October is the perfect time to plant for the benefit of next year's birds, including this Cedar Waxwing. Your new plants will put their resources into their roots rather than leaves or flowers. And the season's reliable rain will reduce the need to water. To attract the greatest variety of…

Bird calls can transport us to times deep in our memory. Is the sound of the Whip-poor-will at dusk part of your memory? Maybe you heard Common Loons calling on a northern lake. Perhaps you awoke on a summer morning to the cooing of a Mourning Dove. Use the link below to discover how your…

Since Samuel Coleridge published The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, we've associated albatrosses (like this Black-browed Albatross ) with the superstition that shooting one would bring misfortune. With a wingspan of up to 12 feet, albatrosses are among the world's largest seabirds. They come…

Chickadees and nuthatches swirl in small chattering flocks in the first light, to drink dew from the cups of leaves. Birds are gifted, as Henry Beston wrote, "with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are…

Swans have long exalted the human heart. Among the world's most magnificent creatures, swans inspire us, especially on Valentine's Day. On a lake, an adult pair of swans glides serenely, side by side, a classic symbol of love. And they have earned their reputation for fidelity. Swans mate…

Dr. Victor Scheffer, biologist and BirdNote adviser, died this past September, at the age of 104. At the age of 100 he wrote a reflection, To a Green Leaf (abbreviated here). - "With the coming of frost and the long nights, you will die and fall to the ground. Your rusty brown remains will…

A bird known as Titanis walleri made its home in Florida just a few million years ago. Titanis, as its name suggests, was titanic indeed - a flightless predator, ten feet tall, with a massive hooked bill. Titanis and other birds related to it belong to a group some paleontologists call the…

What is the connection between the blood-curdling roar of a Tyrannosaurus rex and the gentle song of a robin? A recent bonanza of fossils has intensified debate over how contemporary birds are linked to the extinct dinosaurs. The evidence and theories are complex. Many experts now believe…

In Veracruz, Mexico, the flow of migrating raptors includes birds from all over eastern North America. The town of Cardel lies on the flat coastal lowlands of the Gulf of Mexico. Each fall, biologists and volunteers gather there on the roof of the five-story Bienvenido Hotel, where they…

Birds usually fly relatively low. Most of the year, they stay under 500 feet. During migration, though, birds gain altitude, and many species fly at 2,000 to 5,000 feet or higher, using prevailing winds to assist them. A bird may begin migration at about 5,000 feet and slowly climb to 20…