Synopsis
BirdNote strives to transport listeners out of the daily grind and into the natural world with outstanding audio programming and online content. The stories we tell are rich in sound, imagery, and information, connecting the ways and needs of birds to the lives of listeners. We inspire people to listen, look, and exclaim, Oh, thats what that is!
Episodes
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Moonwalking Manakins
23/01/2025 Duration: 01minThe Golden-headed Manakin is a tiny bird with dance moves that would turn a pop star green with envy. Johanne Ryan, a nature educator who lives in Trinidad, describes this bird’s remarkable breeding display, which features a moonwalk and tail-flicks.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.
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Listening From Inside the Egg
22/01/2025 Duration: 01minShorebird chicks hatch into a dangerous world, so they need to be vigilant from the start. Researchers in Australia noticed that some shorebird chicks began chirping in their final days in the egg. The chirps fell silent when the researchers played recordings of a Little Raven, which hunts for young birds. The finding suggests the chicks are listening carefully and may be able to tell threatening sounds from non-threatening ones.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.
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Spark Bird: Corina Newsome Meets the Blue Jay
21/01/2025 Duration: 01minIn an ornithology class in college, Corina Newsome was introduced to the Blue Jay. After this, Newsome was determined to learn about the world of birds she had never noticed before.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.
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Pigeons Can Correct Their Mistakes Like AI
20/01/2025 Duration: 01minBirds have to be smart to survive — but their minds often work a little differently than ours do. In a new study, researchers trained pigeons to identify different types of shapes, peck a button to give their answers, and receive a treat for the correct response. The pigeons learned to fix their mistakes over time, but not by learning their shapes as a human would. Instead, the researchers found that birds improved by trial-and-error, much in the same way that computers learn how to perform a task using artificial intelligence!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.
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The Beauty of Webbed Feet
19/01/2025 Duration: 01minWebbed feet are ideal for birds that swim, on the water’s surface or under. In fact, they’re such a nifty adaptation that they evolved, independently, in several bird groups. Ducks and geese, gulls, cormorants, loons, pelicans, penguins, puffins and boobies all have webbed feet.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.
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Powder Down
18/01/2025 Duration: 01minHidden below the outer breast feathers of herons, pigeons, doves, tinamous, bustards and some parrots are patches of special down feathers. These feathers are never molted, and they grow continuously. The tips break down into a dust the consistency of talcum powder. Using a fringed claw on its middle toe, a heron collects some of the dust — or powder down — and works it into its feathers. Sort of like the way you might work conditioner into your hair.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.
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Storm-Petrels: Myth and Reality
17/01/2025 Duration: 01minSailors once believed Wilson’s Storm-Petrels foretold a dangerous tempest. There might be a grain of truth: the tiny seabirds might find a little shelter from the gusts near a ship. Wilson’s Storm-Petrels are found in every ocean. When foraging, their feet patter across the surface, stirring up prey. Their fondness for feeding in cold, salty water could make them an indicator for changes in ocean conditions due to climate change.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.
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The Haunting Voice of the Common Loon
16/01/2025 Duration: 01minThe call of the Common Loon brings to mind a summer visit to northern lakes. A "yodel" call is given by a male on his breeding territory. With his neck outstretched, the male waves his head from side to side, sending his eerie calls across forests and open water. The yodel entices females and asserts a claim of territory. Nothing common about this bird!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.
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Why Do Grebes Eat Their Feathers?
15/01/2025 Duration: 01minEared Grebes eat brine shrimp and aquatic insects for sustenance, but rigid exoskeletons make them hard to digest. So these grebes – along with their other grebe cousins – evolved to use their feathers as a way to slow down digestion. The feathers form dense balls in the digestive tract and appear to slow the passage of food long enough that the food can be safely liquified. The bird then regurgitates the tough bits within a ball of feathers. The Pied-billed Grebe shown here is feeding feathers to her chicks.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.
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Great Horned Owls Nest
14/01/2025 Duration: 01minHigh in a leafless cottonwood, a female Great Horned Owl incubates two eggs. As light snow falls on her back, her mate roosts nearby. Since December, this pair has been hooting back and forth regularly at night. Great Horned Owls nest in winter, because the owlets, which hatch after a month of incubation, must remain near their parents a long time compared to many other birds — right through summer and into early fall.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.
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Different Beaks, Different Foods
13/01/2025 Duration: 01minFor some birds like hermit hummingbirds, the difference between sexes starts with the beak. Females hermit hummingbirds typically have curved bills while males wield straighter ones. Because the two sexes are better at drinking nectar from flowers that match their respective beak shape, males and females of the same species don’t compete with each other for food resources. Adaptations like these can provide benefits for the whole species.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.
