Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Every case of a bird being hit by a plane is sad, but this story is particularly shocking. On November 19, 2022, a United Airlines flight from Chicago was on final approach to Newark International Airport in New Jersey at 3:45…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email When winter arrives, it’s tempting to leave your camera in your bag, make yourself comfortable in front of the wood stove and leaf through travel catalogs for birding trips to the tropics! But don’t let the cold keep you inside. Winter…
Grosbeak, adult male, May in Kern County, California. Photo by Brian Small From coast to coast of the United States, the Blue Grosbeak is a regular summer resident in dense thickets along streams. Most common in the south, they have spread north in recent decades. They now regularly breed as far north as New Jersey,…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Sunflower is the perfect seed to feed birds – or so I’ve been telling people since I started feeding backyard birds in 1981. It attracts a wide variety, from chickadees and sparrows jays and grosbeaks. Sunflower’s high protein content is nutritious…
We have Sabine Gulls and Arctic Terns, more Sabine Gulls and more Arctic Terns. We travel up the Ningikfak River in Alaska in an 18-foot speedboat, 120 Yamaha horsepower pushing us at breakneck speed. We just left Hooper Bay, an indentation in the Bering Sea west of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, one of…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Computer scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in collaboration with biologists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, recently announced in the journal Methods in ecology and evolution a new predictive model that can accurately predict where a migrating bird will…
Our 2020 Bird Portrait competition attracted hundreds of fantastic images. We are pleased to present this slideshow of 12 honorable mention photos, featuring the Bald Eagle, Great Snowy Egret, Great Reddish Egret and Northern Hawk Owl. Appreciate! Double-crested Cormorant by Stan Bysshe “The Green Cay Nature Center is a well-known wetland in Boynton Beach, Florida,”…
DISAPPEARING ACT: In normal swimming position, a mallard duck (above) hides its wings under the scapulars and flanks. Only the tertiaries and primaries are visible. The illustration below depicts the same bird and how its wing would appear if visible. Artwork by David Sibley Subscribe today to BirdWatching magazine for identification tips, birding hotspots and…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In the ‘Since you asked for it’ section in every issue of BirdWatching, editor Julie Craves answers readers’ questions about birds and their behaviour. Here’s a question from our January/February 2019 issue. Q: I took this photo of an American White…
“I have a kettle!” On a hawk watch, few phrases have such an electrifying and immediate effect. Before the echo of the scream passes the hill, the counters are in position, their binoculars up and ready, and their clickers wrapped around eager fingers. As the sky fills with falcons and other observers and visitors point…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email The field of ornithology routinely excludes scholars and research from Latin America and the Caribbean, according to an article published February 7 in the Ornithological applications. The document, signed by 124 ornithologists (including professional scientists, naturalists, park rangers and technicians) from…
End of 2020, Bird watching received over 700 photos submitted by hundreds of photographers to our Bird Portrait contest. Thank you to everyone who participated! The selection of images was excellent, as have all of our previous contests. The judges had a difficult task! Today, we are proud to present to you the 12 finalist…
Henslow’s Sparrow, adult. May in Muskingum County, Ohio. Photo by Brian E. Small When I was 18, I hitchhiked to Chicago, where another birdwatcher, Joel Greenberg (now famous author and naturalist), promised to show me a Henslow’s Sparrow. On a cool June morning, we visited the beautiful prairie of Goose Lake. Later, I wrote a…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In the ‘Since you asked for it’ section in every issue of BirdWatching, editor Julie Craves answers readers’ questions about birds and their behaviour. Here’s a question from our January/February 2019 issue. Q: Can a bird’s eyes change color? Erica Cameron,…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email For the first time in more than 40 years, a Peruvian diving petrel chick has hatched on Chañaral Island in Chile, marking a milestone on an island once devastated by invasive species. Members of the non-profit Island Conservation team, working in…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Vaughn Larsen of Littleton, Colorado is the third winner of our 2020 Bird Portrait Contest with this stunning portrait of a wood duck he took at Sterne Park in Littleton in October 2020. “The sunrise light off the fall foliage reflects…
