More Nestcams Can’t keep your eyes off the nestcams? You are not alone! Keep tabs on the birds you saw hatch and check out some new nesting birds. This month we have new Barred Owls, Red-tailed Hawks and more Bald Eagles. NEW!! Red-tailed Hawks, New York Bald Eagle, Iowa Barred Owl, Indiana CATCH UP ON YOUR […]
Blog Tag: animal behavior
NESTCAMS!
NESTCAMS! It’s that time of year again! Get a front row seat and the best view of these early nesters from across the US and Hawaii — hummingbirds, albatross and some very cool raptors: Great Horned Owl, Georgia Allens Hummingbird, California Layasan Albatross, Hawaii Bald Eagle, Washington, DC Barn Owls, Texas
The Mystery of the Migration Route
The Mystery of the Migration Route Do birds fly the same route on migration in spring and fall? Would it surprise you that many of them don’t? In fact, scientists are finding out that many birds, especially in spring, follow a path of new plant growth — what is called a “green wave” of migration […]
Making That First Migration
Making That First Migration Young birds are leaving the nest, and many of them are getting ready for their first trip south. Migration is a hard and risky business for any bird, but the first marathon voyage for many species of birds takes place shortly after they have fledged. How do they do it? Songbirds […]
Family Fun: Baby Ducklings Near You
FAMILY FUN: Baby Ducklings Near You Waterfowl chicks are hatching and they are adorable! Most ducks nest on the ground where they might build a Wood Duck Babies: Stan Tekila nest out of wet vegetation, or burrow into a clump of grass. Wood ducks are an exception — they nest in natural tree cavities, or in […]
FAMILY FUN: Watching Birds Up Close
FAMILY FUN: Watching Birds Up Close There are many ways to learn about birds. One of course, is going out and watching them in the wild with your binoculars. Another is watching them at your feeders. But there are long stretches of time when birds are nesting and because they are hidden for safety, we […]
World Osprey Week: Tracking Osprey Migration
One of our favorite birds of prey is about to start their migratory trek north and you can watch it happen! Breeding Osprey are found not just in the US but also in Europe. Scientists have put GPS trackers on some of these birds making it possible to follow their migration patterns, and what a […]
Don’t Miss The Cranes!
If you want to take part in an ancient avian ritual that takes place every March for about 6 weeks and involves hundreds of thousands of Sandhill cranes, then get over to the Platte River right now! For it is there that every March for millennia, Sandhill cranes which have left their over-wintering grounds in […]
What Are Those Hawks Doing?
What Are Those Hawks Doing? Cold weather doesn’t seem to put much of a damper on hawks when its time to mate. Now is a great time to listen for mating calls and look up to see the amazing aerial displays some raptors make. You can see some hawks like Red-tails circling overhead and flying […]
The Timberdoodle Skydance
The Timberdoodle Skydance Have you ever heard of a Timberdoodle? These days the official name for the Timberdoodle is American Woodcock (but if you still want to call them Timberdoodles that’s fine with us!). April is a great time to see Woodcocks displaying. They have a pretty amazing spring mating ritual — made all the […]
Snowy Owls and Airports
IN THE NEWS: Snowy Owls and Airports Snowy owls are coming into the US in record numbers this year, and are being seen as far south as South Carolina! If you enjoyed reading about the current irruption of Snowy owls last month in our newsletter, you might be interested in this news story. Snowy owls like […]
The Big Cache
The Big Cache Winter is upon us, and many birds have been preparing for a diminished food supply for some time now. Throughout the summer and fall, many birds, like jays and woodpeckers, have spent time foraging and gathering seed and nuts to store for the winter – this is called “caching”. If you saw […]
Sitting Quietly….Seeing More
FAMILY FUN: Sitting Quietly…Seeing More Want to see more birds and tune into nature? This summer, why not see the natural areas you usually visit a little differently? Go to a favorite field, forest, marsh, or beach. Rather than do what you might normally do there…this time , take some time to sit quietly and […]
Defending the Kids
Defending the Kids Piping plovers are endangered and they like the same beaches we humans do…and at the same time. This can cause some tense and dangerous moments for both the parents and young chicks. I was recently at the beach watching a Piping plover family. The parents had to constantly maneuver their nearly uncontrollable […]
On the Wind and a Prayer
How do butterflies and moths travel great distances? According to an article from the BBC researchers have discovered that on those warm summer nights,there are thousands of butterflies and moths traveling in winds up to 60 mph above us. They may look fragile, but these beautiful creatures have a navigation system that makes for the […]
Innocent Bystander
The Chicago Tribune wrote this story about a hawk who had gone to her roost for the night, expecting to have a cool but quiet nights rest. Sadly for her, she was sleeping in a tree that happened to be near the location where a small plane crashed, killing both passengers. Upon impact, the plane […]
Ancient Desert Crocodiles
Ok, so maybe 100 million years ago, the Sahara Desert was a little more wet than it is now, and so we shouldn’t be too surprised to see that there were giant crocodiles that lived there when it was known as Gondwana. Nowadays we get excited when we see a crocodile that is over 20 […]
Tiny Bird With a Big Story
Hummingbirds have many challenges – they are tiny and yet need to be some of the toughest birds out there. They live in conditions where eeking out a living can be a challenge – especially when you have to feed at frequent intervals just to keep going. In the cloud forests of Peru, there is […]
When Once Just Isn’t Enough
Songbirds who migrate at night have long been thought to migrate north to breed then south again to molt and overwinter. That makes sense, right? But, the times they are a changing. Now researchers from the University of Washington have discovered that there are some birds who make a stop in Mexico on the way […]
Best Friends
One of the few things remaining that some people are convinced make humans different than other animals is the ability to have preferences or feelings. But, this is becoming more and more difficult to defend as there are numerous first-hand stories that refute this claim. This video from CBS News about an elephant in an […]