Vanishing Vultures Create a Dangerous Void

  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 […]

Bird-friendly Maple Syrup is Sweet

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, […]

Heart of Palm is Hastening This Birds Extinction

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 […]

Giving Birds What They Need in Winter

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 […]

What’s the Atlantic Forest?

  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 […]

Birds Blown Off Course During Migration

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 […]

Can a Veery Predict the Hurricane Season?

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 […]

The War in Ukraine and Its Animals

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 […]

How Birds Prepare For Migration

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 […]

Join the Great Backyard Bird Count

  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 […]

Want More Birds? Let Them Control Insects

  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 […]

The Epic Migration of Hudsonian Godwits

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, […]

Sign Up For the Christmas Bird Count!

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 […]

Is Your Home Bird-Safe?

  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, […]

What We’re Reading Now: The Bird Friendly City

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 […]

Keeping Birds Safe From Glass

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 […]

Be Prepared: How to Help Birds After a Fire

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 […]

Shorebirds, the World’s Greatest Travelers, Face Extinction

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 […]

3 Billion Birds Gone – What Can I Do To Help?

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 […]

Helping Birds: Create Habitat For Them

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

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 […]

Making a Nesting Site for Great Horned Owls

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, […]

How Choosing the Right Coffee Can Help Birds

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 […]

3 Billion Birds Gone – What Else Can I Do To Help?

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 […]

3 Billion Birds Gone – What Can I Do To Help?

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 […]