Orange-crowned warbler, adult. April in Riverside County, California. Photo by Brian E. Small Wood warblers, as a group, are some of our most colorful and strikingly patterned birds. But there are exceptions, and one of the most notable is the Orange-crowned Warbler. It is a widespread bird found virtually throughout North America in certain seasons,…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In 2012, editor Julie Craves wrote for us about the ecological costs of traditional coffee farming and she explained why shade-grown coffee is a better alternative for supporting birds and other wildlife. Recently, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center launched a #DrinkBirdFriendly…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email The 26th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) takes place Friday, From February 17 to Monday February 20. Bird and nature lovers from all over the world come together to survey as many of the world’s bird species as possible during…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Steve Wolfe of Portal, Arizona won second place Bird watchingBird Portrait Contest 2020 with this flawless photo of a male Elegant Trogon. He took the photo in December 2017 at one of the best birding spots in the lower 48 states:…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Late summer is the time of year when many birds replace their feathers in a process called molting. Old feathers, most of which have been worn for about a year, fall off and new feathers grow in their place. Seagulls, for…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In On the Move, our regular migration column, we feature pairs of range maps from eBird that you can use to compare where birds of interest are at different times of the year. We featured the Pine Grosbeak, pictured above, in…
Williamson’s woodpecker, adult female. June in Weber County, Utah. Photo by Brian E. Small Many types of wildlife will relish the sweet taste of tree sap when it is readily available. Various woodpeckers occasionally bore into the bark to access the sap. But North America’s four species of suckers are unique in their degree of…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Popular fireworks should be replaced with cleaner drone and laser light shows to avoid the “highly damaging” impact on wildlife, pets and the environment in general, a new study suggests. The new research, published in Pacific Conservation Biologyexamined the environmental impact…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Congratulations to Andy Raupp of Pingree Grove, Illinois for winning first place in our 2020 Bird Portrait Contest with this amazing photo of a Cedar Waxwing. Andy took the photo “on a cold winter morning in our northern Illinois suburban neighborhood,”…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In the ‘Since you asked for it’ section in every issue of BirdWatching, editor Julie Craves answers readers’ questions about birds and their behaviour. Here’s a question from our January/February 2019 issue. Q: I was getting so many large birds in…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email The endangered Bahamian warbler may be surviving on a single island after the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian in 2019, researchers at the University of East Anglia say. A new study shows the bird’s distribution and ecology on Grand Bahama Island…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email For me, there is nothing more exciting in bird photography than sitting in a photo awning and listening to the gentle sound of running water. When spring rolls around, I know that beautiful sound will bring with it the birds I…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In much of the country, winter birding involves scanning the open waters for ducks, loons, cormorants and anything else that might be found there. The birds we find are often far apart and identifying them is a challenge not because the…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In On the Move, our regular migration column, we feature pairs of range maps from eBird that you can use to compare where birds of interest are at different times of the year. We featured the Short-eared Owl, pictured above, in…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Fossil bones of two newly described penguin species, one believed to be the largest penguin to ever live – weighing over 150 kilograms (330 pounds), more than three times the size of the largest living penguins – were discovered in New…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email This year, Olympus expanded the scope of the Micro Four Thirds format with the January launch of the professional M.Zuiko 150-400mm F4.5 super telephoto lens. It offers a reach equal to a 300mm to 800mm equivalent zoom on a full-frame 35mm…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Novice birders quickly learn the concept of habitat preferences. It’s a pretty simple idea: each species seeks out a place with a particular set of conditions and spends its time there. This is useful for identification at a very basic level,…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In July 2018, I started a blog post with the photo above and these words: “I came across this scene the other day. I won’t divulge my reaction! Outdoor men and women often seek vistas. Landscape photographers often do the same….
