BirdNote Daily

Wherever you live, chances are a sweet-singing, cavity-nesting bird would be happy to perform in your yard — and it might stick around if you offer it a cozy nest box, like the one this Carolina Wren enjoys. Natural cavities, like old woodpecker holes, are often in short supply. So putting up a box in the right place — and that’s the right size to accommodate them — is truly an act of stewardship.

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During her first year at the Yale School of Architecture, Kenyan graduate student Barbara Nasila was tasked to design a hypothetical outdoor pavilion in a local neighborhood called Dixwell, featuring an original copy of the enslaver John James Audubon’s book, The Birds of America. As Barbara got to know Dixwell, she realized that there was already an existing conversation about birds in the community. She designed an urban oasis with bird habitat and space for community groups — but she left out The Birds of America, feeling that Audubon wouldn’t have cared about this project. 

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It might sound strange, but dirt helps birds scrub themselves clean. Birds of all sizes (like the Eurasian Skylark seen here) often scrape a depression in the ground and flick dirt onto their bodies, shimmying to shake it off. Experiments showed that birds use dust to prevent oils from building up on their feathers and to remove dandruff — much like humans using shampoo in the shower!

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Birds of the same species don’t always sing exactly the same as each other. But those that live near each other sometimes have similar songs. Scientists refer to this pattern as a song neighborhood. It’s less like a regional dialect among people that’s found over a large area. It’s more local than that, like a group of friends copying each other's mannerisms.

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In this episode, writer Camille T. Dungy shares the poem “Clearing” from her new book, Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. 

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Bird feathers are famously light, but they’re also strong, holding up under tricky flying and high winds. They’re made of beta keratin, a tougher version of the keratin that makes up human fingernails and hair. They also have an intricate branching structure that makes them highly flexible and free of unnecessary weight.

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The Toco Toucan of South America has evolved to stay cool in the sweltering heat of the tropics. Relative to its body size, the Toco Toucan has the largest bill of any bird in the world, accounting for a third of the body’s entire surface area. It’s also laced with blood vessels and wholly without insulation — features that make it a superb structure for getting rid of excess body heat.

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Around this time of year, many baby birds are begging their parents for food. A Hairy Woodpecker chick calls from its nest carved deep within a dying tree. A Great Horned Owl juvenile reminds his parents "Hey! I'm over here! Feed me!" Moving from forest to water, we find this American Coot chick hoping to be fed by its parent.

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Milkweed plants are important to Monarch butterflies, which depend on milkweed to raise their caterpillars. But Monarchs aren’t the only ones who benefit from milkweed. Scientists once documented hundreds of insect species they found eating some part of the common milkweed plant – including 132 species of beetles alone. When it’s part of a diverse community of plants, milkweed helps many species find food and shelter, including birds.

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If you were to stand face to face with an owl, including this Great Gray Owl, it would eventually move its head, bobbing rhythmically from side to side, then forward, then back. Or almost completely upside down. This head-bobbing action helps make up for an anatomical limitation: an owl’s eyes are fixed in position — they can’t move the way a human’s eyes do. The owl’s varied head movements help it judge the position and distance of things around it — essentially, to triangulate on objects, including potential prey. And to build a composite picture of its surroundings.

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