Birdnote

Despite its name, the Burrowing Owl doesn’t do much digging. It’s better known for its hair-raising hiss, which may have evolved to mimic the warning of a cornered rattlesnake. The sonic threat of a venomous reptile could be just enough to warn away most unwanted visitors from the owl’s nest burrow. In one experiment, ground squirrels were nearly as alarmed by the Burrowing Owl’s hiss as they were by the recording of a real rattlesnake!More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Although the American Crow may seem blasé about pillaging another bird's nest, it regards a threat to its own young as a punishable offense. To protect their nest, adult crows dive-bomb people, cats, and other animals, and even other birds. Young crows fledge when they are around five or six weeks old, and their parents continue to care for them for months.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Swooping and diving through the air on its long slender wings, the Common Nighthawk emerges at dusk to chase down aerial insects. Nighthawks have short bills that open wide, so they can vacuum up their insect prey as they fly along.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Birds called prions have an especially creative approach to getting their food. They pass seawater through their mouths and filter it to catch tiny animals such as krill and other small crustaceans. It’s similar to how baleen whales feed, leading to the prion’s nickname: the whale-bird. The sides of their bills have comb-like structures. Small food items get trapped in the combs as water flows past. In Greek, the word “prion” means saw, which refers to the bird’s highly specialized mouth. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Let’s talk about nests. Every spring, robins build their cup-shaped nests using grass and mud. Orioles weave a hanging sack. It’s hard work, and yet once the chicks fledge, the structures probably won’t be reused. But bigger birds, such as herons, hawks, and eagles, often reuse a nest for many years. Europe’s migratory White Storks — like those pictured here — get the award for best reuse. One nest site, still used in 1930 and likely seeing many repairs, dated back to 1549. That’s a continuous series of stork pairs nesting in one spot for 381 years!More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Freya McGregor is the coordinator of Birdability, an organization that works to make birding more accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities. She says that one of the big challenges is that different parts of accessible design don’t get connected — for example, when a paved trail for wheelchair users has info signs placed too from the trail to read. Designing parks with accessibility in mind from the parking lot and all along the trail can help make outdoor experiences for people with disabilities more self-directed and independent. Learn more about Birdability on the Bring Birds Back podcast.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

In this episode, the Private Eye tells his saddest story: his nemesis bird. That’s what birders call a species that keeps giving you the slip. His nemesis is the Painted Bunting, a colorful gem of a bird. When word of the species being spotted nearby reaches the PI, he rushes off to see it, hoping to end his struggle to see the bird at last…More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Keas are large alpine parrots from New Zealand. Intelligent and social, they have olive-green plumage, a red rump, and a long, curved beak. Keas produce a distinct warbling call, a “play call,” that sounds — and functions — much like a human’s contagious laughter. Scientists made recordings of captive Keas making warbling calls, then played them for wild Keas. They began playing harder and even engaged birds that hadn’t been playing. Hearing it seemed to put them in a playful mood, even when they were alone.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Common Swifts in Europe nest in eaves and under roof tiles and gables. But modern construction doesn’t have these nooks and crannies, and populations of swifts have been declining. However, there’s a solution called the “swift brick,” a small nesting box that fits right into the wall of a house or office building.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Many birds have an excellent sense of smell. And the odors that birds make can act as mating signals for some species. The source for many of these scents, says biologist Danielle Whittaker, are the microbes that live in birds’ preen oil, which they use to keep their feathers in good condition. Danielle and other scientists are studying how the genes that regulate birds' immune systems might help control these microbes. This research could help connect the birds’ genetics to the scents they use to attract mates. Learn more in Danielle Whittaker’s new book, The Secret Perfume of Birds: Uncovering the Science of Avian Scent. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

