BirdNote

As the sun sets over New York City, author Helen Macdonald takes in the wonders of spring migration from the top of the Empire State Building. She watches a long procession of songbirds pass overhead, but her joy is dampened when she notices some of the birds circling endlessly around the building’s

Orchard orioles are social birds that build their nests in large trees among streambanks and wetlands. The males have chestnut-colored breasts and black backs and wings, while females and immature birds are mostly yellow. After the males fly south in late July and early August, the young birds and

The Swainson's Warbler is one of North America's shyest birds. These birds forage quietly on the ground, flipping over leaves to expose and capture insects. They scurry away, calling in alarm when big-footed humans invade their shadowy habitat. On their wintering grounds, in the Blue Mountains of

When it comes to raising a family, American Robins have got it down. Approximately eight days after the male and female mate, the female builds the nest. A few days later, she lays eggs. She sits on the eggs for 18 hours a day, and the eggs hatch in about three weeks. Both parents feed the nestlings

Roger Tory Peterson, the best known American figure of 20th Century birdwatching, offered help on birding by ear. Whenever he could, he provided a catchphrase to identify a bird's song. "Witchety-witchety-witchety" captures the song of this Common Yellowthroat. The California Quail seems to say,

Conservation photographer Noppadol Paothong says that if you go out to take pictures of birds, you shouldn’t just aim to take an eye-catching photo. He spends long hours in photo blinds, often watching and studying birds rather than photographing them. He has become deeply familiar with some

La vista y el sonido del Pájaro Campana, el ave nacional de Paraguay, inspiran asombro y alegría. Su presencia como especie indicadora y dispersora de semillas también es una buena señal de la salud del ecosistema en el Bosque Atlántico del Alto Paraná que se extiende desde el sudeste de Brasil a

If you're near High Island, Texas in the spring, you might witness a "fallout," one of the great spectacles of bird migration. Thousands of birds, including Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, orioles, Painted Buntings, and warblers of all kinds, as well as tanagers and Indigo Buntings, like this one, drop

Every spring in Northwest Ohio, the shores of Lake Erie transform into a birder’s paradise. Birder and author Kenn Kaufman, who lives in this area, says that of the many species that migrate through here, one group of vibrant, vivacious songbirds stands out from the rest: warblers. Trees leaf out

El saltarín barbiblanco vive en Trinidad y en gran parte de Sudamérica. Los machos cortejan a las hembras con chasquidos de alas que suenan como petardos. Un grupo de machos revolotea rápidamente de un tallo delgado y sin hojas a otro, apenas a unos 30 centímetros del suelo. Cuando el macho ve a la