In June 1853, Thoreau wrote of an enchanting encounter with the Wood Thrush: "This is the only bird whose note affects me like music. It lifts and exhilarates me. It is inspiring. It changes all hours to an eternal morning." Wood Thrushes thrive in large expanses of forest. And their…

Each year, the plaintive song of the Eastern Wood-Pewee carries through the forests of eastern North America. For the past 25 years, the number of Wood-Pewees has fallen. But providing economic incentives for private landowners to save forests can help. So can enacting policies that…

If you lived along the forest's edge in Central America, every morning might begin with a cacophony of rhythmic guffaws, whistles, screeches, and screams. Plain Chachalacas and Great Kiskadees — like this one — join in the chorus. View a series of photos of the Plain Chachalaca taken by…

Gull-watching is pretty tame along the coasts most of the summer. Many gull species retreat north to nest; a few others nest inland. Along the Atlantic, it’s mostly nesting Herring and Laughing Gulls (like this one) that stick around through summer. On the Pacific Coast, it’s Glaucous…

King Rails are the largest rails in North America. And they are also one of the most threatened. American Bird Conservancy is working to save the King Rail by conserving freshwater wetlands and ensuring effective pollution laws. Learn more at ABCBirds.org.

American naturalist Bruce Beehler — inspired by Edwin Way Teale's similar journey in 1947 — is following the spring songbird migration to build greater appreciation for birds. In partnership with American Bird Conservancy, Beehler is traveling from the Gulf of Mexico to the boreal forest…

North America’s tallest bird, and one of its most endangered -- the Whooping Crane! There are fewer than 600 in the world even when you count the ones in captivity. They’ve rebounded from an all-time low of 15. The only wild migratory flock – about 275 – winters along the Texas Gulf Coast…

Imagine the nesting cliff of Common Murres, 100 feet above the ocean. Suddenly, a small murre chick, only three weeks old and just one-quarter the weight of an adult, lunges off the cliff, gliding clumsily to the water below. Soon other chicks follow, splashing into the sea. The chicks'…

For more than a decade, Dr. Douglas Gill, an emeritus professor of biology at the University of Maryland, has helped restore native grasslands on a large farm near Chesapeake Bay. Invited to join the project by landowner Harry Sears, Dr. Gill says, “…My deeply internal love for outdoor…

In recent years, unlike many other North American ducks, Northern Pintails present a portrait of sharp decline. Pintails nest in grasslands near seasonal wetlands. Increasingly, these grasslands are being plowed up to grow crops such as corn. But people who love pintails are responding…