For biologist and writer Wenfei Tong, the line between people and animals has always felt fuzzy — or maybe feathery, in the case of birds. Wenfei loves to highlight commonalities we share with birds, like how young adult Acorn Woodpeckers sometimes stay with their parents if there aren't good territories available for them to move into right away. She thinks that seeing ourselves in birds could be a boon for conservation.

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Screech-owls are opportunistic diners. In the Pacific Northwest, they’ll prey on small birds, crayfish, large ants, or earthworms. In Arizona, pocket mice and pack rats. And in Ohio, biologists who noticed a fishy smell around Eastern Screech-Owl nest boxes found the remains of dozens of shad. It’s clear that screech-owls may be a consistent nocturnal predator on fish, especially in cooler months, when other prey are dormant.

Gotta feed those hungry owlets!

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Many years ago, when writer and musician Ray Young Bear was training his singing voice, he took a kind of vocal lesson from the blackbirds. “they have the most complicated song in the world — high pitches and low notes, and then it smooths out, then it kicks up again,” he says. “I would listen to them and try to imitate their singing.”

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Birdfeeders full of seeds or suet can spark nonstop action. Chickadees flitter in and out. Finches expertly crack one seed after another, while jays, doves, woodpeckers and sparrows all join the flurry. This might bring to mind a neighborly picnic — but it’s not quite as friendly. At any given moment, there’s a distinct hierarchy in effect. More dominant birds are usually able to displace lower-ranking birds. But not always! The next time you’re watching a birdfeeder, try to figure out who’s in charge.

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There are two kinds of pelicans in North America – the American White Pelican and the Brown Pelican. And they’ve evolved different tactics to catch their prey.

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In the Southeast, on the lands of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw, Purple Martins nested in dried gourds hung up by Native Americans. This relationship might have developed because Purple Martins defend their turf, says Kelly Applegate, a tribal member and Commissioner of Natural Resources for the Mille Lacs band of Ojibwe. White settlers copied the practice and put up gourds and birdhouses, too. But they also cleared forests where martins once nested and introduced House Sparrows and starlings that drove them out of woodpecker holes. Purple Martins now depend almost entirely on artificial nest boxes to survive. Kelly is encouraging people to provide homes for martins.

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In this episode of BirdNoir, the Private Eye hears from his friend Danny, who is having his bird feeders pilfered by a pack of rowdy squirrels. While a determined squirrel thief is hard to stop, the detective gives Danny suggestions on the best ways to foil these clever critters. 

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A fledgling Great Horned Owl calls to be fed. Judging from the young bird's persistence, the parents seem to be responding only with calls, not with food. These entreaties can go on for weeks. Both parents let the fledgling know that it's time for him to feed himself. They've been bringing voles and rabbits for months. Silence and surprise are keys to the owls' success as hunters, so it's hard to imagine the juvenile Great Horned Owl improving his chances by being so vocal!

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Ray Young Bear, a writer and member of the Meskwaki Nation, says that birds are important to Meskwaki spirituality. He says the reverence that Meskwaki culture has for birds and other living beings makes it essential to protect them and the places they live. And he wants more people to understand these aspects of animism, the form of spirituality found in Meskwaki religion and many other Indigenous traditions.

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Of all the birds out there, the corvid family — the crows, ravens, and jays — might have the spookiest reputation. But this idea that corvids are spooky is far from universal — it's mainly in the Western world, as corvid researcher Kaeli Swift explains.

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