Jan 27 2024
The Bali Myna (Leucopsar rothschildi), also known as the Bali Starling, is one of the most striking and endangered birds in the world. With brilliant white plumage, a sweeping crest, black-tipped wings and tail, and patches of vivid blue skin around its eyes, this unusual member of the starling family is instantly recognizable. What makes …
Dec 08 2023
The Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) is one of the most spectacular members of the pheasant family. The adult male looks almost unreal, with a brilliant golden crest, scarlet underparts, an orange-and-black neck ruff, flashes of blue and green, and an extraordinarily long patterned tail. Females could hardly look more different. Their brown, buff, and black …
Nov 07 2023
Bird sanctuaries are places where birds can find something increasingly valuable in a changing world: safe habitat. Some protect wetlands crowded with migrating waterfowl. Others preserve forests used by nesting songbirds, islands occupied by seabird colonies, grasslands where ground-nesting species breed, or coastal mudflats where shorebirds stop to feed during migration. For birdwatchers, these protected …
Oct 15 2023
Kauaʻi is home to some of the most extraordinary birds in the Hawaiian Islands. From tiny honeycreepers living in misty mountain forests to albatrosses gliding above dramatic sea cliffs, the island supports birdlife shaped by millions of years of isolation. Some birds found on Kauaʻi occur throughout Hawaiʻi. Others are endemic to Kauaʻi, meaning they …
Aug 06 2023
Yellow and black is one of the most eye-catching color combinations in the bird world. A flash of brilliant yellow against dark wings can make a bird stand out instantly at a feeder, in a meadow, or high in the treetops. But color alone rarely tells the whole story. A tiny American Goldfinch and a …
Aug 05 2023
Birds come in an astonishing range of sizes. At one end of the spectrum are hummingbirds light enough to perch on a fingertip. At the other are enormous birds that stand taller than a person, weigh hundreds of pounds, or stretch wings nearly 12 feet from tip to tip. But determining the biggest bird in …
Jul 01 2023
Deep in a mature forest, long after daylight has faded from the treetops, a booming series of hoots breaks the silence. To many people, the rhythm sounds remarkably like the phrase, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” This unforgettable call belongs to the Barred Owl (Strix varia), one of the most recognizable owls …
Jun 24 2023
Birdsong is one of the most familiar sounds in nature, yet the way birds experience that sound is remarkably different from what we might imagine. A robin singing before sunrise, a chickadee sounding an alarm, an owl tracking prey in darkness, and a flock calling to one another overhead all depend on sophisticated auditory systems. …
Jun 02 2023
A tiny songbird lies stunned beneath a window. A young owl is discovered beside a road. A pelican arrives tangled in fishing line, while a nestling is brought in after a storm tears apart its nest. Every day, situations like these bring wild birds into wildlife rehabilitation centers, where trained professionals and volunteers work to …
May 27 2023
A birdhouse can be much more than a charming garden decoration. Choose the right design, place it in suitable habitat, and you may give a cavity-nesting bird a safe place to raise its young. The key is choosing a birdhouse for the birds rather than simply for its appearance. Different birds need different entrance-hole sizes, …
