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About Birds

A large beaver dam holds back a pond. In the background, a person in a blue jacket walks beside the pond in a foggy green landscape.
In the Arctic, Beavers Are Climate Winners. Should We Let Them Take Over?
February 27, 2024 — The voracious builders are reshaping the tundra, and generating controversy about whether their presence is cause for concern—or hope—in a warming world.
Conservation News
Two water birds rise up out of the water close together, a long reed held in one of the bird's beak wraps around their long necks as they twirl.
Our Favorite Fascinating Bird Behaviors From the 2023 ÌÇÐÄlogo Photo Awards
February 22, 2024 — From an extra hungry Great Blue Heron to a very determined Verdin, this year's selections once again provide a vivid glimpse into the lives of birds.
ÌÇÐÄlogo Photography Awards
A round, fluffy-looking owl sits in a tree hollow in the falling snow.
How Do Birds Cope With Cold Winter Weather?
January 24, 2024 — From fluffing up to hunkering down, birds rely on these survival strategies when the temperature dips.
Bird Questions and Facts
Three flamingos wade in shallow blue water among plants.
Flamingo Fever, Limpkins on the Loose, ‘Mega’ Rare Terns—the Biggest Bird Events of 2023
December 19, 2023 — Birding highlights of a remarkable year included three U.S. firsts, a surprisingly happening Midwest, and, of course, flamingos everywhere!
Birding News
Three otters in the water eating the carcass of a pelican
River Otters With a Taste for Pelican Are Changing a California Park’s Ecology
December 15, 2023 — Dramatic photos and video capture the semiaquatic mammals attacking Brown Pelicans in Point Reyes National Seashore, a behavior documented only once before but that is becoming increasingly common in the preserve.
Bird News
A colorful male wood duck flaps its wings rising up out of the water on a misty lake.
10 Fun Facts About the Wood Duck
December 13, 2023 — Discover what makes this dazzling duck a prolific nester and a master of woody swamps.
Bird Questions and Facts
A group of male and female Wild Turkeys foraging close together.
Native Americans Domesticated Turkeys Long Before the Pilgrims Arrived
November 15, 2023 — Indigenous societies in the Americas valued the birds so highly that they tamed them at least twice, including in the U.S. Southwest. Turkey feathers still have abundant uses to tribes there today.
Birds and History
What This Gruesome Stork Taught Us About Bird Migration
October 30, 2023 — Long before tracking technology, the most concrete testament to bird migration was a stork impaled by a spear.
Bird Migration
Profile of iridescent bird
New Study Shows European Starlings to Be Crazy Smart; Anchoragites Probably Aren’t Surprised
October 10, 2023 — And how to combat the invasive European Starling at the home level for the good of Alaska’s native birds.
ALASKA Bird Science