BirdNote Daily

Song Sparrows can be heard singing almost everywhere in the United States. People have recorded their song along rivers and lakes, in cities and towns, and in fields and forests.

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.

When the bitter cold of winter arrives, songbirds face an emergency: how to keep warm through the night. On normal nights, many prefer sleeping solo in a sheltered spot. But in severe cold, some kinds of birds may have a greater prospect of survival by roosting with others. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

As thousands of army ants march through a rainforest in Panama looking for food, countless insects try to escape. Antbirds follow the ants, waiting for flying insects to leave their hiding spots so they can swoop down and catch them. About 300 species of animals, including 29 bird species, depend on army ants for their survival. It’s thought to be the largest association of animals tied to a single species in the world. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

High in a leafless cottonwood, a female Great Horned Owl incubates two eggs. As light snow falls on her back, her mate roosts nearby. Since December, this pair has been hooting back and forth regularly at night. Great Horned Owls nest in winter, because the owlets, which hatch after a month of incubation, must remain near their parents a long time compared to many other birds — right through summer and into early fall. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

Kira Jane Buxton wrote two novels about a foul-mouthed pet crow navigating the extinction of humanity. But her love for crows began just a few years before writing the books. She found an injured crow surrounded by 60 others calling out in alarm. Though Kira was nervous, she took the crow to a wildlife rehabilitator. Sadly, the crow didn’t survive. But since then, Kira has bonded with her local crows and visits them regularly. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

Evolution works with what's at hand. So if you start with a normal bird skull – bill pointing forward, eyes oriented front or sideways, ears behind eyes – and introduce the challenge of seeing behind your head while your bill is pushed deeply into the soil, what do you get? The American Woodcock! With its long bill constantly probing the soil for earthworms, its entire skull has been rearranged. Relative to other birds, woodcocks' eyes have moved toward the top and rear of the skull, pushing the ear openings downward. Apparently the brain followed suit! Learn more at BirdNote.org.

The peace of the vast Guyanan jungle is abruptly broken with the dawn chorus of male Capuchinbirds, one of the most bizarre birds in South America. The singing male bows forward, then suddenly stretches to his full length, raising a monk-like cowl of feathers around his naked blue-gray head. The unmistakable noise attracts female Capuchinbirds, which jostle each other ruthlessly in the quest to get close to the studliest of the displaying males. The alpha male with the best singing technique will be the only one to mate. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

By slowing down the songs of the Crested Oropendola (seen here) and the Tui, all the notes and harmonies stand out. While these details normally rush past the human ear faster than our brains can process, birds are alert to the subtleties of other birds’ songs.

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.

Photographer Gerrit Vyn traveled to northeastern India to document the daily life of the Greater Adjutant stork. These endangered birds nest high in trees on privately owned land in the state of Assam, where they’re known as Hargila. Conservation biologist Purnima Devi Barman helped Gerrit get a stork's-eye view by building a bamboo tower near the canopy of a Hargila nesting tree. Learn more in the documentary Hargila from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Conservation biologist Purnima Devi Barman returned to Assam, India, where she grew up, to work with a highly endangered bird, the Greater Adjutant stork. The species nests in populated areas of Assam, where it’s known as Hargila. Because they’re scavengers, some see Hargila as unclean and remove trees where they nest. Purnima has found creative ways to connect Hargila to people’s daily lives and culture in Assam. Learn more at BirdNote.org.