How does a robin know a worm is in one exact spot? Does it see the worm or hear it? Smell it? Sense its movements through its feet? To find the answer, researchers buried worms in soil in a tray. They covered the soil with a thin but opaque sheet of cardboard, followed by more soil, so the robin couldn’t see the worms. Still, the robin found them with ease. The scientists concluded the birds are listening for their prey. There’s always more to learn about birds!If you ever miss a BirdNote, you can always get the latest episode. Just tell your smart speaker, “Play the podcast BirdNote.”More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Only the most intrepid birders lay eyes on the striking cobalt feathers of the Island Scrub-Jay. They live exclusively on Santa Cruz Island, which is part of California’s Channel Islands National Park. The species has the smallest range of any bird in North America. The jays have few natural predators or competitors for food, letting them grow larger than their continental counterparts. But the birds’ isolation makes them susceptible to diseases such as West Nile Virus. Scientists are considering a vaccination program and possibly relocating some jays to nearby Santa Rosa Island.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Brown Jays, like this juvenile, make nesting a family affair. The entire flock takes care of a single nest, which holds four eggs laid by one female in the flock. Each bird brings food to the young. And when the young first leave the nest, the helpers teach them to find food and recognize danger, skills necessary for survival into adulthood. In turn, the helpers may inherit the nesting territory when they come of age.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Rick San Nicolas is a master featherworker, carrying on a tradition of making elaborate feather garments that dates back centuries in Hawai’i. He’s recreating the famous pā‘ū, or skirt, given to Hawaii’s Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena nearly 200 years ago on Maui. The original pā‘ū was made mostly from the feathers of a bird called the ʻōʻō. Now, all ʻōʻō species are extinct, due to the effects of invasive species and habitat loss. That makes the original pā'ū a remarkable sign that ʻōʻō’s were once present on Maui. Learn more on the Threatened podcast. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

In North America, kingfishers fish. But in tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and Australia, most of the roughly 90 species of kingfishers don’t “fish.” They hunt in woodlands, where the smaller ones, like the four-inch Pygmy Kingfisher, eat grasshoppers and centipedes. Larger kingfishers will take frogs, reptiles, small mammals, and even snakes. This Pied Kingfisher, found in Africa and Asia, does eat fish.Did you know that Australia’s Laughing Kookaburra is a member of the kingfisher family? It has been known to dispatch snakes up to three feet in length. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

At the close of a summer day, the songbirds go silent. As if on cue, the birds of the night make their voices known. In an Eastern woodland, the eerie trills and whinnies of an Eastern Screech-Owl are among the first sounds of the night. Meanwhile, as night falls west of the Rockies, a Western Screech-Owl (like this one) calls out. But there’s another bird whose voice will drown out the loudest of screech-owls: the Barred Owl! Pairs may break into a rollicking duet, sometimes called their “monkey call.”More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

A forest fire roars along a mountain slope once green with spruce and pines, ignited by a lightning strike late in a Northwest summer. Once the fire has run its course, acres of blackened trunks stand silently against the blue sky. But by next summer, woodpeckers have discovered the charred forest and the feast of insects it provides. The Black-backed Woodpecker - like this female - comes closest to being a burnt-forest specialist. It will even form loose nesting colonies in recent burns.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Many shorebirds breed in the Arctic tundra. It’s such an important ecosystem that every year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issues an Arctic Report Card that details how the region has been affected by rising global temperatures. Over the last ten years, satellite data has shown that shrubs are spreading in the north. Shorebirds that nest among low-lying tundra plants may soon find woody thickets encroaching on their breeding grounds, which could have ripple effects on shorebird populations around the world.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

One of the things airplane pilots worry about most is birds colliding with their planes, possibly causing an accident. Preventing bird strikes is a serious concern. Many airports resort to killing birds that might pose a threat. But the airport in Edmonton, Alberta, has found a more humane solution: they fly a robotic Peregrine Falcon over the grounds to scare off problem birds.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

When a Northern Saw-whet Owl spreads its wings, many birds can see something our human eyes can’t: the owl’s flight feathers glow with ultraviolet light. It’s invisible to humans without the help of a UV blacklight. While the glowing feathers on parrots might help them attract mates, the reason for the owls’ glowing feathers still isn’t clear. However, scientists realized that they could estimate an owl’s age based on the pattern of luminescent color on the wings, which changes predictably as birds grow and replace their feathers.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.