Many birds that migrate through our cities spend most of their lives in boreal forests or other wild places with little knowledge of the manmade structures they need to navigate around when they migrate at night. Adding to this, many buildings are brightly lit, sending confusing signals to migratory birds, and making an already dangerous […]
Climate Week NYC, in partnership with the UN General Assembly, is wrapping up. This past week, over 1,000 global leaders gathered to address climate challenges. Conservation organizations such as BirdLife International and National Audubon Society were advocating on behalf of birds. As birdwatchers, we witness the decline in bird populations firsthand, and we can help […]
Where will you be on October 12? No matter where you are, join the global celebration of World Migratory Bird Day by participating in October Big Day. By submitting eBird checklists from your location, you’ll be part of a worldwide effort to capture a snapshot of bird populations, their movements, and distributions. This initiative, held […]
What happens when we flush a resting flock of birds? During nesting season most people make an effort to not disturb birds nesting in trees, or on the ground or beach, as the consequences are obvious. But what about a flock just hanging out? How can chasing them, walking too close or having a dog […]
Saltmarshes have long been in the way of “progress”. We’ve torn them out to plant crops, build houses, and drained them. Since they are designed to buffer the land behind them during periods of hurricanes or super high tide inundations, our changes have greatly diminished the beneficial effects we derive from them. And saltmarshes are the only […]
Bird migration is one of nature’s most awe-inspiring phenomena. Across eight major global flyways, birds navigate diverse terrains, face unique challenges, and cover vast distances. Many of the birds we see during nesting season spend the majority of their time migrating or overwintering in distant places. But we can help them locally when they are […]
Grab those binos and get outside to find birds on May 11 for Global Big Day! Join thousands of birders around the world to send eBird reports of what they’ve seen in the same 24-hour period twice per year. A high volume of eBird lists on the same two days each year give scientists a data […]
Flaco, the huge Eurasian Eagle Owl who escaped from the Central Park Zoo when vandals cut the wires of his cage in early 2023 is dead. After one year of learning to hunt, survive alone in an urban environment, and captivating audiences every day, he collided with a window on a westside building while flying and […]
Every year billions of birds migrate from their overwintering grounds, making a perilous journey at high speed to their breeding grounds which can be thousands of miles away. Many of these birds migrate under the cover of darkness – something which technically should provide them with safety from predators, lower winds, and the ability […]
Wondering if your area will have a migration fallout tomorrow, or just a slow barely noticeable group of new migrants coming through? If you want to see what’s happening in real-time overhead and get local as well as national information on migration patterns and birds, you are in luck! BirdCast has redefined the way we […]
Vultures may not be the cutest or the most beautiful of birds, but they are incredibly efficient disposers of carcasses and maintainers of a healthy environment and a keystone species. A flock of 100 vultures can completely clean up a 100-pound carcass in 3 minutes. Quick clean-up means there is less chance of disease spreading […]
Maple syrup is produced by tapping maple trees, but not all sugarbush forests are managed for wildlife. Over 50% of maple syrup is produced in Vermont and New York in winter. But in summer while the trees are growing, migrating birds return from their southern overwintering sites to nest in these same sugarbushes including, Barred Owls, […]
Next time you consider a dish with hearts of palm, check the source. Hearts of palm are the tiny edible portions of the palm tree just below the branches. It’s the “heart” of the tree and for culinary purposes comes from one of several edible palms. Some are harvested from US palmettos which are the domestic […]
Want more birds in your yard year-round? There are a handful of things you can do to increase the attractiveness of your yard to birds in winter. With more than half the species of birds in decline, having the right food source and good habitat at every location birds visit is fundamental to maintaining their […]
Welcome to the Atlantic Forest! Join our Brassy-breasted Tanager (our coverbird) and 190 other endemic birds who call this biodiversity icon home. A dense, stunning South American forest habitat that used to span nearly 350 million acres in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, now just 12% of this unique climate-mitigating South American forest remains. Despite […]
In an ironic twist, fall migration coincides with hurricane season. While already aloft on a treacherous flight, if a hurricane crosses a migratory pathway some birds are picked up by these huge weather systems and moved to a location they never expected to be in. In the past few weeks, there have been reports of about 100 […]
Birds need you! October 14, join tens of thousands of other birdwatchers around the globe in a Global Big Day. Wherever you are in the world, go birding – even just for 15 minutes if you dont have much time. Then, record your sightings in ebird and voila – you have done something good for birds! All […]
Those tiny, 30-gram, brown birds with the enchanting song have more talents than they are typically given credit for. A recent scientific study shows these little birds can anticipate the strength of the upcoming hurricane season, giving them an advantage they sorely need during dangerous and taxing migrations. Research shows that over two decades the birds were […]
