BirdNote Daily

Look for the stories birds tell with their tracks in the snow. A crow swaggers, leaving right-and-left steps much as a walking human would. Juncos under a birdfeeder leave a hopping pattern of tiny footprints in side-by-side pairs. Look for beak marks, where a bird picked up a choice morsel or probed the ground. Tell-tale signs sometimes tell stories of life and death. You might see mouse tracks end suddenly, just where you find the imprint of an owl's wings. Find out more about animal tracking at the Wilderness Awareness School. And learn more in Bird Tracks and Sign: A Guide to North American Species, a book by Mark Elbroch.

Sailors once believed Wilson’s Storm-Petrels foretold a dangerous tempest. There might be a grain of truth: the tiny seabirds might find a little shelter from the gusts near a ship. Wilson’s Storm-Petrels are found in every ocean. When foraging, their feet patter across the surface, stirring up prey. Their fondness for feeding in cold, salty water could make them an indicator for changes in ocean conditions due to climate change. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

A young crossbill starts life with a wedge-shaped beak. As it grows up and starts to feed itself by removing conifer seeds from their tough packaging, the tips of its bill begin to grow rapidly — and then they cross. By the time the bird is a month and a half old, the tips of its bill become fully crossed. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

Many birds have creative ways to make noise without using their voices. Ruffed Grouse use their wings to make echoing booms. Wilson’s Snipes make a high-pitched sound called winnowing as air passes across their tail feathers. Palm Cockatoos swing a stick against a tree to tap out a beat.

This show was produced by World According to Sound. BirdNote and World According to Sound are teaming up for an immersive, 70-minute, virtual event about the sounds of birds. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

Most hummingbirds retreat south in autumn, but Anna's Hummingbirds are found in northern latitudes throughout the year. Since 1960, they've moved their year-round limit north from California to British Columbia. They're taking advantage of flowering plants and shrubs, as well as hummingbird feeders. But how do they survive the northern cold? They suspend their high rate of metabolism by entering a state of torpor – a sort of nightly hibernation, where heart rate and body temperature are reduced to a bare minimum. Many hummingbirds, including those in the high Andes, rely on the same strategy. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

American Coots settle onto lakes and estuaries, forming rafts of hundreds, even thousands, of birds. They like to feed on aquatic vegetation, and sometimes they lumber ashore to nibble at grasses and agricultural crops. The coot's lobed toes help it swim and maneuver under water. To get airborne, the coot requires a long, running takeoff. Be sure to watch the video of a coot feeding on the Chesapeake Bay. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

Rodney Stotts decided to become a falconer after years of working with injured raptors and teaching young people about wildlife. When he reached out to potential mentors, some couldn’t picture him, a Black man, as a falconer. But Rodney eventually found a mentor and began training and handling birds of prey. Now a certified master falconer himself, he introduces kids from the Washington, DC, area and beyond to the majesty of raptors. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

Even in winter, some birds — including Black-capped Chickadees, House Finches, and American Robins — greet the sunrise with song. We normally hear the dawn chorus in springtime, when birds sing to define territory and attract mates. But birds don’t breed by warmth alone. Day length is a far more reliable spark than weather. We know that photo-receptors in birds’ brains sense the increasing light. It triggers the production of hormones, which helps bring on the breeding season. Our early birds aren’t breeding in February. But they’re warming up. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

Black Rails are marsh-inhabiting birds, more often heard than seen. Many Black Rails nest in marshes along the Atlantic seaboard and in the Midwest. But in winter they concentrate in the coastal marshes of East Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, areas that face many threats. US populations of Black Rails have declined greatly. In recent decades, the enactment of laws protecting wetlands has improved the bird's prospects. Still, the Black Rail remains on American Bird Conservancy's "red list." Learn more at BirdNote.org.

When Chidi Paige moved from Nigeria to the U.S., she began running a youth STEM program and had to teach lessons on bird identification. She was in for a challenge: she had to learn the local bird species quickly. On a birding trip, she spotted a Yellow Warbler in a pine tree. The beautiful warbler got Chidi hooked on birding. She has designed several games to make learning bird identification fun for kids. Learn more at BirdNote.org.