http://www.birdnote.org/birdnotepodcast.cfmBirdNote Podcast RSS Feeden-ushttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnotepodcast.cfmhttp://www.birdnote.org/img/podcast_image.jpgTune In to Nature.orgnoTune In to Nature.orginfo@birdnote.orghttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=39The 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. ----------------------------------- Learn more about the plight of the Brown Pelican off the West Coast, and how you can help. Tune In to Nature.orgnoMon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1023The 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. ----------------------------------- Learn more about the plight of the Brown Pelican off the West Coast, and how you can help. Tune In to Nature.orgnoSun, 07 Feb 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1025Related 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. Tune In to Nature.orgnoSat, 06 Feb 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=582The 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! Tune In to Nature.orgnoFri, 05 Feb 2010 00:01:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=580Legend tells of a huge bird called the Thunderbird. Its origin remains a mystery, even to Native Americans. According to myth, Thunderbird was so large and flew so high, it carried the rain on its back and created thunder and lightning. Perhaps Teratornis merriami was the creature that inspired the myth. Probably the largest bird ever to fly, it died out following the last ice age. For a short time, thousands of years ago, the bird shared territory with early Native Americans. To make a gift to BirdNote, begin here. Tune In to Nature.orgnoThu, 04 Feb 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1430Imagine carrying heavy battery-operated equipment — along with all your camping gear — across the tundra. That’s what recordist Gerrit Vyn did on assignment for Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology. His mission? To record the calls of this Yellow-billed Loon. Learn more about the lab and about The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds. BirdNote is grateful to all the radio stations that carry the show. And thanks, too, to recordists, photographers, donors, and especially the listeners! Tune In to Nature.orgnoWed, 03 Feb 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1710Sharp-shinned Hawks are swift, bird-catching predators. The male is jay-sized. The female stands a head taller and weighs almost twice as much. Female birds of prey are most notably bigger than males among hawk species that hunt very agile prey, such as other birds. The smaller male will tend to hunt smaller prey. The female takes somewhat larger prey, so together they can tap a wider range of resources. Sign up for weekly preview email. Subscribe to the podcast. Tune In to Nature.orgnoTue, 02 Feb 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1016Thanks in part to the political will and financial contributions of waterfowl hunters and such organizations as Ducks Unlimited, natural wetlands that might otherwise have been lost have been preserved. Take a field trip with your local Audubon chapter to see what you can see. Start here! Maybe you'll see one of these Blue-winged Teal. Learn more about duck stamps and how they help protect habitat for migratory waterfowl.  Tune In to Nature.orgnoMon, 01 Feb 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=539Snow Geese nest from far northeastern Russia to Greenland, in the arctic and subarctic. They winter on the deltas of rivers in northwestern Washington, areas along the Eastern Seaboard, and throughout the Mississippi Flyway. They're typically seen in large flocks. To see if Snow Geese winter near you, visit Cornell's AllAboutBirds or the USGS. Don't miss this amazing video by Barbara Galatti! Tune In to Nature.orgnoSun, 31 Jan 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=527When this Black-capped Chickadee visits a feeder, its cousin, the Chestnut-backed Chickadee, might tag along. The birds look different, and they sound different, too. The Black-capped Chickadee's call follows the familiar “Chick-a-dee, dee, dee” pattern. The call of the Chestnut-back is higher pitched, faster, and has a buzzy quality. Here's the call of the Black-capped Chickadee from the Macaulay Library. And here's the Chestnut-back. Tune In to Nature.orgnoSat, 30 Jan 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=998Why are blackbirds black? One possible answer is that black is conspicuous against just about all of Nature’s backgrounds. Blackbirds, like this flock of Red-winged Blackbirds and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, feed on the ground. Whenever a predator approaches, they take flight. Coming together quickly in a dense mass may confuse the predator and thwart its attempts to catch one of the birds. If you'd like to make a gift to BirdNote, begin here. Tune In to Nature.orgnoFri, 29 Jan 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=542High in a leafless cottonwood, a female Great Horned Owl incubates two eggs. As light snow falls on her back, her mate roosts nearby. Since December, this pair has been hooting back and forth regularly at night. Great Horned Owls nest in winter, because the owlets, which hatch after a month of incubation, must remain near their parents a long time compared to many other birds -- right through summer and into early fall. Become a BirdNote benefactor! Begin here. Tune In to Nature.orgnoThu, 28 Jan 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=541Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which came out in 1962, linked the pesticide DDT to the decline of many birds, including songbirds.  