There is a torrent of headlines about the terrible toll on civilians, and the vast destruction of cities and villages in Ukraine from the war. The environmental impact of war can also be huge – already ⅓ of Ukraine’s protected areas including The Black Sea Biosphere Reserve which hosts over 100,000 birds plus a variety of […]
Twice each year, about 4 billion birds in North America make what can only be described as a series of continuous ultramarathons — flying unbelievably taxing journeys north and south between the Americas, sometimes flying for days at a time over open water, without eating, sleeping, or touching down. Making these migratory journeys is so […]
No matter where you are February 18-21, you can help birds by joining tens of thousands of birders from around the globe who are counting, and reporting birds during that time period to eBird for the Great Backyard Bird Count. The info reported helps scientists keep track of bird population numbers and locations. Just by doing […]
To keep your garden and yard safe for birds and provide the food they need, don’t use pesticides! A healthy garden is an ecosystem that is host to a lot of different insects from butterflies and caterpillars to spiders, aphids, and even mosquitos. All these insects are food that birds need and they make […]
Words can’t adequately describe the life and experience of Hudsonian Godwits. Until recently, the lives of this large, graceful shorebird were a mystery. But what scientists are now discovering about these birds and their future is both awe-inspiring and alarming. Hudsonian Godwits are one of 70 species of birds that twice-yearly fly a dangerous, harrowing, […]
Don’t miss being part of the 122nd Christmas Bird Count starting December 14! One hundred twenty-two years ago, Frank Chapman and 26 other conservationists decided that instead of an annual Christmas bird hunt, it was time to start counting birds. Now the conservation tradition has grown into a bird count across North America and in […]
Every year, in North America alone, up to 1 billion birds are killed by flying into glass windows – both year-round resident birds, as well as those on migration, are affected. This is a huge number of birds that are being unnecessarily killed, as there are many ways to avoid these collisions. Our homes, […]
Our cities and backyards need to be transformed to integrate nature and not be detrimental to it. Tim Beatley is a professor of architecture and an urban planner, who firmly believes that urban (and even suburban) areas, when designed correctly can restore habitat and have a positive effect on birds and nature in general. His […]
Every year, in North America alone nearly 1 billion birds needlessly lose their lives by flying into windows they cannot see. During migration, the incidences increase as fast-moving birds intent on reaching their destination will see on the glass panes the reflections of the trees behind them. In an attempt to either fly through to reach […]
Devastating fires in North America and around the world have left surviving wildlife homeless and often without what they need to survive. If you live in an area where fires have taken their toll, you can help wildlife in a number of ways. Last January, amid the brushfires in Australia, we published the following article with […]
What’s going on with shorebirds? These exquisitely evolved champions of extreme migration are facing shocking obstacles in their day to day lives. So much so that even shorebirds like Red Knots, which can fly over open water for 8 days – no sleeping, no eating, just flying non-stop – may not be able to survive some […]
If you are asking this question after reading about the study showing 3 billion birds are gone since 1970, you White-throated Sparrow Photo Credit: Deborah Rivel are not alone as the enormity of the numbers of birds lost is difficult to comprehend. Some of the hardest hit birds are ones we see most often – White-throated Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Eastern and Western […]
Mature Native Plant Meadows in a Small Yard Having safe and undisturbed habitat is critical to keeping our birds and planet healthy. Research published last year by Cornell Lab of Ornithology showing 3 Billion Birds have been lost and the enormous impact this has had on bird populations over the past few decades cited habitat loss as the […]
Helping Birds: What To Do After a Fire Kookaburra After Fire Photo Credit: Adam Stevenson/Reuters The dramatic images in the news of rampant bushfires in Australia are heartbreaking. Firefighters from Australia and around the world are working overtime to quench the flames in an attempt to save peoples homes and lives, and caringly rescue injured wildlife […]
Great Horned Owlets Photo Credit: Stan Tekeila One of the best ways to control rodentsis the old fashioned and completely non-toxic way – reliance on the hunting skills of owls. Some owls, like Great Horned Owls, are especially effective at this during nesting season and are often found in orchards or on farm woodlots. They will nest out in the open, […]
Bananaquit Photo Credit: Deborah Rivel The choice we make for our morning coffee can have a good or adverse affect on birds. Many of the birds we see during nesting season – like warblers, tanagers and other songbirds – have now made their way south to overwinter in Latin America. There the availability of food and safe habitat in their overwintering […]
After the release of the scientific report last month, spearheaded by White-throated Sparrow Photo Credit: Deborah Rivel Cornell Lab of Ornithology, showing the loss of 3 billion birds in North America in less than 50 years, we were deluged with requests asking what can a normal person do to help? The decline of birds is so precipitous that […]
If you are asking this question after reading about the study showing 3 billions birds are gone since 1970, you White-throated Sparrow Photo Credit: Deborah Rivel are not alone as the enormity of the numbers of birds lost is difficult to comprehend. Some of the hardest hit birds are ones we see most often – White-throated Sparrows, Red-winged […]