Topics Explore Birds

About Birds

Close up of a brown and white bird with a long curved yellow beak looking at the camera, held in someone's hands.
A Migrating Cuckoo Named Hummus Makes a Tasty Case for Land Conservation
August 31, 2023 — On its international journey south, one federally threatened bird has passed through at least six protected areas.
Bird Migration
Three sparrows with colorful bands on their legs forage for seeds on the ground.
Golden-crowned Sparrows Prefer to Spend Winter With Their Buddies
August 29, 2023 — A decade-long bird monitoring program found that the songbirds are more likely to live and travel with their friends.
Bird Migration
A bright red cardinal flies just above the snow-covered ground, against a sparkling white snow-covered background.
10 Fun Facts About the Northern Cardinal
August 07, 2023 — What’s in a name? Who knows, but this bird has a whole bunch of them.
Bird Questions and Facts
A bird nest made with hundreds of metal spikes in the fork of a tree branch.
Apparently Magpies and Crows Are Using "Anti-Bird Spikes" to Make Their Nests
July 13, 2023 — Birds often incorporate human-made materials while nest building, but a new study shows European corvids are taking the idea to the extreme.
Bird Nests and Breeding
A gray and yellow warbler lies dead on a sidewalk, feet up in the air, while people and cars pass by, the busy city in the background.
Unseen Danger: One Day of Deadly Window Strikes for New York’s Birds
June 26, 2023 — Go behind the scenes with the dedicated New Yorkers working to stop the flood of avoidable deaths that occur in the city each migration season.
Conservation Challenges
A brown and white eagle with a large yellow beak flies past the tops of pine trees.
When Birds Get Lost, Space Storms May Be to Blame
June 05, 2023 — New analysis of 60 years of bird banding data shows that vagrancy increases during periods of geomagnetic disturbance.
Bird Science
A condor stands on an orange-colored cliffside with outstretched wings affixed with numbered tags.
After a Wave of Bird Flu, More Than 20 California Condors Dead in the Southwest
May 10, 2023 — Setting the species' recovery back by at least a decade, the crisis appears to be ebbing as the weather warms, with no new detections since April.
Conservation News
A plump, streaky brown bird with large eyes and long beak stands on a lichen-covered stone looking at the camera.
Drab but Fab: Woodcocks Wear the Whitest Whites in the Avian Wardrobe
April 28, 2023 — Though mostly camouflaged, Eurasian Woodcocks have brilliant patches much whiter than any feathers previously measured, a recent study finds.
Bird Science
A close up portrait of a small, streaky, brown and white bird looking at the camera.
Migrating Birds Change Their Scenery—and Their Gut Bacteria
April 20, 2023 — A new study using birds killed in window collisions finds avian microbiomes, unlike those of mammals including humans, vary as they travel, changing with the surrounding environments.
Bird Migration