BirdNote Daily

It’s a wistful moment when your backyard birds — like these Black-capped Chickadees — depart their nestboxes. By October, it’s time for one last duty as nestbox landlord: to clean it out. Cleaning will reduce the incidence of parasites in the box and make it more inviting to next spring’s tenants. It will also help you know for sure if it gets used again.
More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.
Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks.
BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Despite their name, Prairie Warblers nest in tree farms of recently planted pines, in fields overgrown with scattered shrubs, and in clearings under power lines. Biologists call these “early successional” habitats. They’re characterized by plants that are the first to return to land altered by clearing or fire. Prairie Warblers and similar birds have declined rapidly during the last 50 years, being pressed from all sides. But they’re now benefiting from conservation on several fronts, including the Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens and the Albany Pine Bush Reserve in New York.
More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.
Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks.
BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Evolution works with what's at hand. So if you start with a normal bird skull – bill pointing forward, eyes oriented front or sideways, ears behind eyes – and introduce the challenge of seeing behind your head while your bill is pushed deeply into the soil, what do you get? The American Woodcock! With its long bill constantly probing the soil for earthworms, its entire skull has been rearranged. Relative to other birds, woodcocks' eyes have moved toward the top and rear of the skull, pushing the ear openings downward. Apparently the brain followed suit!
More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.
Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks.
BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Chidi Paige moved from Nigeria to the U.S., she began running a youth STEM program and had to teach lessons on bird identification. She was in for a challenge: she had to learn the local bird species quickly. On a birding trip, she spotted a Northern Yellow Warbler in a pine tree. The beautiful warbler got Chidi hooked on birding. She has designed several games to make learning bird identification fun for kids.
More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.
Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks.
BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gnatcatchers are tiny, black and gray songbirds native to the Americas. Though they don’t typically catch gnats on the wing, gnatcatchers are often found moving rapidly through the high canopy as they glean insects from leaves. There are four species found in the U.S. and Canada: Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, Black-capped Gnatcatchers, and California Gnatcatchers. It takes time and effort to find them all, but these charismatic birds are worth the journey.
More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.
Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks.
BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.