BirdNote Daily

Great-tailed Grackles live up to their name. The glossy black males trail their long, V-shaped tails behind them as they fly, almost like a plane towing a banner ad. And while not quite as flashy, the brown-feathered females have impressively long tails, too. Also known as the Mexican Grackle, this species lives in all sorts of habitats from the northern coasts of South America to the western U.S. Their ability to live in both cities and farmland has helped Great-tailed Grackles expand as far north as Iowa.

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The ancient Greeks and Egyptians described a mythical bird called the Phoenix, a magnificent creature that was a symbol of renewal and rebirth. According to legend, each Phoenix lived for 500 years, and only one Phoenix lived at a time. Just before its time was up, the Phoenix built a nest and set itself on fire. Then, a new Phoenix would rise from the ashes.

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Female birds need to eat calcium to have enough of the mineral to lay their eggs. But it can be hard to find enough of it to eat in nature. We can help our backyard birds by offering them some extra calcium in bird feeders and by recycling our used egg shells.

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Most of the time, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet is neither ruby nor regal. A tiny songbird washed in faded olive-green, the male shows a hint of crimson atop of his head — hardly a ruby crown. But don’t forsake the kinglet for flashier birds. When courting a female or dueling with another male, the kinglet exposes those ruby feathers, and his crown glows with the feathery fireworks that give the bird its name. Now is the time to look for kinglets, as they migrate north across much of the continent toward breeding sites in remote evergreen woods.

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One of the most musical and complex bird songs in the U.S. is that of the Brewer's Sparrow. It's a veritable aria, ringing forth from the sagebrush of Eastern Washington's Columbia Basin. Shrub-steppe is disappearing from the interior west as it is cleared for irrigated crops. The quintessential drylands bird, the Brewer's Sparrow can survive for an extended period of time with no supplemental water, getting all the water it needs from seeds and arthropods.

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Pablo Neruda is considered one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. Though the Chilean poet is best known for his writings about love, birds were also close to his heart. He composed more than 20 poetic profiles of birds native to Chile including hummingbirds and albatrosses.

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Although a field of grass might not seem like valuable habitat at first, many birds have adapted to nest in grassland habitats and nowhere else. In North America, birds such as the Bobolink seek out grasslands to raise their young, deftly hiding their nests within the dense vegetation. Very few grasslands and savannas have been protected compared to the area that’s been lost, making them the most at-risk ecosystem on the planet. That means every acre of grassland remaining is even more precious — to birds, to plants, and to people.

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Throughout winter, Northern Bobwhites gather in groups called coveys to search for food during the day and share warmth at night. These small quail arrange themselves in a circle, with their tails in the center and heads outward, huddled up like a wreath of plump birds to survive frost and snow. But as spring arrives, the coveys disband and bobwhites seek out mates. Males whistle from shrubs and tufts of grass, hoping to catch the attention of a female.

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Ever heard the term “eagle eye?” An eagle’s vision is incredibly sharp, and its eyes can weigh more than its brain. The secret to the bird’s exceptional vision is the density of visual cells – the rods and cones – of its retina.

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Want to try building a nest? Consider this... an average American Robin weighs less than three ounces. An average person weighs 170 pounds, or 1,000 times as much as a robin. A robin's nest, made of grass and mud, weighs about seven ounces, so yours will weigh 450 pounds. You'll need to collect about 350 strands of grass, each about four feet long. And don't forget the mud: 150 pounds of it. You have five days to complete the job. That's 300 mouthfuls of mud.

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