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“Thank you for bringing science and community together in a joyful radio show.”
— Colleen, East Walpole, Massachusetts
On our latest show (Nov. 23): Towhee vs Towhee Audio Postcards from California; Ohio’s EveryBody Birding Club; and Mike’s advice on a safe topic for your holiday gatherings. Hear it here.
The Cornell FeederWatch Cam
Whenever we tune in to this webcam, something is happening. It's perfectly situated in the Treman Bird Feeding Garden at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York, on the edge of Sapsucker Woods and its 10-acre pond. You'll see forest species like chickadees and woodpeckers, and species that prefer open environments near water like Red-winged Blackbirds. This cam is in Eastern time. (11/26)
Downy Woodpeckers ‘grunt’ as they turn their bodies into hammers to drill into trees
Researchers studied the combination of muscles and breaths that the tiny birds use as they strike trees with their beaks. (11/14)
The Mississippi River Flyway Cam
When we tuned in to this webcam about 5:30 PM EST, we saw a Bald Eagle splashing around. This was one of our favorite bird cams anyhow, but now it's cemented its position for years to come. This is a quiet cam, by the way, so keep it on in the background and take a peek now and then. Sponsored by the Raptor Resource Project.
The Best of Words on Birds
Ray's guest on our show #1,062 (Nov. 2) was Jeff Reiter. As promised, here's a link to Jeff's book on the publisher's website. It'd be a great item for gift-giving season or just to read when you're stuck indoors, dreaming of birding. (11/3)
Why do vultures circle?
This short article is a crash course in vultures -- their behavior, their biological uniqueness, and their role in the ecosystem. If you think you don't like vultures, this article might change your mind. (11/24)
These parrots came to Los Angeles as pets – then went wild
Now scientists are unlocking their mysteries. Once escapees from the pet trade, Los Angeles’s feral parrots have become a vibrant part of city life, and could even aid conservation in their native homelands. (11/16)
From chirps to insights: measuring biodiversity with Audubon’s Bird-Friendliness Index
Birds are powerful indicators of ecosystem health. Their presence, and the diversity of species present in a given area, can reveal a lot about the state of nature. Audubon’s Bird-Friendliness Index (BFI) builds on this idea. (11/12)
Antarctic seabirds have an ingenious way of finding prey in the vast and desolate Southern Ocean
Different species flock together, using team work to sense food in the forbidding seascape, a new study finds. If you were living in an environment where it was challenging to find food, wouldn't you team up with someone whose abilities complemented yours? Read on for the research into this phenomenon. (11/4)
Our sponsors and partners:
Bird vocalizations provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Website photography by Shawn Carey/Migration Productions.