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National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

A male Guam kingfisher bird wearing a transmitter on its back is held gently in an animal keeper's gloved hand

Scientists Are Using 3-D-Printing Technology to Ready Guam Kingfishers for Reintroduction to the Wild

'Test flights' using replica transmitters will help scientists select the best option for siheks

Horned lark chicks camouflaged in their nest on the ground in the Northern Great Plains

A Rare Look Inside the Nests of Declining Prairie Songbirds

It can take hours to find the well-hidden nests of migratory birds on the Northern Great Plains

Close-up of a Kirtland's warbler songbird

A Day in the Life of a Conservation Biologist in Search of a Rare Songbird’s Nest

In Michigan’s jack pine forests, researchers spend hours on the lookout for Kirtland's warblers

Panamanian golden frog standing among dirt and leaves

Is a 'Living Pharmacy' the Key to Curing Chytrid in Frogs?

Scientists test a new approach to protecting frogs from the deadly fungal pathogen

Bobcat caught on camera trap walking through brush and scrub on Montana's grasslands

How I Study Elusive Prairie Bobcats

Camera traps reveal how bobcats navigate the Northern Great Plains

Swift fox pups huddled together at dusk on Montana's grasslands

Why Researchers Are Scouring Montana's Grasslands for Swift Fox Scat

Scientists can learn a lot from what an animal leaves behind

Long-billed curlew in flight

GPS Tracking Technology Allows Scientists to Fly With Curlews on Their Epic Migrations

Researchers are unraveling the mystery of how migratory birds achieve their amazing flights

In late April, scientists and the public noticed a surprising number of birds in the mid-Atlantic region were exhibiting strange symptoms, often sick or dying. Smithsonian scientists need your help to figure out why.

Mysterious Bird Deaths in the Mid-Atlantic Region

A call for citizen scientists to help figure out the cause of mysterious bird deaths in the mid-Atlantic region

The coast on the island of Curaçao

Connecting Ocean Conservation from Sea to Sky

From deep trenches to shallow shores, water circulates in one world ocean

A 17-year Brood X cicada.

Will 17-year Cicadas Be a Buffet or Big Disturbance for Birds?

Brood X is here. Will birds get a bug buffet or struggle to sing over the chorus of cicadas?

Common yellowthroats, like the one pictured here, spend their winters in coffee growing regions in Latin America.

Birders Want You to Rethink Your Morning Roast

Your coffee is stronger than you think

The first cheetah cub born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute celebrated his 10th birthday last year, marking a decade of the facility's successful cheetah breeding program.

5 Milestones from a Decade of Cheetah Breeding and Conservation

Take a look back at some of the milestones the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s cheetah team has celebrated since the breeding and conservation program began.

A bison on the Northern Great Plains.

I Spent the Summer Studying a Herd of Bison, And Here’s What I Learned

From May to August, I spent most days observing a herd of about 300 bison in Montana.

The Peruvian tern's desert camouflage makes it almost impossible to track, but that’s exactly what our research team set out to do. It would take us four months to survey more than 1,851 acres for the bird, battling sandstorms, stifling heat and impossible landscapes inside Paracas National Reserve — terrain that the tern has mastered.

Searching for the Invisible, Invincible Peruvian Tern

The Peruvian tern's desert camouflage makes it almost impossible to track, but that’s exactly what our research team set out to do. It would take us four months to survey more than 1,851 acres for the bird, battling sandstorms, stifling heat and impossible landscapes inside Paracas National Reserve — terrain that the tern has mastered.

Spindly legs and thick, red fur have earned them the nickname “foxes on stilts,” but maned wolves are neither fox nor wolf.

What the Rhythm of a Maned Wolf's Heart Reveals

Spindly legs and thick, red fur have earned them the nickname “foxes on stilts,” but maned wolves are neither fox nor wolf. Today, researchers are monitoring maned wolves' heart rates to learn more about these unique, charismatic canids.

A black-tailed prairie dog stands near its burrow.

Ecologists Dig Prairie Dogs, And You Should Too

Are prairie dogs pests or ecosystem engineers? It all depends on your point of view

researcher Tremie Gregory climbs high up a tree in Peruvian Amazon rainforest to set up a camera trap

How Scientists Are Uncovering the Secrets of Life in the Rainforest Canopy

Camera trap photos show arboreal animals living hundreds of feet above the ground

Two pandas at China’s Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (also called Chengdu Panda Base or CPB).

Learning More About Panda Health One Drop of Blood at a Time

You may not like needles or giving blood when you go to the doctor’s office, but did you know that blood is an important diagnostic tool for veterinarians? When an animal is feeling sick, one of the very first steps a veterinarian takes is to obtain a blood sample for analysis.

Jenna Pastel, research assistant for the Smithsonian's National Zoo's nutrition laboratory, stands inside a freezer stocked with samples of exotic animal milks. The freezer holds the largest animal milk repository in the world.

Making Sense of Animal Milks

You might be surprised to see someone walking around the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in a full-body snowsuit, but nutrition laboratory research assistant Jenna Pastel wears a snowsuit year-round. She spends her days in a -20 degree freezer that is home to the world's largest animal milk repository.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute welcomed many new animals in 2019, including this endangered red panda cub. (Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute).

2019's Conservation Stories Worth Celebrating

Saving species is what we strive to do every day at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. As the year winds down, we’re reflecting on some of our biggest conservation success stories of 2019.

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