Birds

The World’s Fastest Animal Takes New York

The peregrine falcon, whose salvation began 40 years ago, commands the skies above the Empire State Building
December 10, 2009 | By Meera Subramanian

Wildlife Trafficking

A reporter follows the lucrative, illicit and heartrending trade in stolen wild animals deep into Ecuador's rain forest
December 2009 | By Charles Bergman

Return of the Sandpiper

Thanks to the Delaware Bay's horseshoe crabs, the tide may be turning for an imperiled shorebird
October 2009 | By Abigail Tucker

Day 5: Bird Watching and Animal Tracking

Living among the African wildlife, Smithsonian researchers are busy studying the symbiotic relationships between flora and fauna
June 26, 2009 | By G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

Penguin Dispatch 1: Arriving in Punta Tombo, Argentina

The winter residents of Punta Tombo fly in steadily over the course of a few days, eventually swarming the small land mass
June 04, 2009 | By Eric Wagner

Penguin Dispatch 2: The Scientists of Punta Tombo

For over 25 years, researcher Dee Boersma has been coming with students in tow to Punta Tombo to study the penguins
June 04, 2009 | By Eric Wagner

Penguin Dispatch 3: Penguin Wrangling

Handling and tagging a penguin can be no easy task, leaving oneself open to a vicious and potentially dangerous beak attack
June 04, 2009 | By Eric Wagner

Penguin Dispatch 4: How to Study a Penguin Egg

Females guard their eggs closely, so scientists must tread carefully when temporarily extracting the eggs for research
June 04, 2009 | By Eric Wagner

Penguin Dispatch 5: Picking the Cutest Newborn Chick

By late-November, many eggs are hatching and cute, tennis-ball sized grey chicks emerge, begging for food from their parents
June 04, 2009 | By Eric Wagner

Penguin Dispatch 6: The First Trip into the Ocean

Only two months into their lives, the chicks, with their now stronger flippers, take their first dive from the water’s edge
June 04, 2009 | By Eric Wagner

Penguin Dispatch 7: Turbo, the Penguin Who Loved Humans

One Magellanic penguin rejected his own species and instead of fearing the scientists, he befriended and lived with them
June 04, 2009 | By Eric Wagner

Naming a New Species

Smithsonian naturalist Brian Schmidt gave a new species of African bird an interesting scientific name
March 2009 | By Joseph Caputo

Can Wind Power Be Wildlife Friendly

New research aims to stop turbines from killing bats and birds
February 27, 2009 | By Joseph Caputo

The Perils of Bird-Plane Collisions

When airlines want to investigate dangerous bird strikes against planes, they turn to the head of the Smithsonian’s Feather Identification Lab
January 16, 2009 | By Sarah Zielinski

Wild Goose Chase

How one man's obsession saved an "extinct" species
January 02, 2009 | By Rob R. Dunn

The Spotted Owl's New Nemesis

An battle between environmentalists and loggers left much of the owl's habitat protected. Now the spotted owl faces a new threat
January 2009 | By Craig Welch

Invasion of the Cassowaries

Passions run high in an Australian town: Should the endangered birds be feared—or fed?
October 2008 | By Brendan Borrell

Condors in a Coal Mine

California's lead bullet ban protects condors and other wildlife, but its biggest beneficiaries may be humans
September 09, 2008 | By John Moir

Hatching a New Idea

Electronic eggs hatch new insights into breeding exotic birds at the National Zoo
October 2007 | By Jess Blumberg

The Amazing Albatrosses

They fly 50 miles per hour. Go years without touching land. Predict the weather. Mate for life. And they're among the world's most endangered birds. Can albatrosses be saved?
September 2007 | By Kennedy Warne

1 2 Next »