Green-winged Teal are North America's smallest dabbling duck, at just over a foot long and weighing less than a pound. The male has a cinnamon brown head with a band of green behind the eye. Both males and females have a green bar on the wing that gleams like an emerald when the sun strikes it. During courtship, up to 25 males may court a single female at once. 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 ..read more

With invasive species and climate change, Hawai‘i has experienced so much loss and extinction since Western colonists arrived. But Sam ‘Ohu Gon, the Senior Scientist and Cultural Advisor for the Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i, is native Hawaiian, and he has done a lot of work connecting Hawaiian culture and tradition to conservation ecology. He hopes that one day, Hawai‘i can be not just a microcosm of ecology, but of conservation as well. 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 ot ..read more

Northern Cardinals have vocal abilities that surpass even the most accomplished human singers. When cardinals sing, they sweep their voices from the high to low end of their ranges many times in just seconds. The secret is in the clever way cardinals use their two-sided vocal organ, called the syrinx. By dividing their vocal range between the two sides, cardinals can sing complex songs rapidly. 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. You ..read more

Loons are built for life in the water – so much so that their legs don’t work well on land. During migration, loons sometimes mistake wet pavement for the reflective surface of deep water and try to land there, then become unable to take flight again. If you see a stranded loon on a road or parking lot, calling a wildlife rehabilitator can help start the process of returning that bird to safety and back on their migratory 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 perk ..read more

When writer Lee Ann Roripaugh visited the annual staging grounds of Sandhill Cranes in Nebraska, she was in awe of the birds. During their spring migration, hundreds of thousands of cranes roost on sandbars in the Platte River. The sound and sight of these birds is breathtaking; Lee Ann captures it beautifully in her poem “:: #sandhillcranes #string of beads ::.” 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 thes ..read more

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