Open Ocean | Islands | Shores Earth is known as the “blue planet” for a good reason: the ocean covers nearly three-quarters of its surface, making it the largest of all biomes. Technically, it is one ocean that covers the globe, and the names we are familiar with — the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic … Read More>>

In 1996, when Weber de Girão e Silva was 21 years old and a biology student at a Brazilian university, he and his ornithology professor, Artur Galileu de Miranda Coelho, discovered the Araripe Manakin, a beautiful songbird found only along a 30-mile stretch of the Araripe plateau of eastern Brazil. After earning his Bachelor's and … Read More>>

Birds face many challenges — collisions with windows, pesticides, and introduced species, to name only a few — but habitat loss stands out as the biggest threat to birds by far. While birds are found in every major habitat type around the world, forests of all kinds, from tropical rainforests to temperate and boreal forests, … Read More>>

Birds have always been sources of wonder, inspiration, and awe. They dazzle in their diversity and represent freedom with their ability to fly far beyond where our eyes can see and our ears can hear. They are also sentinels, alerting us to trouble in ecosystems that could eventually find its way to us. In many … Read More>>

For migratory birds like the Canada Warbler and Olive-sided Flycatcher, the problem of habitat loss crosses borders and spans continents. It follows birds from their breeding grounds in the boreal forest of North America, to the stopover habitats they visit as they head south, to their Central and South American nonbreeding territories. From one season … Read More>>

Saying something is “for the birds” can indicate frustration with a situation. But forest management's effect on bird populations is the opposite: forest management truly can be for the birds! The Let the Sun Shine In coalition in Indiana works to encourage bird- and wildlife-friendly management practices on all of Indiana forestland. Indiana forest owners … Read More>>

A timber harvest that began last fall on a tract of land in central Wisconsin is one of the first steps in a long-term plan to create new habitat for the rare Kirtland's Warbler. The harvest of Red Pine is taking place on one-third of a 400-acre property in Adams County that The Nature Conservancy … Read More>>

There are seemingly endless ways to raise youngsters in the bird world. Some female birds do it all: building the nest, incubating the eggs, and raising the young to fledging. Others split the work with a male partner. Occasionally, males do all the work. In some rare cases, females and males manage to avoid parenting … Read More>>

World Migratory Bird Day highlights the link between birds and insects The naturalist E.O. Wilson is said to have affectionately called insects “the little things that run the world” because they, despite their tiny sizes, play an outsized role in making many of Earth's natural processes happen. Insects are pollinators, pest control, decomposers, and crucial … Read More>>

Right now, millions of birds are on their way north to their breeding grounds, drawn by the abundant food sources and nesting sites that await them. Their journeys, sometimes spread out across weeks of long-distance flights, are not only intense; they are also fraught with danger. Many of the warblers, tanagers, flycatchers, and other migratory … Read More>>