Feb 24 2024
If you have noticed a bird repeatedly disappearing into a small hole in your brickwork, under the eaves, behind a fascia board, or beneath roof tiles, there may be a nest hidden inside the building. Several British birds naturally seek enclosed cavities for nesting, and houses can provide excellent substitutes for holes in trees or …
Feb 24 2024
Hearing chirping, scratching, or fluttering behind a wall can leave you wondering how a bird could possibly have gotten there. After all, your walls may look completely sealed from inside the house. The explanation is usually much simpler than it seems. Birds generally enter wall cavities through small openings on the exterior of a building, …
Feb 24 2024
Hearing scratching, chirping, or fluttering inside a wall can be alarming. You may not be able to see the animal, and the sound may seem to move from one part of the house to another. In many cases, the unexpected intruder is a bird that has discovered an exterior opening leading to a protected wall, …
Jan 30 2024
Granite cliffs and thundering waterfalls may dominate the postcards, but Yosemite National Park is just as remarkable for what moves through its forests, meadows, rivers, and mountain skies. Yosemite supports an extraordinary variety of birdlife because the park climbs from relatively low-elevation foothills to alpine country above 13,000 feet. Along the way, oak woodland gives …
Jan 27 2024
Small, energetic, and remarkably acrobatic, the Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) is one of the most entertaining birds to watch in North America’s conifer forests. It races along tree trunks, creeps headfirst down branches, wedges seeds into bark, and announces its presence with a nasal call that can sound like a tiny toy horn. Despite its …
Jan 27 2024
The Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) may be small, but it is one of the most recognizable and approachable woodpeckers in North America. This energetic black-and-white bird is a familiar visitor to forests, parks, suburban neighborhoods, and backyard bird feeders, where its compact size allows it to forage in places that larger woodpeckers simply cannot reach. …
Jan 27 2024
Winter can transform a familiar landscape almost overnight. Insects disappear from view, ponds freeze, berries become scarce, and snow covers many of the seeds birds depend on for food. At the same time, freezing temperatures force birds to burn additional energy simply to stay alive. Yet chickadees continue darting through snow-covered branches. Woodpeckers cling to …
Jan 27 2024
With brilliant blue wings, a golden-yellow chest, an enormous black bill, and a tail nearly as impressive as its wingspan, the Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) is one of the most recognizable parrots in the world. Also called the Blue-and-gold Macaw, this large tropical parrot is native primarily to South America, where it inhabits forests, palm …
Jan 27 2024
Few birds are as instantly recognizable as the toucan. With an enormous, often brilliantly colored bill, dark plumage, bright patches of yellow, orange, red, or white, and an unmistakably tropical appearance, toucans seem almost too colorful to be real. But that extraordinary bill is far more than decoration. Toucans use their bills to reach fruit, …
Jan 27 2024
With its powder-blue plumage, deep maroon chest, brilliant red eyes, and an extraordinary crown of delicate feathers, the Victoria Crowned Pigeon (Goura victoria) hardly resembles the pigeons most people see in city parks. This spectacular tropical bird is one of the largest living members of the pigeon and dove family and is native to the …