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The Robin's Namesake
12/01/2025 Duration: 01minLike the American Robin, the European Robin is a bird of yards and gardens. But it’s not much bigger than a chickadee. The robin’s likeness turns up everywhere from Mother Goose rhymes, Peter Rabbit stories, and whiskey labels to postage stamps and Christmas cards. On at least two occasions, the “Robin Red-Breast” has won the popular vote to become the UK’s unofficial national bird. And as for its breast color — one account has it that when the robin visited souls in Purgatory to refresh them with water, its breast was scorched to its current shade.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.
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A Swirl of Snow Geese
11/01/2025 Duration: 01minSnow Geese nest from far northeastern Russia to Greenland, in the arctic and subarctic. They winter in large flocks on the deltas of rivers in northwestern Washington, areas along the Eastern Seaboard, and throughout the Mississippi Flyway. Watching Snow Geese in flight, author and naturalist Barry Lopez described them, "as if the earth had opened and poured them forth, like a wind, a blizzard, which unfurled across the horizon above the dark soil ... great swirling currents of birds in a rattling of wings..." To see if Snow Geese winter near you, visit Cornell's All About Birds. Be sure to watch the amazing video by Barbara Galatti, below!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.
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Winter Brings Falcons
10/01/2025 Duration: 01minA Merlin hunts boldly from a high perch. A Peregrine Falcon dives on a hapless pigeon, with an air speed approaching 200 miles per hour. The Gyrfalcon can fly down even the fastest waterfowl in a direct sprint. A Prairie Falcon blends in with its background. And the smallest North American falcon of all, the American Kestrel, hovers a field, watching for a mouse or large insect. You can find out where to find these birds at Cornell's All About 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.
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Why Do Chickadees Come and Go?
09/01/2025 Duration: 01minA chickadee comes in to the feeder, quickly grabs a seed, and flies away. It may return immediately, but it's more likely to wait its turn. When a whole flock of chickadees moves into the yard, it looks as if they form a living conveyer belt. One chickadee after another flies to the feeder and leaves with a seed. The birds take turns rather than squabbling over the seeds. Watch for the Black-capped Chickadee in the North and East, the Mountain Chickadee in the Rockies, the Carolina Chickadee in the southeastern quarter of the U.S., and the Chestnut-backed Chickadee (pictured) in the West and Northwest.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.
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The Hoopoe's Smelly Family
08/01/2025 Duration: 01minThe Eurasian Hoopoe isn’t picky about where it nests. But whether it builds a home in a tree cavity, termite mound, or nest box, it’ll be stinky. Mother birds coat their eggs in an antimicrobial secretion that smells like rotten eggs. Then, when the chicks are hatched, they paint the nest cavity with their poop. They even use it as a projectile to ward off predators. Changing diapers doesn’t seem so bad in comparison.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.
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New Homes for Cockatoos
07/01/2025 Duration: 01minThe alpine forests of Australia’s southeast are home to an iconic pint-sized gray parrot with a bright red mohawk, and a call that’s been described as a “flying creaky gate.” The Gang-gang Cockatoo has seen significant habitat loss in recent years, especially after the 2020 wildfires. It’s now listed as an endangered species. A new national working group is coordinating recovery efforts. Researchers and community scientists are trialing an innovation on the Gang-gang population called the “Cockatube” — a PVC tube designed to host a cockatoo nest.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.
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Fishing with Least Bitterns
06/01/2025 Duration: 01minThe smallest heron in the U.S. by far is the Least Bittern, at just 10 to 12 inches tall. Watching for prey, bitterns lean forward while pulling their long necks back — like drawing a bowstring. Their needle-like bills dart out when they spot a fish. Masters of concealment, they hide in reeds and sway slowly, imitating the plants moving in the breeze.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.
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Woodpeckers Wage Wars
05/01/2025 Duration: 01minAcorn Woodpeckers live in family groups of up to 15 individuals. Over time, if enough birds die off, an opportunity arises for unrelated birds to join the group and obtain a mate. Then, battles known as “power struggles” begin. Birds from other family groups form coalitions, with up to 30 birds in the skirmishes. Winners take all: mates, breeding territory, and thousands of acorns.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.
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Of Grouse and Gizzards
04/01/2025 Duration: 01minDuring winter, the Greater Sage-Grouse is wholly reliant on its namesake species — sagebrush — for both shelter and for food. Scientists call this bird "sagebrush obligate," meaning it needs this plant to survive. In the spring, its diet shifts to insects and plants, as it gets ready for the most fantastic mating show in the west — the lekking season.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.