Image: The Ultimate Bird Drawing Throwdown Showdown Graphic featuring images of David Sibley and H. Jon Benjamin

Join BirdNote tomorrow, November 30th!

Illustrator David Sibley and actor H. Jon Benjamin will face off in the bird illustration battle of the century during BirdNote's Year-end Celebration and Auction!

RESERVE YOUR SPOT

Shows With Contributions by Conor Gearin

A Common Loon in the water rears up with neck arched up and wings spread

Recognizing a Stranded Loon

Loons are built for life in the water – so much so that their legs don’t work well on land. During migration, loons sometimes mistake wet pavement for the reflective surface of deep water and try to land there, then become unable to take flight again. If you see a stranded loon on a road…
A singing Scaly-breasted Wren perches on a branch with a forest canopy in the background

Los pájaros que pueden mantener el ritmo

El cucarachero ruiseñor sureño vive en Centro y Sudamérica y tiene una largo canto de notas silbadas separadas por pausas. Al analizar las grabaciones de sus cantos, los investigadores encontraron que estas aves pueden medir con gran precisión estas pausas, incluso cuando aumentan por…
A Pied-billed Grebe swims in a lake near aquatic vegetation in sunlight

Spark Bird: John Kessler and the Music of Birds

John Kessler served as BirdNote’s senior producer for over 18 years. But before BirdNote existed, he was recording the sounds of Seattle for public radio station KPLU, now called KNKX. After capturing many of Seattle’s well-known spots on tape, he broadened his scope by connecting with…
A Himalayan Swiftlet with long, pointed wings spread in flight, seen from a distance

Aviary: Bird Echolocation to the Rescue

In this episode featuring Aviary — the shapeshifting bird superhero — the surprising abilities of birds come in handy when a student gets lost exploring a cave with his class. Aviary remembers an amazing bird called the Himalayan Swiftlet that’s able to echolocate like a bat, and enlists…
Pine Warbler sitting on a slender pine tree branch

The Warbler That Loves Pines

The Pine Warbler is one of the few warblers that make appearances at bird feeders. They live year round in pine forests of the southeast U.S. and several Caribbean islands. Early spring is a good time to see them migrating through cities in the Midwest and the East Coast. If there’s a pine…
Pair of Ocellated Antbirds perched in Panamanian forest

Birds on the March with Army Ants

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…
Behind a blue sky with white clouds, a wood stork soars

Keeping Wood Storks on the Road to Recovery

With their bare heads, long legs and massive bills, Wood Storks seem to have flown out of a fairytale — but in the American South they’re a real-life part of the ecosystem. Developers drained large areas of wetlands, causing the Florida Everglades population to decline to just 5,000…
Janet Ng, wearing gray baseball cap and blue jacket, holds an immature Golden Eagle in her arms

Janet Ng on Becoming a Wildlife Biologist

When Janet Ng was a kid, there was a very specific moment when she realized what she wanted to be as a grown-up: seeing a wildlife biologist being interviewed in a documentary and realizing that was a possible career path. Now working for the Canadian Wildlife Service and surveying birds…
Asymmetrically feathered troodontid Jianianhualong tengi with mostly reddish brown feathers

Flying Dinosaurs: Leaping and Gliding

For years, scientists debated whether the first flying dinosaurs, the ancestors of modern birds, began by running and making little hops off the ground, or leapt off a tree branch to glide. It’s called the “ground up vs. trees down” debate, for short. But a newer perspective on this…
About a dozen photographers line up on a beach at sunrise to capture photos of birds

Birding 101: Learning How to Strike Out

When you go birding, sometimes you’re in the right place at the right time and there are more species than you can count. Other times, not so lucky. Striking out when looking for birds is frustrating. But a bad day of birding can teach you a lot. Try doing some research into the conditions…