American Crows aren't your average birds. Possessed with an intelligence rivaling chimpanzees, these crafty birds — among the smartest in the world — have been known to build tools, play games, and even hold “wakes.” Crows put these smarts to good use when gathering food. They've been known to crack nuts by dropping them from … Read More>>

Each year approximately 17.6 billion pounds of plastic enters the ocean. If you have trouble fathoming such a “heavy” number, try imagining a garbage-truck-sized load dumped every minute, which is what it would take to accumulate this much trash. Marine debris — defined as solid, human-made trash in the marine environment — is made up … Read More>>

Many people have heard of albatrosses, but mariners and aviators have a special affinity for these ocean-living birds and their amazing abilities. Consider this: A Wandering Albatross can circumnavigate the Antarctic three times in a year, and travel over 3,100 miles in a week with very little energy expenditure. Or how about this: A Laysan … Read More>>

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 one ornithologist famously described as “little more than a flying mouth and eyes.” Despite looking … Read More>>

The Golden Eagle is a widely recognized and much-revered icon of America's western landscapes. It comes as a surprise to many people to learn that there is also a population of Golden Eagles in the East. But because these birds are more elusive and generally scarce, they tend to fly below the public's radar. Meet … Read More>>

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 beloved by birdwatchers, would be carefully studied and monitored, with ornithologists and conservation biologists keeping … Read More>>

For more than 100 years starting in the 1860s, the famous Archaeopteryx lithographica was thought to be the earliest bird, or at least bird-like dinosaur. That's because Archaeopteryx fossils showed something never seen before: feathers. This crow-sized creature with both bird and dinosaur traits lived during the Jurassic Period about 150 million years ago (MYA). … Read More>>

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, you're in the right place. We've assembled a collection of different owl sounds below to … Read More>>

"ABC Birding" is a triannual feature of Bird Conservation magazine that takes readers to birding sites benefiting from ABC and partners' conservation efforts. Some of these locations permit hunting and visitors are advised to review seasonal hunting dates and take necessary precautions before visiting. (Note, however, that there is no hunting at the Paton Center, … Read More>>

Back in 2019, when construction on the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) threatened the seabird colony on South Island — Virginia's largest seabird colony — ABC and partners urged action. And Virginia's government delivered: After consulting with multiple stakeholders, new places for the birds to breed were put in place, just in time for the 2020 … Read More>>