Several species of migratory songbirds make their homes in Asia during the winter, then journey across the Bering Strait to summer in Alaska and Northwestern Canada. The Bluethroat, Arctic Warbler, and Eastern Yellow Wagtail are among the species that make the trip. Today Alaska and…

In September, 1851, Henry David Thoreau wrote: "The Whip-poor-wills now begin to sing in earnest about half an hour before sunrise, as if making haste to improve the short time that is left them. As far as my observation goes, they sing for several hours in the early part of the night . .…

Just off the North Atlantic coast, hungry Northern Gannets are gathering to feed on fish. From 100 feet in the air, the gannets plummet head-first into the water at 60 miles per hour! Such high-speed collisions would knock most creatures out. But gannets have evolved air sacs in both the…

The Golden-winged Warbler builds its nest in thickets beneath an open sky, which was a rare habitat in the old-growth forests of eastern North America. But the chestnut blight at the turn of the 20th century wiped out billions of trees, an estimated one fourth of the forest in Appalachia…

Dowitchers are a common type of sandpiper seen across North America. Two species, the Short-billed and the Long-billed, stop to feed busily on wetlands during migration from their Arctic breeding grounds to their wintering areas. The origin of the name is unknown. Theories include that it…

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 songs on this show, in order, are: * Bird on a Wire, sung by Judy Collins * Selection from Igor Stravinsky's Firebird Suite * Selection from Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird * Selection from the Trashmen's Surfin' Bird. Thanks to Lori Tingey for her photo of a funky chicken.

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…

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…