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Conservationists at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge in Kaua’i celebrated exciting milestones for two endangered seabird species in 2022, and they look forward to more good news this year. Since 2015, a consortium of conservation partners, including American Bird Conservancy (ABC),…
Yesterday, April 19, an adult bald eagle was found entangled in a fence in a field in northern Virginia. Certified wildlife rehabilitators from the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Millwood, Va., retrieved the bird from the fence and cared for it at their facility. The bird was exhausted but lucky. He had only minor injuries…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Wing patterns may seem complicated at first glance, but the good news is that the arrangement of wing feathers in all types of birds is quite similar (and is nearly identical in all songbirds). So, learning about a bird’s feathers will…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In On the Move, our regular migration column, we feature pairs of range maps from eBird that you can use to compare where birds of interest are at different times of the year. We featured Ovenbird, pictured above, in our March/April…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email On Tuesday, February 14, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposal to remove the wood stork from the federal list of endangered and threatened wildlife. The bird is the only species of stork breeding in the United States. The…
Bell’s Vireo, Arizona Race. April in Pima County, Arizona. Photo by Brian E. Small At 58, his notoriety already ensured by the publication of his great birds of america, John James Audubon left in 1843 for a last expedition in search of new birds. Traveling up the Missouri River with a team of young naturalists,…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In the “Since You Asked” section of each issue of BirdWatching, editor Julie Craves answers readers’ questions about birds and their behavior. Here’s a question from our March/April 2019 issue. Q: Introduced Dappled Lanterns are infesting our region. A recommended control…
As a kid on the coast of Maine, I loved islands, especially ones that were little visited. I never knew what I might find along the shore – perhaps a delicate glass float from an offshore Portuguese fishing boat or the skeletonized remains of an unlucky porpoise. As an adult, I continue to be fascinated…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Time and again, studies have shown that exposure to nature can improve human mental health and well-being. A new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology dug a little deeper, examining what kind of nature experiences were associated with greater feelings…
Marsh kite, male, adult or nearly adult. April in Osceola County, Florida. Photo by Brian E. Small Upon hearing that there are birds called “kites”, many people assume they must have been named for the type of kite you fly on a string. In fact, it’s the reverse. Birds were named first, and paper craft…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Today, April 22, is Earth Day. Earth Day Network’s theme this year is “Protect Our Species”, so the organization is drawing attention to endangered and threatened species: bees, coral reefs, elephants, birds, insects, whales, and more. “Nature’s gifts to our planet…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email The war in Ukraine and Russia’s international isolation have harmed biodiversity conservation, according to a new study published in Frontiers of conservation science. The international study was co-authored by a researcher from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. Conservationists monitoring migratory…
German researchers say the “most Instagrammable” family of birds are frogmouths – a group of 14 nocturnal species characterized by large eyes, flat, wide beaks and a frog-like opening. They occur in India, Southeast Asia and Australia. Write in the journal i-PerceptionKatja Thömmes and Gregor Hayn-Leichsenring said the top showing the frog’s mouth “seems like…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email You may not think of bird migration in July and August, but this is the peak of southward shorebird migration, when any mudflat is likely to provide a resting place for few species, and the best places can host 20 or…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Naturalist and TV personality David Mizejewski of the National Wildlife Federation has just released the second expanded edition of his practical book Attracting Birds, Butterflies, and Other Backyard Wildlife. Below is an excerpt from the first chapter of the book, in…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Nature poetry and essays can be powerful ways for people to connect with the natural world. A new anthology published in January, titled Dawn Songs: A Birdwatcher’s Field Guide to the Poetics of Migration and edited by Jamie K. Reaser and…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email During my bird photography workshops and tours, the question I get asked most often is, “Hey Rick, what’s your f-stop?” Basically, photographers ask me for my camera settings: ISO, aperture and shutter speed. I answer with a smile: “What is your…
Lucifer Hummingbird, adult male. September in Brewster County, Texas. Photo by Brian E. Small When birders visit the Southwestern United States in late summer, hummingbirds usually rank high on their “wish list.” One of the most sought after is the rare and enigmatic Hummingbird Lucifer. Although it occurs annually in three states, its status is…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In ‘On the Move’, our regular migration column, we feature pairs of range maps from eBird that you can use to compare where birds of interest are at different times of the year. We featured the Black-and-White Warbler, pictured above, in…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Our barnyard tits are common everyday birds that amaze me. It almost goes without saying that chickadees are cute and endearing, and it’s fair to call them friendly too, and not just to people with feeders. Northern warblers learn black-capped chickadee…
This week, the National Audubon Society named the winning photographs and videos for the 2021 Audubon Photography Awards, with eight awards across five divisions. In year 12, winning entries and honorable mentions emerged from 2,416 entrants from all 50 states, Washington DC and 10 Canadian provinces and territories. For the first time, the competition awarded…
Wandering talker, non-breeding adult. August in Ventura County, California. Photo by Brian E. Small The Wandering Tattler’s name sounds whimsical and fictional, but it’s actually an apt title. “Wandering” is no exaggeration. The coastal wintering range of this sandpiper extends across the Pacific, from California and Ecuador to Australia, and just about every archipelago and…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In the “Since You Asked” section of each issue of BirdWatching, editor Julie Craves answers readers’ questions about birds and their behavior. Here’s a question from our January/February 2018 issue. Q: What are turkey mites? — Mary Kennedy, Columbia, Missouri A:…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email This week, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and American Bird Conservancy (ABC) led a regulatory filing with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on behalf of 65 nonprofit groups. The brief proposes major reforms in how the agency regulates systemic insecticides….
