Don’t let the name fool you -- the Great Dismal Swamp is alive with birds! Particularly at this time of year, lucky visitors will find newly arrived Neotropical migrants. In conjunction with International Migratory Bird Day, the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge will host its…

In January 2009, a US Airways flight completely lost power after striking a flock of Canada Geese. The captain was able to guide the crippled plane to an emergency landing in the Hudson River, and all passengers were safe. Protecting planes is a constant challenge. Wildlife biologist Steve…

The soft whistles of this Great Tit, a common European bird, can be hard to hear over city noises. So these birds now sing at a higher pitch and faster than normal. This song carries better over the traffic noise of the city. A bird singing at a higher range is better able to declare its…

Every March, Sandhill Cranes return to the Platte River in Nebraska, on their way to nesting grounds in coastal Alaska, northern Canada, and Siberia. Birdwatchers come from all over and contribute mightily to the state's economy - as much as $30 million per year. In addition to being of…

A male Montezuma Oropendola holds forth in a tree bedecked with twenty or more hanging nests. The nests are intricately woven sacks hanging three feet or more from the branches. Oropendolas favor trees that are separate from other trees and often build near large nests of wasps, whose…

At a display area, known as a lek, the male Greater Sage-Grouse perform for mating rights, while the smaller females look on. Today, the Greater Sage-Grouse is seriously endangered, its fate intertwined with the loss of sage habitat. Millions of acres have been converted to cropland, and…

When Denver Holt began his owl research 30 years ago, he was focused on disseminating his findings to the scientific community. Today, he believes that sharing information with both wildlife managers and citizens will make an important difference for owls – including this Long-eared Owl.…

Rita Shultz, a rural mail carrier outside of Richmond, Virginia, says, "Every person's yard is an important bird area!" When Rita discovered that Eastern Bluebirds were nesting in some of the newspaper delivery boxes on her route – and that many customers were throwing the nests out – she…

January 2013: Birds take advantage of windy ridges and other land-forms that create thermals and updrafts to carry them on their migrations. These same windy locations recommend themselves for wind-power turbines. It’s a tricky problem: On one hand, a Department of Energy report calls for…

A flock of fearless Seahawks is making an epic cross-continent journey to the meadowlands of New Jersey. To prepare for the great migration, they went up against mighty foes -- Panthers, Cardinals, Jaguars, Falcons, Colts, and Rams. They’ll face fierce competition from the Broncos for the…