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

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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!

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Shows With Contributions by Michael Stein

Juvenile Black-bellied Plover

Juvenile Shorebirds Head South

Like most juvenile shorebirds, this young Black-bellied Plover was abandoned by parents that began their southbound flights from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a few weeks earlier. It will join other young Black-bellied Plovers as they make their way south. This little flock of birds…
An American Goldfinch perched on the edge of a sunflower, the bright yellow petals matching the bird's feathers

Birds Love Sunflowers

Found throughout North America, the common sunflower can grow up to ten feet high, towering over other herbs and grasses. And that’s only half the story: their roots can reach just as deep in the soil. They’re rugged, adaptable plants that bring beauty — and food — to the ecosystem…
A migrating bird is silhouetted against a near-full moon in the night sky.

Moon-Watching for Migrating Birds

Before the high-tech gadgets used to track bird migration today, there was moon-watching: a technique dreamed up in the 1940s by ornithologist George Lowery. Using telescopes pointed at the moon to see the silhouettes of migratory birds, Lowery helped show that birds regularly migrate…
Immature Bewick's Wren

Where Do Fledglings Go?

By late summer, most birds hatched in spring are on their own, without help from their parents. Where do they go? Young migratory birds will head south in late summer or fall, in the pattern of their species. But most non-migratory birds born last spring — such as this immature Bewick’s…
American Crow calling at sunrise

Do Crows Sing?

It’s been said that if someone knows only three birds, one of them will be the crow. They’re common, easy to see, and even easier to hear. But crow voices are complicated. Altogether, crows may use 30 sound elements in different combinations, and one of the most intriguing is their song…
A small bird with bright green and red iridescent plumage and a long narrow downward-curving black bill sits on a branch.

A Song That Has Survived for Thousands of Years

Sometimes, a species’ song changes over the course of a few decades. But a bird that lives in the mountains of eastern Africa, the Forest Double-collared Sunbird, appears to have kept the same song for at least 500,000 years. That’s the amount of time that two populations of the species…
A male Bearded Bellbird perched on a branch, sunlight filtering through leaves behind it. The bellbird is seen in right profile, and the black edge of its wings contrast sharply against its white body. The head is a light cocoa brown, with black on the front of the face and the black wattles cascading from beneath its black beak.

Bellbirds Turn It Up to 11

The four species of South American bellbirds can make a real racket, including this Bearded Bellbird. Hidden in the tree canopy, males cannot see one another as they sing — but they sure can hear each other! Their ear-splitting songs carry over long distances. The loudest of the species is…
Scarlet Tanager

What's Behind Those Lustrous Red Feathers?

Male Northern Cardinals, Scarlet Tanagers, and House Finches all have striking red plumage that’s thought to play a role in attracting mates. Males with the brightest red feathering tend to have the best luck with the females. Scientists think that a male’s redness signals to females that…
Flock of American Robins at a water fountain

The Most Abundant Birds in North America

By August, most birds in North America have finished nesting, bringing billions of new birds into the world. So many birds. It might make you wonder: what is the most abundant bird in North America?
An Andean Condor, wings outspread, soaring with misty clouds and mountain range in the background.

Andean Condors Soar for Hours Without Flapping

In the blue skies over the Andes Mountains, Andean Condors look majestic, with a ten-foot wingspan. While flying, according to researchers from Argentina and the UK, Andean Condors only flap one percent of the time. One bird was tracked for more than 100 miles over five flapless hours.