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The Eastern Painted Bunting: Flashy Colors, Mixed Fortunes
No North American songbird is more strikingly colored than the male Painted Bunting. With its blue head, red underparts, and yellow-green back, this bird turns heads whenever one pops into view. You might think that such a dazzling creature, so… Read More »
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A High-wire Act to Protect Whooping Cranes from Powerlines
Kansas power companies join forces to prevent crane-powerline collisions The Whooping Crane is a bird of distinction. North America’s tallest bird and one of its most endangered species, this gleaming-white, 15-pound wetland denizen almost became as mythical as the now-extinct Passenger Pigeon. In… Read More »
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Bald Eagle, the Ultimate Endangered Species Act Success Story
In the United States, there may be no greater avian icon — or impressive wildlife comeback story — than the Bald Eagle. The shaggy, fierce-eyed bird has been our national symbol since 1782. It wasn’t until the 1960s and 1970s… Read More »
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Set With Care, Fire Creates Habitat for Many Declining Bird Species
In a stand of tall, slender pines somewhere in Florida, a fire is burning. Set widely apart from one other, the trees have scaly, reddish bark and round tufts of needles as long as your hand. The fire doesn’t touch… Read More »
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How Does Climate Change Impact Birds?
Bird populations are declining around the world. And while many factors contribute — from habitat loss to pesticides, outdoor cats, and window collisions — it is increasingly clear that climate change is an important driver behind this worrying trend. Climate… Read More »
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How Do Birds Navigate During Migration?
Bird migration is one of the most amazing phenomena in the natural world. Many birds travel from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere and back every year, following food resources and friendly climates. But how do seasonal migrants — and… Read More »
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What's the Deal with Duck Bills?
Mallard. Photo by Sharon de Groot/Shutterstock. If you’ve ever gotten a glimpse inside the beak of a bold duck or goose that approached you at a local park or elsewhere, you may have done a double take. Were those…teeth?! Ducks… Read More »
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Beloved Backyard Bandits: An Introduction to Chickadees
Even the most casual birdwatchers know and love chickadees. Among the most common visitors to backyard birdfeeders in North America, these social birds have a spritely manner and are notably comfortable around humans. But there’s a lot more to these… Read More »
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Backyard Beauty: Surprises and Secrets of Female Cardinals
It’s easy for bird lovers to develop a bit of tunnel vision when it comes to male birds — after all, they tend to have brighter colors and more dazzling songs than their female counterparts. But female birds are fascinating,… Read More »
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Potoos: Bizarre Nocturnal Birds Hiding in Plain Sight
Spend enough time on the internet and you’ll inevitably come across a meme featuring a photo of a bird with googly yellow eyes, captioned with text that purports to explain its bedraggled appearance. This is a potoo, a bird that… Read More »
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Know Your Nocturnal Neighbors: Nine Owl Calls to Listen For
There’s more to owl sounds than just “hoo, hoo.” Each species of owl has its own unique call — sometimes more than one. If you’ve heard owl sounds at night around your neighborhood and are wondering about the caller’s identity,… Read More »
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What Makes Shrikes So Unique? Spiked Snacks, Shrieking Calls, and More
If you know one fact about shrikes, it’s probably that they impale their prey on thorns — but there’s so much more to these stand-out birds than their macabre dining habits. The ancestors of shrikes, which are closely related to… Read More »
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Eight Red Birds to Know in North America
There’s nothing like the flash of a red bird at the feeder to draw your eye to the window. In winter snow or summer greenery, red birds stand out, and the relatively small number of all-red or mostly red bird… Read More »
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The Amazing Secrets of Woodpecker Tongues
Although seldom seen by the casual birdwatcher, woodpecker tongues are a big part of what makes these birds unique. In combination with powerful chisel-like beaks, long, specialized tongues help woodpeckers access food other birds can’t. But that’s not the only… Read More »
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Six Extinct Birds Whose Fame Lives On: The Dodo, Passenger Pigeon, and More
Early representation of the Dodo, circa 1625. Painting by Ustad Mansur. More than 180 bird species (out of around 10,000 total) have likely gone extinct over the last 500 years, and the rate of extinction is accelerating. Bird species have… Read More »
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Nutcrackers, Chisels — and Air Conditioners?! The Diverse World of Bird Beaks
What is a bird beak? Is it just a funny-looking version of a nose, or is it something else entirely? Toco Toucan. Photo by Daniel-Alvarez/Shutterstock. Birds use their beaks for a wide variety of functions, including communication and defense, as… Read More »
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“Owl” Be Seeing You: Amazing Facts About Owl Eyes
The bird world is full of majestic hunters like eagles, hawks, and falcons, but when the sun sets, one group of avian predators reigns supreme. Owls have many adaptations that make them excellent at stalking prey at night, including specialized… Read More »
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Best Bird Stories of 2018: Five Must-reads
From innovative efforts to save Wood Thrush habitat in Nicaragua to the adoption of bird-friendly building design at the Johnson Space Center in Texas, BirdCalls Blog took a deep dive into the issues that drove bird conservation in 2018. We’re… Read More »