Last spring we held our latest photo competition, the 2021 BirdWatching Photography Awards, here on our website. We received over 770 entries – images of owls, eagles, hummingbirds, cranes and passerines, among others – from hundreds of photographers. Thank you to everyone who participated! The selection of images was stellar, as all of our previous…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email It’s easy to say that a crow is “all black”. You don’t have to be a birdwatcher to know that all of a crow’s feathers are black. But closer examination reveals that at some point, even though all of the crow’s…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In the “Since You Asked” section of each issue of BirdWatching, editor Julie Craves answers readers’ questions about birds and their behavior. Here’s a question from our March/April 2019 issue. Q: I thought people weren’t supposed to eat apple seeds because…
Watching migrating hawks, eagles, hawks and other raptors in the fall is a pleasure and a tradition, and the places where fall birds can be easily spotted are as revered as they are famous. Cape May. Hawk Ridge. Corpus Christi. Golden door. Veracruz. At each, geography and weather work together to make watching the annual…
ALWAYS IDENTIFIABLE: A Mallard, a Common Loon and a Red-necked Grebe, all sleeping in the characteristic posture of their families. (Illustrations not to scale.) Art by David Sibley For birdwatchers, winter is a time to stand on frozen shores and struggle to identify distant waterfowl. This means focusing on beak shape, head shape, body proportions,…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email The United States Fish and Wildlife Service announced this week that it will protect the California spotted owl under the Endangered Species Act. This decision comes 33 years after the Northern Spotted Owl was listed as Threatened (in June 1990) and…
Last spring we held our latest photo competition, the 2021 BirdWatching Photography Awards, here on our website. We received over 770 entries – images of owls, eagles, hummingbirds, cranes and passerines, among others – from hundreds of photographers. Thank you to everyone who participated! The selection of images was stellar, as all of our previous…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email A few years ago, one fall morning, while viewing the “Magic Hedge”, a rare bird magnet at the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary in Chicago, I found a beautiful collection of birds feeding on the ground in a flower bed. Panning with…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email William Parker Teed won third place in the 2021 BirdWatching Photography Awards with this beautiful shot of roseate spoonbills standing on the beach in Fort Myers on Florida’s Gulf Coast. He photographed the idyllic scene in August 2016. A few of…
American Tree Sparrow, adult, June on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Photo by Brian E. Small Sparrows are scary. At least that’s their reputation. People new to birding, or even not so new, often see sparrows as sneaky and streaky, hard to see and hard to identify. But these fascinating birds become easier to recognize when…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In ‘On the Move’, our regular migration column, we feature pairs of range maps from eBird that you can use to compare where birds of interest are at different times of the year. We featured the Connecticut Warbler, pictured above, in…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email The challenge of “balancing wildlife conservation and decarbonizing the power sector” has faced grasslands and shrub-steppes across North America, according to findings published in the July 2022 issue of the Wildlife Society Bulletin. John Lloyd of the Renewable Energy Wildlife Institute…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Tina McManus’ July 2018 visit to Crane Beach, a 1,234-acre conservation area in Ipswich, Massachusetts, produced the second photo for the 2021 BirdWatching Photography Awards: this portrait of a lesser tern and her hungry chick. “Least Terns are one of my…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In the western pine forests, pygmy nuthatches are among the smallest songbirds and are often the most conspicuous. Active, acrobatic, highly social, these nuthatches climb, descend and around tree trunks and branches, hop along branches or swing upside down from twigs….
