Features

  • The Bad Habits of Cowbirds

    Cowbirds have an unusual life strategy: they lay their eggs in other birds species' nests. North America’s Brown-headed Cowbird first evolved this strategy in order to follow herds of ...

  • Bird Banding

    Bird banding (also called bird ringing) is an important tool for bird research and studies. Scientists put numbered metal bands around a bird's leg, and keep track of where the birds are recaptured.

  • The World of Antbirds

    Flip through a field guide for the South American tropics, and you may be dazzled by the numbers of Antbirds listed. Over 240 species of antbirds live in Central and South America, including the ...

  • Bird Watching: What’s with the Camouflage

    There are hard-core birders that feel they need to dress up like a supporting player in a Rambo movie in order to get deep in to the bird's environment. As a result, you see quite a few bird ...

  • How do birds drink?

    Birds need water to survive. This includes ocean birds that are flying far out over the ocean, like gulls, petrels, and albatross. They may be far from shore for months or even years at a time, ...

  • Flightless Birds

    Not all birds can fly. Though many people think flying is what defines birds as a group, in actuality several bird species are flightless birds.

  • Waterproof feathers – Birds

    "Like water off a duck's back", goes the common expression. When raindrops hit the "waterproof" feathers on a duck, they bead up and do not penetrate the feathers. How does this work?

  • Strange Birds: Hoatzins

    The hoatzin is one of the world's strangest bird species - its chicks possess claws on the leading edge of their wings! Hoatzins live in South American tropical rain forests. These ...

  • Costa Rica: A perfect bird-watching holiday

    Many bird-watchers see their first tropical birds in Costa Rica. More than 850 species of birds inhabit Costa Rica's rainforests, mountains, and tropical islands.

  • Pet Bird Species: Macaws

    Why Macaws? Macaws are understandably popular pets. They have spectacular colors. They have dramatic long tails. They can mimic human words and music. They also bond strongly with their human ...

Birds