Great Backyard Bird Count

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The weekend of February 12-15, 2010 is the annual Great Backyard Bird Count, sponsored by the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology. Birders across the country count birds in parks or fields or their own back yards, and then report the numbers on-line. If you are able to identify your common local species, join the count! Learn more and sign up at BirdSource.org.
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Learn more about the plight of the Brown Pelican off the West Coast, and how you can help.

Rock Pigeon, Urban Bird

The Rock Pigeon is the quintessential urban bird. Early European settlers at Jamestown and Plymouth introduced it to North America in the 1600s, and it is now found across the entire country.
If you'd like to make a gift to BirdNote, begin here.
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Learn more about the plight of the Brown Pelican off the West Coast, and how you can help.

Swan Song

The idea of the “swan song” recurs from Aesop to Ovid to Plato to Tennyson. It's based on a sweet fallacy -- that a swan sings only when it nears death. Learn more about this Mute Swan at Cornell's AllAboutBirds.
Would you like to make a gift to BirdNote? Begin here.
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Learn more about the plight of the Brown Pelican off the West Coast, and how you can help.

A Bird of Two Colors

Related to shearwaters and petrels, the Northern Fulmar will eat just about anything it finds on the surface of the ocean, from fish and squids to dead whales. Fulmars are polymorphic, that is to say they come in more than one color. This difference is independent of sex and age. The reason for their color variation remains a mystery. Learn more about polymorphism from UWM.edu. Find out more about the Northern Fulmar at Cornell's AllAboutBirds.

Consider the Ostrich

The flightless Ostrich is a bird of superlatives ... the largest and tallest bird on the planet ... growing to maybe eight feet tall ... weighing 250 pounds! It’s also the fastest creature on two legs, capable of running at 40 miles an hour. Ostriches have never been observed to stick their heads in the sand. When threatened, they’re more likely to run away. But if an Ostrich senses danger and can’t run away, it lies down and remains still, with head and neck outstretched. Send this show to a friend! Copy this link http://bit.ly/cFlTqC and paste it in email. Thanks!