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Bird Behavior

3 Ways Street-Smart Birds Hacked Human Infrastructure This Year
December 17, 2025 — Recent studies have uncovered some of the clever ways our avian neighbors are making the most of the urban environment.
An Unexpected Baby Boom Is Bringing Snowy Owls South This Winter
December 16, 2025 — A nonprofit science group has discovered a great deal about the species over the past decade, but the irruption shows that Snowies still have the power to surprise.
Bird News
A male and female mallard swim next to each other with their heads lowered.
Watch For These Early-Bird Mating Displays This Winter
December 16, 2025 — Not every species waits until spring to start wooing their partners.
An entirely white Common Loon raises its wings, floating on a lake.
‘Once-in-a-Lifetime’ Photos Capture a Rare White Loon’s First Summer
November 07, 2025 — Montana photographer Tony Gangemi documented a season in the life of a leucistic Common Loon, from its first days as a “little cotton ball” up until its first flight.
Photography & Videography
A large flock of Redpolls flies around a snowy field of dried grasses in heavy falling snow.
Buckle Up, Birders—This Winter Is Looking Finchy
October 22, 2025 — Good numbers of siskins, grosbeaks, and other favorites could be headed your way, according to the latest edition of the annual Winter Finch Forecast.
Birding
A Common Myna stands on a railing with its beak open, vocalizing.
Sleepy Birds Are Lousy Singers, Study Finds
August 21, 2025 — Just like people, songbirds are groggy and quiet after a rough night’s sleep—a sign that urban noise and light may leave them less fit for reproduction and survival.
Bird Science
A gull walking on pavement holding a piece of green baked good in its beak.
This Researcher Wants Your Photos of ‘Gulls Eating Stuff’
July 21, 2025 — A community science project examines how gull diets are shifting amid population declines.
Bird Science
A female mallard is harnessed with a tracking device.
To Solve the Mallard's Mysterious Decline, Researchers Turn to Hi-Tech Trackers
June 20, 2025 — Biologists are using the devices to better understand the bird's behavior and, ultimately, what might be driving our most common duck's population drop.
Bird Science
A Vermilion Flycatcher splashes the surface of water with a fish in its beak.
‘Oh, Wow!’—Stunning Photos Offer First Known Proof of Vermilion Flycatchers Fishing
March 12, 2025 — An Arizona photographer’s images of Vermilion Flycatchers and Black Phoebes catching and eating fish—and one unlucky lizard—provide a rare glimpse into a little-known side of both birds.
The inside of a nest box containing a nest of sticks, four small eggs, and a snakeskin.
Some Birds Adorn Their Nests With Snakeskin to Scare Off Predators, New Study Finds
November 26, 2024 — Nests with shed skins have long fascinated ornithologists, but researchers only recently confirmed their use as a deterrent by cavity nesters.
Bird Nests and Breeding