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In On the Move, our regular migration column, we feature pairs of range maps from eBird that you can use to compare where interesting birds are at different times of the year. We featured Philadelphia Vireo, pictured above, in our May/June…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Michael Parr, president of the American Bird Conservancy, will deliver the keynote address at the Bringing Birds Back conference, scheduled for March 24-25 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Parr co-authored a landmark 2019 study that found 3 billion birds have disappeared from North…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Kathy McCulloch Wade, of Lake Forest Park, Washington, won first place at the 2021 BirdWatching Photography Awards with this stunning image of a short-eared owl facing a northern harrier, which faces away from the camera. She took the photo in mid-March…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Phalaropes are such unusual shorebirds – with their swimming and spinning habits, and with females much more colorful than males – that in the past they were often thought of as a family in their own right. More recent studies have…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email When my wife and I moved into our home in 2000 in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, she set out to create a garden that would attract birds, by planting it with native shrubs and plants. Later, when we needed to replace a few…
Martine Violette ©2013 Ed Mattis Birdwatchers the world over know the springtime spectacle of hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes on Nebraska’s Platte River, but do you know about Cornhusker State’s other migratory bird spectacle? Tens of thousands of purple swallows congregate each evening from late June to early October as they begin their fall…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email The Dusky Tetraka, a small, olive-colored, yellow-throated bird that hops on the ground and has eluded ornithologists for 24 years, was rediscovered by an expedition team searching the rainforests of northeast Madagascar. The expedition team, led by the Peregrine Fund’s Madagascar…
After more than 22,000 images submitted, the winners of the Bird Photographer of the Year 2021 competition were announced this week. We wrote about the grand prize winner, a photo of a Greater Roadrunner stopped at the US-Mexico border wall and the young winner here. Below is a slideshow of the gold and silver winning…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Predatory birds like hawks are always rare – far outnumbered by their prey – and they often move through an area quickly and stealthily. For us, spotting a raptor is fun, but for birds like doves and sparrows, it’s a matter…
Red-headed woodpecker. Photo by Andy Reago and Chrissy McClarren [CC BY 2.0]In On the Move, our regular migration column, we feature pairs of range maps from eBird that you can use to compare where interesting birds are at different times of the year. We featured the Red-headed Woodpecker, pictured above, in our July/August 2019 issue….
Swallow-tailed Kite in southern Georgia by gman79. Good news! The annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival kicks off today in Titusville, Florida, east of Orlando. Read about Space Coast and see it on a map. Editor Laura Erickson. Now in its 17th year, the festival has become a highlight of every winter, and this…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Using data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a new study finds that birds that have evolved to be more social are less likely to drive other birds away from a feeder or roost. Spend time looking at backyard bird feeders…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Identifying small songbirds is always difficult, so any clue that helps narrow down the possibilities can be invaluable. A very common experience is to see a small bird fly through an opening and then into a tree or shrub, where it…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In On the Move, our regular migration column, we feature pairs of range maps from eBird that you can use to compare where interesting birds are at different times of the year. We featured Eastern Phoebe, pictured above, in our July/August…
The distance was great, but the light was perfect and the view through my spyglass was clear. I watched gulls strolling through a wetland along the Churchill River, south of Manitoba’s still snow-capped Hudson Bay, on a cool but beautiful day in early June. I was hoping to find a needle in a haystack, a…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Bald eagles are often touted as a massive conservation success story due to their rebound from near extinction in the 1960s. But now a highly infectious virus may jeopardize that hard-fought comeback. Posted in Nature Science Reportsnew research from the University…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Members of the chickadee family are among the most familiar and popular backyard birds in North America. The best known are undoubtedly the chickadees, a handful of dusky-headed sprites that flock to feeders in most of the United States and Canada….
