The Ultimate Bird Drawing Throwdown Showdown Graphic featuring images of David Sibley and H. Jon Benjamin

Join BirdNote tomorrow, November 30th!

Illustrator David Sibley and actor H. Jon Benjamin will face off in the bird illustration battle of the century during BirdNote's Year-end Celebration and Auction!

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Shows With Contributions by Monica Gokey

Western Tanager sitting on evergreen branch, and showing its bright yellow head and breast, black wings, and orange face

Western Tanagers Are Flashes of Bright Color

Western Tanagers dart from tree to tree, on the lookout for delicious bugs. They’ll find them by scanning the tree bark — or maybe snatching them from mid-air during flight — a tactic called hawking. Come winter, these lovely songbirds head south, where they fit right in with the other…
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Wild Turkey

Have You Ever Seen a Tom Turkey's Beard?

With his brilliantly colored plumage fanned out in display, this tom (male) Wild Turkey is a handsome sight to behold. He has a bright red head, long spurs, and… a beard. This “beard” is a small cluster of bristles that sprouts from the bird’s chest plumage. It looks like a misplaced…
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Common Poorwill

Common Poorwills Can "Hibernate"

Common Poorwills don’t sing much when the mercury drops. But they can do something else that is remarkable. As the winter cold deepens, these petite members of the nightjar family can enter a hibernation-like state — and stay like that for hours — or even weeks! Scientists call it torpor…
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Willow Ptarmigan in snow

Ptarmigan Toes

With its rubbery-sounding rattles and clownish red eyebrows, the ptarmigan is quite the stand-out northern bird. As winter approaches, the ptarmigan’s feet grow feathers, and its claws grow longer. All that added surface area means the ptarmigan practically has its own set of snowshoes…
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Western Meadowlark singing in sunlight with clear blue sky in background

Meadowlark and the Monster

In this story from Nimiipuu culture, Meadowlark is likened to the ‘reporter’ of Western grasslands, singing its song from the tops of fenceposts and trees. This story takes place before the time of people. Meadowlark warned Coyote about a Monster that was eating all the animals in the…
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Greater Sage Grouse

Of Grouse and Gizzards

During winter, the Greater Sage-Grouse is wholly reliant on its namesake species — sagebrush — for both shelter and for food. Scientists call this bird "sagebrush obligate," meaning it needs this plant to survive. In the spring, its diet shifts to insects and plants, as it gets ready for…
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Grasshopper Sparrow perched on a wire

Bringing Back the Native Palouse Prairie

In north-central Idaho, Kas Dumroese is restoring retired agricultural land to native Palouse Prairie, an ecosystem that’s been almost entirely wiped out. Kas seeds native plants like lupine. Some grassland birds, like the Savannah Sparrow, can thrive in agricultural landscapes, but other…
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Grasshopper Sparrow perched on a wire

Bringing Back the Native Palouse Prairie

In north-central Idaho, Kas Dumroese is restoring retired agricultural land to native Palouse Prairie, an ecosystem that’s been almost entirely wiped out. Kas seeds native plants like lupine. Some grassland birds, like the Savannah Sparrow, can thrive in agricultural landscapes, but other…
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Long-billed Curlew nest and eggs

Curlew Nest Check

Research biologist Heather Hayes of the Intermountain Bird Observatory takes us to a Long-billed Curlew nest she’s been monitoring in an alfalfa field. Before the West was settled, curlews nested in rich, diverse native grasslands. An alfalfa field has a totally different species…
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Long-billed Curlew nest and eggs

Curlew Nest Check

Research biologist Heather Hayes of the Intermountain Bird Observatory takes us to a Long-billed Curlew nest she’s been monitoring in an alfalfa field. Before the West was settled, curlews nested in rich, diverse native grasslands. An alfalfa field has a totally different species…
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