Though some might see them as winged rats in today’s cities, pigeons have a long-standing bond with people -- especially in our urban environment. From Mesopotamia, 7000 years ago, to the urban skyscrapers of today, pigeons have been a constant. They’ve served as meat and sacrifices…

Crows are found on every continent except South America and Antarctica. And while there are a lot of similarities, there are a lot of differences, too. Imagine a powder-gray crow with a pink beak. There’s one thing they have in common, though: they’re all smart.

It turns out, a raven's black plumage works quite well in the desert. Black feathers do conduct the sun’s warming rays, but they concentrate that solar heat near the feathers’ surface. All it takes is a breeze from the wind, or from flying, to move all that heat away from the surface of…

The boreal forest stretches across Canada and Alaska, a huge expanse of woods, wetlands and wilderness. And it’s full of magnificent forest owls that depend on mice and other rodents for food. Those populations can boom and bust, so in lean years, hungry owls often fly as far south as the…

Gordon Hempton is a sound recordist who has spent his life capturing the sounds of the natural world. He’s learned to be a deep listener, kind of like a sonic meditator. And after a lifetime of traveling the world and listening and recording, he still is amazed by what he hears. Find the…

The 2020 wildfire season burned more than 8 million acres in the West, including some of the most important habitat for the Greater Sage-Grouse in Washington State. Ashley Ahearn visited a lek she’d seen in the spring with biologist Michael Schroeder to understand the scope of the damage…

The 2020 wildfire season burned more than 8 million acres in the West, including some of the most important habitat for the Greater Sage-Grouse in Washington State. Ashley Ahearn visited a lek she’d seen in the spring with biologist Michael Schroeder to understand the scope of the damage…

The 2020 wildfire season burned more than 8 million acres in the West, including some of the most important habitat for the Greater Sage-Grouse in Washington State. Ashley Ahearn visited a lek she’d seen in the spring with biologist Michael Schroeder to understand the scope of the damage…

In the Red Desert of Wyoming, Erik Molvar takes us up close and personal with a Greater Sage-Grouse mating site, known as a lek. “Anybody who’s ever been to a singles bar will recognize this scene,” Erik says. “The males are puffing out their chests, strutting around, trying to catch the…

In the Red Desert of Wyoming, Erik Molvar takes us up close and personal with a Greater Sage-Grouse mating site, known as a lek. “Anybody who’s ever been to a singles bar will recognize this scene,” Erik says. “The males are puffing out their chests, strutting around, trying to catch the…