During late summer, these Sooty Shearwaters will join a vast migration, when millions of seabirds fly over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Jaegers that nested on the Arctic tundra are flying south to tropical oceans. Arctic Terns and skuas make an epic journey to Antarctic waters…

For us, an eagle in flight is an image of beauty and power. But for the ancient Greeks, an eagle in flight was an omen - a message from the gods. In Homer's epic, The Iliad, the Greeks have vowed to conquer Troy. But midway through the siege, mighty Hector and the Trojans battle them to…

The Audubon’s Oriole can be heard in the dense woodlands of South Texas, including the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Most of its range lies in Mexico, where it’s known as Calandria Capucha Negra, or lark with a black hood. Dense woodland habitats where the orioles breed have become more…

Sapsuckers, a specialized group of woodpeckers (that includes this Red-naped Sapsucker), don’t actually suck sap. After pecking neat rows of small holes in trees to cause the sugary liquid to flow, the birds lick it up with tongues tipped with stiff hairs. So why doesn’t a sapsucker’s beak…

Farmers have used chemicals to fight insect pests for centuries. Chemical use took on a startling face in the 1940s with the creation of DDT, which had horrifying effects on bird populations. But today, the Wild Farm Alliance is out to prove that farmers don’t have to resort to pesticides…

In summer, the grasslands of southern Saskatchewan resound with bird song. This Bobolink is among the birds that combine their voices in a rich, ringing chorus. Through these grasslands flows the Frenchman River, twisting and looping — the epitome of a meandering river. The southern…

True to its name, the Ruddy Turnstone can turn stones -- and lots of other things along the shore -- in search of food. The bird bends its legs to half their length, places its bill beneath the object to be turned, and with a sudden quick jerk of its head flips it over. For larger objects…

The Flammulated Owl is a study in camouflaged grays and browns, with cinnamon-brown shoulder straps and large brown eyes. This astute aerial predator stands a little more than six and a half inches tall, from its sharp-clawed feet to its stubby, ear-like tufts. It winters in southern…

Unlike mammals, birds have no external ear structures. Their ear openings are hidden beneath feathers on the side of the head, just behind and slightly below the eyes. (It's easy to imagine where this House Finch's ear is, isn't it?) In mammals, the external ear structure helps funnel…

Close kin to the Whip-poor-will, the nocturnal Common Poorwill can be heard in summer in the rocky scrublands of the West at the deep end of dusk. And the Common Poorwill's greatest claim to fame? It was the first bird confirmed to hibernate, based on evidence verified in 1946. Since then…