Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

A 41-day-old Guam kingfisher chick at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. With fewer than 140 Guam kingfishers left in the world, all living in human care, every chick is precious.

Growing Up Guam Kingfisher

Breeding season is the most demanding time of year for the bird team at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, but it can also be the most rewarding. With fewer than 140 Guam kingfishers left in the world, every egg laid and chick hatched is a step closer to saving this species.

Animu and Giha’s male Guam kingfisher chick at 23 days old.

Winging It: A Parenting Test for Guam Kingfishers

In April, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute celebrated the birth of two extinct-in-the-wild Guam kingfisher chicks. Find out more about the new chicks in this update from animal keeper Erica Royer.

One of the common species Bird House keepers at the Smithsonian's National Zoo are working to better understand is the wood thrush — the official bird of Washington, D.C.

Continuing the Legacy of Bird Conservation

Raising awareness about the plight of migratory birds is key to their survival. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is in the midst of completely transforming its beloved Bird House from its humble foundation (circa 1928) into a celebration of birds and their amazing annual journeys. Since the Bird House closed to visitors in 2018, animal keepers, nutritionists and scientists have been working behind the scenes to better understand the husbandry of native songbirds and shorebirds.

Head of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center Scott Sillett.

Birds Connect Our World

As the sounds of traffic and crowds have hushed, you may have noticed more birdsong than usual. Stay-at-home measures keeping most of us indoors are likely emboldening our feathered friends, and many more humans are stopping to listen.

Female Guam kingfisher Giha at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. Guam kingfishers are extinct in the wild, but scientists are working to change that by breeding the species for release in the near future.

Some Egg-citing News and a Few Love Bites

There are only 135 Guam kingfishers in the world. The species is extinct in the wild, but scientists are working to change that by breeding the species for release in the near future.

A female Guam kingfisher at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in 2012.

Guam Kingfishers: A Truly Rare Breed

As an animal keeper at SCBI, some of my favorite birds to work with are small but sassy. Guam kingfishers certainly fall into this category. We have three pairs to introduce during this year's breeding season, so we have our work cut out for us.

Guam rail bird with stocky body, striped chest feathers and stripes on its head walks through grass

Conserving the Last of Guam’s Avifauna: The Recovery of the Guam Rail

Walking through the forests of Guam is arresting — because it’s silent. But the sound of the forest is returning.

A Savannah sparrow stands on a patch of melting snow in a warm-season grass field in Virginia. (Amy Johnson, Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute)

Not All Birds Fly South for the Winter

Researchers in Virginia wanted to learn how common field management practices — like mowing, burning or animal grazing — affect birds that stay for the winter. They turned to local farmers and landowners for help.

Forty years ago, the distinctive call of the bobwhite quail could be heard throughout Virginia’s grasslands. Today, their calls are fading.

Answering the Call for Bobwhite Quail

Forty years ago, the distinctive call of the bobwhite quail could be heard throughout Virginia’s grasslands. Today, their calls are fading — silenced by changing farm practices and land development that have led to the quail’s steep population declines. The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Virginia Working Landscapes program has joined a nationwide effort to save this charismatic species and its habitat.

Long-billed curlews are the largest shorebirds in North America, but they are only found along coasts during the winter. They spend their summers breeding in the grasslands of Montana.

Hiding in Plain Sight: Tracking the Long-billed Curlew

Long-billed curlew are shorebirds that spend their summers breeding in the grasslands of Montana. Smithsonian ecologists are equipping them with GPS trackers to learn more about their movements.

Categories
Archive

Page 2 of 2