But Peregrine Falcons and other raptors had declined, too. When the birds ingested DDT, it caused their eggshells to thin and break under the weight of the incubating bird. With the ban of DDT, nesting success rebounded. Join your local Audubon chapter and find out what you can do to help all birds! Here's more about the State of the Birds. Tune In to Nature.orgnoWed, 27 Jan 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=543When English settlers in the New World encountered the American Robin, they saw in it a reflection of the bird they knew as the Robin in the old country. So they called this one a robin, too. Today the American and British Ornithological Unions together determine how a bird is named. For a checklist of American birds, visit the AOU.org. [Of note, a BirdNote listener writes that the American Robin is seen occasionally in Germany and has been given the informal name, Wanderdrossel, or migrating thrush.] Tune In to Nature.orgnoTue, 26 Jan 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1015The bill and legs of Arctic Terns are shorter than those of Common Terns. Because Arctic Terns breed in the Arctic and winter in the Antarctic, they are subject to much colder weather than are Common Terns. Birds’ bills and legs lose heat, because they’re not covered by feathers. Birds in cold climates have short bills and legs, lessening their exposure. Note the difference between the bill and legs of the Arctic Tern on the bottom here and those of the Common Tern on the top. Tune In to Nature.orgnoMon, 25 Jan 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=1556A few years ago, Paul Bannick went to photograph the Great Gray Owl in Northern Minnesota. He writes: "I went out one morning before the sun had risen and found one owl that was in a particularly photogenic place. I watched that owl: where it flew to, where it perched, how did it come looking for prey, when was the sun on its face." Paul learned what the bird's habits were, and that give him the best chance to capture the image he wanted. Learn more about Paul's book, The Owl and the Woodpecker. Tune In to Nature.orgnoSun, 24 Jan 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=524A Northern Spotted Owl hoots from deep within a Northwest forest. We know the Spotted Owl best as an unwitting symbol of an ongoing political and economic struggle. We’ve seen its dark eyes peering from the pages of a newspaper. A Spotted Owl stands about a foot-and-a-half tall. It's adapted to life in old-growth conifer forests, forests centuries old that have never been logged. But less than ten percent of such forest remains. Find out about owl conservation at Ecos.FWS.gov. Tune In to Nature.orgnoSat, 23 Jan 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=534A birder may have a target bird so elusive that the bird becomes a kind of “jinx bird.” But there was a real bird by that name! The bird once called the “jynx” is known today as the Eurasian Wryneck. When a wryneck is threatened, it twists its head like a snake and hisses. This behavior led to the wryneck being invoked in witchcraft to put a spell or a jinx on someone. Get pictures of the birds featured in the week to come. Sign up for Weekly Preview. Tune In to Nature.orgnoFri, 22 Jan 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=996John Burroughs, one of the masters of American nature writing, wrote “The birds do indeed begin with the day. The farmer who is in the field at work while he can yet see stars catches their first matin hymns. In the longest June days the robin strikes up about half past three o’clock…” Burroughs wrote essays, poetry, and travel sketches, some in this cabin known as "Slabsides." Titles include Wake-Robin, Birds and Poets, Birds and Bees and Other Studies in Nature, Bird and Bough, and others. Tune In to Nature.orgnoThu, 21 Jan 2010 00:02:00 PSThttp://www.birdnote.org/birdnote.cfm?id=995John Burroughs was probably the most popular nature writer of the late 19th Century. Many consider Burroughs the founder of the modern nature essay. Yet Burroughs wrote not about nature on a grand scale, but about glimpses of nature close to home. He preferred to walk his own backyard woods - on Old Clump Mountain in the Catskills region of New York - than the alpine realms that now bear his name. Learn more about John Burroughs’ life and writings at Ecotopia.org. Tune In to Nature.orgnoWed, 20 Jan 2010 00:02:00 PST