Other Animals

Image source: A Chick Called Albert https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd2srYijPhc Stories abound about people who have valiantly rescued abandoned creatures found in the wild. There’s nothing more haunting than watching a visibly thin puppy walking alongside a highway, finding baby birds abandoned on the ground, or a newborn kitten all by itself. All are at the mercy of

Hurricane Matthew moving along Florida’s east coast, taken from NASA’s Terra satellite. Photo: NASA Goddard This hurricane season is off to a slow start, but as of early August the U.S. Climate Prediction Center still called for it to be above-normal. Between 6 and 10 hurricanes could barrel across the Atlantic basin by the end

We’ve all seen the image on a Happy Anniversary card or one of those positivity posters hanging in the doctor’s office: two swans facing each other on a calm pond, their respective long necks slightly arched in toward one other, forming an approximation of humanity’s international symbol for love, the heart. How sweet. Swans have

Bird Warde Photo: Courtesy Bird Warde Bird Warde Photo: Courtesy Bird Warde Bird Warde is a freelance illustrator in Cincinnati who designed Audubon’s 2022 Let’s Go Birding Together collection. Their work focuses on the natural world—not just birds, but plants, fungi, and mammals as well. In addition to commercial illustration and graphic design, they’re currently

On a brilliant August morning in Seattle, a man peers through a pair of binoculars, fixing his gaze on the shaggy bark of a Douglas Fir. Its impressive column rises alongside the wide, flat trail snaking through this vestige of urban forest, and a small knot of people are gathered beneath it, staring intently at

Figure 1: Alex looks at cups under which different quantities of objects have been hidden, just before he answers “How many total?” Image courtesy Dr. Irene Pepperberg. Well, I warned readers in Part I that the number work was the equivalent of a book chapter and even though I’m reporting it in several entries, I’m

Apisciskis (the word for Ross’s Goose in Nêhinawêwin or western Swampy Cree) nests in the Hudson Bay lowlands and the high Arctic. Large flocks of apisciskis are sometimes joined by wêhwêw (the Nêhinawêwin word for the Snow Goose and perhaps the origin of the English word “wavies”, with sipihkoniska referring to the blue goose), known

Field tech Lucie le Tallec holds a Short-billed Dowitcher near Churchill, Canada, just a few weeks before the same bird would show up at Audubon’s Lea Island Sanctuary on the North Carolina coast. Photo: Olivia Maillet Field tech Lucie le Tallec holds a Short-billed Dowitcher near Churchill, Canada, just a few weeks before the same

The bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) is definitely one of the best pet lizards you could possibly get, but there is another agama that might be even better. The clown agama, also called the painted agama(Laudakia stellio), is arguably even better. Is this possible? Let’s find out by scoring the clown agama based on our five

Photo: Camilla Cerea/Audubon Important COVID-related guidelines for each Climate Watch survey period can be found here. Please make sure to sign up here  to receive email updates about Climate Watch.  Then follow these steps below:  Step 1  |   Step 2   |   Step 3   |   Step 4  Step 1: To get started participating in Climate Watch see if there is a

Update, August 26, 2022: The saga of this bird has continued well into 2022. From January to the end of March, the Steller’s Sea-Eagle continued to be spotted by thousands of birders in Maine, where it roamed Georgetown and nearby Boothbay Harbor. In April, it got restless—birders spotted it in Nova Scotia, and then on

Lesser Goldfinch. Photo: Jim Nelson/Audubon Photography Awards Extreme weather events like heat waves remind us of how urgent the climate crisis really is. Climate change is happening already, and it is straining human and natural systems alike. Recent, deadly heat waves have broken records across the United States and around the world, and summers are

Jack Zhi of California was the Audubon Photography Awards 2022 Grand Prize Winner for this stunning image of a white-tailed kite hovering in midair with a vole in its talon while another bird of prey flies above. Humans have an appreciation for the nuance of movement. It might be a runner in full stride on

On a warm day in late May, sunbeams peek through a thick canopy of aspen, oak, and black cherry near Rochester, Minnesota. Here and there, these natural spotlights fall on Carrol Henderson, clad in khaki cargo pants, plaid button-up, and baseball cap, a camera slung around his neck as usual. Through thin-rimmed glasses and binoculars,