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Birds collide with buildings, especially windows, with astonishing frequency. A 2014 study in the journal The Condor found that between 365 and 988 million birds are killed each year by collisions with buildings in the United States. And in 2019, research…
Delta Naturalists’ Society casual birders at Drayton Harbor, Blaine, Washington, January 6, 2014. Photo by Ken Borrie. In “Hotspots Near You” in our December 2012 issue, author and naturalist Anne Murray described a wonderful place in the Pacific Northwest: Drayton Harbor in Blaine, Washington. As Anne wrote, Drayton Harbor is a great place for birdwatching,…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email The mostly brown Eurasian woodcock uses its brilliant white tail feathers to communicate in semi-darkness, reflecting 30% more light than any other known bird. These startling findings, by a team led by a scientist from Imperial College London, suggest there’s a…
Earlier this year, we held our first photo contest focused solely on images of birds in flight, the 2021 Birds in Flight contest, here on our website. We received over 825 entries – images of bald eagles, ospreys, blue jays, burrowing owls, hummingbirds, among others – from hundreds of photographers. Thank you to everyone who…
Typical flickers are shown at the top: red on the left and yellow on the right. At bottom left is an intergrade, with a uniformly intermediate wing color and intermediate head pattern. In the lower right is an abnormally colored yellow tree, with some red feathers in the wings. Art by David Sibley The Northern…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email One night last winter I heard a great horned owl, grabbed my recording gear and ran out to the back porch. Two owls in my yard hooted back and forth; a second pair to the west responded. My yard must be…
Ring-necked Duck in St. George, Utah, Jan. 27, 2014, by Redfish. Hatfield Lakes is a wastewater treatment facility located about 9 miles east of Bend in central Oregon and one of the places we named Hotspot Near You. In our February 2013 issue, Oregon-based natural history writer and freelance nature photographer Damian Fagan called it…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email The evolution of an ornithologist is a lifeline connecting a series of memorable encounters, the dots on a line that define a lifetime. For me, most if not all of the interactive dots involving birds were accidental, and the line is…
A few days ago we revealed the finalists for our Birds in Flight 2021 Photo Contest, and now the winners have also been announced (see links below). We also want to share several other entries in this contest that we really liked: the 16 honorable mention images. Thank you to everyone who submitted over 825…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email If I asked you to name the season when the birds are at their best, I’m guessing you’d answer “spring.” This is when most species are in their showiest and most colorful breeding plumage. But I would like to argue that…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Now that September is here, it’s time to count the shorebirds! World Shorebird Day 2019 is Friday, September 6. This year, the World Shorebird Count will take place September 3-9, 2019. Wherever you live, we encourage you to participate. Shorebirds are…
Great Egret with nesting material, High Island, Texas. Photo of John Phillips Jr. Smith Oaks is a treasure. It’s one of four Houston Audubon-maintained sanctuaries on High Island, Texas, and the perfect place if you want to see large numbers of songbirds, hummingbirds, and other northbound neotropical migrants that just crossed the Gulf of Mexico…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email More than 1,200 years ago, flightless elephants roamed the island of Madagascar and laid eggs larger than footballs. While these ostrich-like giants are now extinct, new research from the University of Colorado at Boulder and Curtin University in Australia reveals that…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Mike Dowsett won third place in our Birds in Flight 2021 competition with this extraordinary image of an osprey carrying a fish. Dowsett is originally from England and now lives in southern Michigan. He took the photo in August 2018 at…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Everything in nature has multiple connections, so in studying bird identification we don’t just look at the physical field markings of the bird in isolation. We have to think about habitat, behavior, total distribution and many other factors. The Snow Goose…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email In ‘On the Move’, our regular migration column, we feature pairs of range maps from eBird that you can use to compare where birds of interest are at different times of the year. We featured the Horned Grebe, pictured above, in…
American Wigeon, Fruit Bat, Ringnecked Duck and Greater Duck at Presqu’ile Provincial Park, Brighton, Ontario in April 2014. Photo by David Bree. Ontario’s Presqu’ile Provincial Park, on the north shore of Lake Ontario, is an important stopover for migratory birds, including waterfowl. In fact, thousands of birds of up to 20 species – redheads, ducks,…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email The second place winner of our 2021 Birds in Flight competition is Ed Hughes, with this photo of an Eastern Flycatcher attacking a much larger Great Egret. He took the photo in June 2018 in a small pond in his hometown…
Share this: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this article Share by email Tips for improving birding skills usually include the suggestion to carry a notebook and take notes or draw sketches in the field. Your first thought might be, “I can’t draw, and what can I write?” but that misses the point. It…
