BirdNote Daily

In a tropical woodland in eastern Australia, you glimpse a Southern Cassowary, a huge flightless bird that must rate as the most prehistoric looking of all birds. Cassowaries are capable of making remarkable sounds, including the lowest known bird call in the world, barely audible to the human ear! Learn more about the Southern Cassowary at BirdNote.org.

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Justine Bowe fell in love with birds when she was a kid, on a hike with her dad when she saw the fiery colors of a Blackburnian Warbler. Justine now manages the Bird Friendly Coffee program at the Smithsonian Institute's Migratory Bird Center, working with coffee farmers to preserve habitat for birds that migrate to Central and South America. In Colombia, she got to see Blackburnian Warblers spending winter on bird-friendly farms. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

The tiny Common Redpoll, one of the smallest members of the finch family, weighs only as much as four pennies, yet it survives the cold and darkness of winter in the far North. Most birds depart in autumn to warmer climes. But redpolls feed on birch and alder seeds that are available throughout the winter, no matter how deep the snow. This little bird typically eats 40% of its body weight in seeds every day to keep itself alive. Redpolls are survivors. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

Although we may think of autumn as the end of the growing season, a sort of winding down in the natural world, for birds it’s as much a season of renewal as the spring. In the colder months, we welcome back our winter birds — juncos, swans, and more — which spent the summer in their breeding territories to the north. Offering the right kind of food and environment in the winter months can attract these migrants to your yard! Learn more at BirdNote.org.

Polar Bears symbolize the icy landscapes of the far north like no other animal. The bear's way of life — its very survival — is inseparable from the Arctic pack-ice. Less familiar is a remarkable bird that shares with the Polar Bear this vital link to ice: this Ivory Gull. The gulls feed on small fish and other marine life, but also scavenge carcasses, including those left by Polar Bears. Global warming has brought increasing change to the world of ice-dependent species such as the Ivory Gull and Polar Bear. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

An immense field appears to be covered with snow, blanketed in white. But a closer look reveals more than 10,000 Snow Geese. Snow Geese nest on Wrangel Island, in the Chukchi Sea off northern Siberia. Don't miss the amazing video by Barbara Galatti! Learn more at BirdNote.org.

In the depths of winter, when open water is frozen over, it can be challenging for birds to stay hydrated. Some birds eat the frozen water all around them. Cedar Waxwings catch snowflakes in mid-air. Black-capped Chickadees drink from dripping icicles. Plenty of other birds scoop up fresh, powdery snow and eat it. It could be worth the calories to melt the snow when searching for liquid water could expose them to predators. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

There used to be a saying about somebody who doesn’t eat much — “she eats like a bird.” But how much does a bird typically eat? As a rule of thumb, the smaller the bird, the more food it needs relative to its weight. A Cooper’s Hawk, a medium-sized bird, eats around 12% of its weight per day. For a human weighing 150 pounds, that’s 18 pounds of chow, or roughly six extra-large pizzas. And that perky little chickadee at your feeder eats the equivalent of 35% of its weight. You, as a 150-pound chickadee, will be munching 600 granola bars a day. And a hummingbird drinks about 100% of its body weight per day. That means you’ll be sipping 17½ gallons of milk. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

Every summer, puffins — like this Horned Puffin — grow blazingly colorful layers over the bases of their huge beaks. But in the winter, puffins lead very different lives, and they shed their bright ornamentation. Puffins in winter are largely solitary — and silent. They spend about seven months alone at sea, before returning once again to their colonies to breed. Learn more at BirdNote.org.

Some birds have always called nocturnally, but other species are relative newcomers to the nighttime music scene, specifically in urban areas. Birds such as American Robins often sing well into the night. Scientists are studying what environmental cues might lead to this behavior. While artificial light could be a factor, recent studies suggest that some birds may be avoiding daytime city noise by singing nocturnally. Learn more at BirdNote.org.