-
10 Gorgeous Green Birds of the Americas
Green Kingfisher. Photo by Bildagentur ZoomGMBH/Shutterstock. While the color green is commonly associated with parrots and parakeets, it’s actually found in a range of birds throughout the Western Hemisphere and the wider world. Some of these species, like the Green-winged… Read More »
-
“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 »
-
Extinction
A casual observer might not notice, but take a closer look. Across the Americas, fewer birds inhabit our landscapes. Some familiar birds, like the Wood Thrush, are 50 percent less common than they were 50 years ago. This thrush is just… Read More »
-
Extraordinary Appendages: An Introduction to Bird Wings
Reconstructed skeleton of Archaeopteryx. Photo by Jim the Photographer from Springfield/Wikimedia Commons. All birds have wings. Even flightless birds, which are descended from flying ancestors, use their wings for balance, display, and other purposes. The origins of these extraordinary appendages… Read More »
-
Favorite Bird Sounds and Songs in the United States
Bird sounds — especially bird calls and bird songs — provide a natural soundtrack for our lives. Among other things, they give voice to the spring, sweeten the sunrise, and add mystery to the night. But with hundreds of bird… Read More »
-
New Hope for Hawaiian Petrels, Wandering Souls of the Sea
On my first night searching for the Hawaiian Petrel, I am wrapped in a sleeping bag in a lava field at 9,500 feet, waiting. The Milky Way above me is a river of stars. As I watch for the nocturnal… Read More »
-
Seabirds: Nature's Winged Mariners
Wandering Albatrosses. Photo by Goldilock Project/Shutterstock. The term “seabird” doesn’t refer to a specific family of birds, but rather to any bird species adapted to live and feed in the saltwater environment of the ocean. These resilient birds endure some… Read More »
-
Blue-winged Warbler
To a casual observer, the vivacious Blue-winged Warbler may resemble a Prothonotary Warbler at first glance, but it differs in several crucial aspects, both in appearance and in preferred habitat. Both species have blue-gray wings, but the Blue-winged Warbler’s wings… Read More »
-
‘Apapane
The bright crimson ‘Apapane is part of a group of native Hawaiian birds, reminiscent of – but even more diverse than – the famed Galápagos finches. Known as the Hawaiian honeycreepers, these birds evolved into a varied group of dozens… Read More »
-
American Robin
The American Robin is one of North America's most widespread, familiar, and well-loved songbirds. Although homesick settlers named it after the European Robin because of its reddish-orange breast, the two species are not closely related. The American Robin is a… Read More »
-
Carolina Chickadee
The Carolina Chickadee is endemic to the southeastern United States, where it is a common backyard visitor, along with the Blue Jay, Mourning Dove, and Downy Woodpecker. Although this perky, black-capped and -bibbed songbird is adaptable, recent studies reveal it… Read More »
-
Lark Bunting
The male Lark Bunting completely changes in appearance for the breeding season, molting from streaky brown-and-gray plumage (resembling a female or juvenile) to jet-black with bold white wing patches. Over the years, this flashy combination inspired other names such as… Read More »
-
Your Backyard Can Be a Buffet for Birds… but You Need To Be a Good Caterer!
Blue Jay. Photo by Jillian Cain Photography/Shutterstock. Birds are remarkable in so many ways: their astonishing beauty, the marvel that is migration, the sheer diversity of the more than 10,000 species found around the world. They are also remarkable for… Read More »
-
Fox Sparrow
The stocky Fox Sparrow is one of the largest members of the sparrow family, closer to the size of a Blue Grosbeak than other sparrow species. Despite its size, it’s rather shy and retiring, and prefers to stay under cover… Read More »
-
Five Women Making Bird Conservation Happen at ABC
This is the first part of a series highlighting the women who work at American Bird Conservancy. Read parts two and three. A female Northern Cardinal. Photo by Charlie Parr. Conservation works best when we all get involved. At American… Read More »
-
Cape May Warbler
One of those many birds with a puzzling common name, the Cape May Warbler doesn’t spend much time in its namesake locale. Instead, Cape May, New Jersey is the place where famed ornithologist Alexander Wilson first described this eye-catching species.… Read More »
-
Orange-crowned Warbler
In many ways, the understated Orange-crowned Warbler is an odd bird among the varied wood-warbler family. One of the more widespread and plentiful species in this group, this bird occupies low, densely vegetated habitats, not tall trees. It is the… Read More »
-
White-tailed Tropicbird (Koa‘e ‘kea)
The graceful, streamer-tailed White-tailed Tropicbird is built for life on the wing. Its taxonomic name, Phaethon, is the ancient Greek word for sun and refers to the young charioteer who dared drive the chariot of the sun god high over… Read More »
-
Red-bellied Woodpecker
The Red-bellied Woodpecker belongs to the boldly marked Melanerpes genus, a group of woodpeckers found only in the New World that includes Acorn and Lewis's Woodpeckers. The genus name derives from the Greek words for "black" and "creeper." Oddly enough,… Read More »
-
Getting Clear on Birds and Glass
Glass collisions kill vast numbers of birds in the United States each year. Yet most Americans know little about this danger, and even fewer are aware of the solutions available to help prevent these deaths — fixes that in many… Read More »