Photo: Camilla Cerea/Audubon Important COVID-related guidelines for each Climate Watch survey period can be found here. Much like with Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count, there are two potential roles for people interested in volunteering with the Climate Watch project: participant and coordinator. This page provides information for coordinators. Climate Watch Local Coordinators are volunteers who manage their group

Flammulated Owl with lightweight tracking device. Photo: Scott Yanko Curious about the smaller raptors of North America? Look no further than the Flammulated Owl. Residing in the western United States and Mexico, these beer can-sized owls are perfectly camouflaged to match the ponderosa pine and mixed woodlands they call home.   Stunningly patterned in gray with rusty

Photo: Lia Bocchiaro The majority of birders I know are in relationships with non-birders. I’d guess that has a lot to do with a fairly small pool of available birder partners, but it could also be that any single relationship can handle only one crazy person. Either way, birders and non-birders can make it work.

Bill DeLuca can’t quite believe his eyes. The Audubon migration ecologist has spent years studying Blackpoll Warblers on their breeding grounds in remote boreal forests in the United States and Canada. On this morning in late winter 2020, he’s standing in an orange grove in Villavicencio, Colombia, where the Andes Mountains meet the vast Llanos

Webinar: The Grey Way: Exercising Your Parrot to Good Health Date: Friday, September 23, 2022 Time: 12:00 pm PDT (double-check your local time with this time zone converter) Join us for a FREE, live, interactive webinar hosted by Laura Doering, former editor of Bird Talk magazine and Birds USA magazine. Our special guest, Lisa Bono,

Webinar: Avian Vet Insider—Kidney Disease in Pet Birds Date: Friday, September 16, 2022 Time: 12:00 pm PDT (double-check your local time with this time zone converter) Join us for a FREE, live, interactive webinar hosted by Laura Doering, former editor of Bird Talk magazine and Birds USA magazine. Our special guest, Dr. Stephanie Lamb, DVM,

White-faced Ibis. Photo: Steve Greenwood/Audubon Photography Awards Earlier this week, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, signifying a surge of federal investment in confronting the climate crisis. The new law provides unprecedented levels of funding for renewable energy, climate resilience, agriculture, forestry, and environmental justice initiatives. All of these programs will benefit

Image by GeorgeB2 from Pixabay We have learned in so many ways the importance of the cleanliness of bird feeders. The hobby of being able to watch birds of many feathers and colors show up in backyards has proliferated over the last 20 years. There are backyards across the world with elaborate setups that are

American Goldfinch. Photo: Scott Suriano/Audubon Photography Awards The name doesn’t make it obvious, but the Inflation Reduction Act is the most significant climate legislation ever to become law. It also does a lot of other important things. Here are 12 ways this bill benefits birds, people, and the places we need. 1) Reducing Carbon Pollution

The Tufted Puffin, once one of the most common seabirds in Washington State, reached a bittersweet landmark last week when the state approved its listing as an endangered species. This gorgeous bird, recognized by its distinctive orange bill, white facemask, and golden head plumes, has been a candidate for state listing for 16 years. It

Audubon Southwest staff with Secretary Buttigieg at the Rio Salado Audubon Center. From left to right: Elija Flores, Morgan Moore, Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Jon Hayes, and Corey Lycopolus. Photo: U.S. Dept. of Transportation U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg teamed up last week with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, as well as Tribal, congressional, state, and municipal

Installed: 07/24/22 About the Bird: Long-tailed Jaegers spend most of the year out of sight, over the open sea, flying inland to tundra only to breed. There they swoop and zag gracefully to attract mates and hunt prey. Because the Arctic is warming faster than elsewhere on Earth, Long-tailed Jaegers are particularly vulnerable to changes to

In collaboration with some of the world’s greatest musicians, artists, and actors, For the Birds: The Birdsong Project is an art-filled, 20 LP box set including more than 200 tracks of original music and bird-related poetry produced by Grammy Award-winning music supervisor Randall Poster. Contributors include Mark Ronson, Yo-Yo Ma, Beck, Jeff Goldblum, Elvis Costello, Suzan-Lori

Great Egret. Photo: Marjorie Melnick/Audubon Photography Awards WASHINGTON – “America is once again a strong player in the global effort against climate change with the passage of this historic bill,” said Elizabeth Gray, CEO of the National Audubon Society. “Science shows that failure to slow the rate of global temperature rise has devastating consequences for birds,