John Kessler served as BirdNote’s senior producer for over 18 years. But before BirdNote existed, he was recording the sounds of Seattle for public radio station KPLU, now called KNKX. After capturing many of Seattle’s well-known spots on tape, he broadened his scope by connecting with local birders to find the best places to hear birds around town. Shortly after, BirdNote's founder, Chris Petersen, sought out John's musical ear to help create a sound-rich show highlighting the joy of birds. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.  Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter ..read more

In this episode featuring Aviary — the shapeshifting bird superhero — the surprising abilities of birds come in handy when a student gets lost exploring a cave with his class. Aviary remembers an amazing bird called the Himalayan Swiftlet that’s able to echolocate like a bat, and enlists this species’ superpower to save the day. 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.   ..read more

Beavers are well known as ecosystem engineers in North America. In Australia, lyrebirds play a big role in shaping their environment when they use their toes to dig in the ground for food. A single lyrebird can shift 11 dump truck loads of soil and leaves — each year! That’s thought to be more than any other digging animal. Lyrebirds are best known for their spot-on imitations of other birds’ songs and calls. 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 ..read more

In this April Fool’s Day quiz from BirdNote, we play the sounds of three birds — only one of which is real. See if you can tell which one, and let us know here! 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.   ..read more

Rails are secretive marsh birds, and they’re on the decline. But a researcher playing their recorded calls over a loudspeaker could help bring them back – by tricking them. 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.   ..read more

In this episode of BirdNoir, Private Eye Michael Stein gets a call from his friend Billy, a mail carrier. Billy says he hasn’t seen a single bird on his route since the storm came into town, even though at this time of year the streets are usually chock full of birds. He asks, what happens to birds when it rains? 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.   ..read more

Boreal Owls are highly adapted to hunt in long hours of winter darkness. Uniquely, one ear opening in the skull is set high and the other much lower, an asymmetry that helps to pinpoint the sound of tiny rodents under the snow. They also have a pronounced disk of feathers encircling their faces that funnels sound to the ears. The staccato notes of the male’s song can carry for more than a mile on spring nights. 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 ..read more

To our ear, the haunting song of this Hermit Thrush is musical, even ethereal. To another Hermit Thrush, the song signals that a male is laying claim to a territory and seeking a mate. These thrushes, like other songbirds, broadcast a variety of calls. Call notes can signal many things – alarm at a predator or aggression toward a rival. Or they may simply maintain contact between members of a pair or flock. So the next time you hear a bird sing or call, listen carefully. You may be introduced to a whole new vocabulary. What birds are singing and calling around your home? Let us know on Faceboo ..read more

With their bare heads, long legs and massive bills, Wood Storks seem to have flown out of a fairytale — but in the American South they’re a real-life part of the ecosystem. Developers drained large areas of wetlands, causing the Florida Everglades population to decline to just 5,000 breeding pairs in the 1970s, placing them on the endangered species list. Habitat protection and restoration efforts have helped Wood Storks begin recovering, although they still struggle to find suitable breeding habitat in south Florida. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.  Want more BirdNote? Subscrib ..read more

When Janet Ng was a kid, there was a very specific moment when she realized what she wanted to be as a grown-up: seeing a wildlife biologist being interviewed in a documentary and realizing that was a possible career path. Now working for the Canadian Wildlife Service and surveying birds in Canada’s southern plains, Janet and her colleagues help find out whether bird populations are increasing or declining, so that we know which species need the most help. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.  Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-fre ..read more