Studies have shown that many songbirds use stars to help guide them, and will fly the wrong way when they are disoriented. Imagine flying thousands of miles without map or compass, in the dark of night. Throughout April, songbirds are traveling north on their annual spring migration. Visit…

As the first rays of sunlight fill the trees on a spring morning, a symphony of birdsong erupts. As early morning light extinguishes the stars, male birds begin to belt out their songs. One of the magical gifts of observing birds is to hear the dawn song in spring. Early in the morning…

Kiwis are so unlike other birds that they've been called "honorary mammals." Kiwis cannot fly, having evolved in New Zealand's island environment without mammalian predators. The only bird to have nostrils at the end of its beak, the kiwi snuffles and snorts as it probes the forest floor…

It's hard to imagine that the boisterous Steller's Jay could possibly have a softer aspect to its blustery behavior. But it does. It's called the "whisper song." Male jays use this whisper song during courtship, and it also emanates from solitary birds for no apparent reason. Quietly, the…

You're at 5000 feet in the Cascade Mountains. Overhead, a Red-tailed Hawk catches an updraft. The Chelan Ridge Raptor Migration site is the best location in Washington State to see migrating raptors. The U.S. Forest Service and HawkWatch International are partners in a large network of…

A nestbox is a great asset for a garden. Natural materials are ideal. And no perches, please: they allow invaders to reach the eggs or the young. Place the nestbox well above the reach of predators. Birds - like this Black-capped Chickadee - don't want to draw attention to their nests, so…

Entice native birds -- including chickadees, nuthatches, and wrens (like this House Wren) -- to your garden with a birdhouse, or nestbox. Here’s the complicated part: you need to determine the size of the entrance hole. And that depends on the bird you want to attract. A smaller hole…

Warblers can be hard to spot. But unlike many warblers that ply the tops of the trees, the Yellow-rumped Warbler is happy filtering through the lower branches of trees, providing flightless mortals with half a chance of seeing it. The Yellow-rumped Warbler is one of the most common…

The Spotted Towhee forages mostly on the ground, and even builds its nest on the ground, or close to it. Its mewing call can be heard from the underbrush, as it scuffles in the leaf litter for food. Look for the ruby-red eye that sparkles from its black head. Learn more about the Spotted…

Rounding a bend on a snowy river delta in winter, you see farmland covered in white. It seems surreal, as if the artist Andy Goldsworthy has floated a huge duvet across the landscape. Snow Geese, thousands of them! Snow Geese winter far south of where they nest - on Wrangell Island in…