground-Finches menace their victims in broad daylight, stabbing holes in their flesh, then devouring the blood. During the dry season, when t…
2 years, 4 months ago
There’s More Than One Way to Climb a Tree
No bird is better adapted for climbing up a tree trunk than a woodpecker. The foot of this Pileated Woodpecker is ideal for clinging, and its relativ…
2 years, 4 months ago
How a Bird Came to Look Like a Caterpillar
The Cinereous Mourner is a small, ashy-gray bird that lives in the forest understory of the Amazon Basin. And it’s taking mimicry to the next level: …
2 years, 5 months ago
What Makes an Efficient Flying Bird?
Every bird species uses its wings a little differently, and some are specialized for highly efficient flight. But that means going without other abil…
2 years, 5 months ago
Surfing with Scoters
Surf Scoters are perfectly at home in the element they’re named for. They swim smack in the middle of what surfers call the impact zone: Just where t…
2 years, 5 months ago
The Birds of Yoga
Pigeon Pose. Crow Pose. Eagle pose. Bird of paradise. Writer Trisha Mukherjee, who is also a yoga teacher, discusses the connections these bird-inspi…
2 years, 5 months ago
The Sociable Weaver’s Colonial Nest
When it comes to nests, common sense suggests that large birds build large nests, and small birds build small nests. But in fact, some species of sma…
2 years, 5 months ago
Ornate Hawk-Eagle: the Elegant Eagle
Ornate Hawk-Eagles stand out from other raptors with their impressive crest that looks like an elegant crown in adults, and a punk hairdo over the wh…
2 years, 5 months ago
Altitudinal Migration
Yellow-eyed Juncos sometimes make a migration of sorts — not from north to south, but from the high mountains to the lowlands or the other way around…
2 years, 5 months ago