Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Birds

Wandering albatross pair in courtship in South Georgia. Researchers have found some birds have bolder personalities than others.

Animal Personalities Can Trip Up Science

Individual behavior patterns may skew studies, but researchers have a solution to this problem

The National Audubon Society was founded in 1905 and named after naturalist John James Audubon, who died in 1851.

National Audubon Society Votes to Keep the Name of an Enslaver

The move has been criticized by some local chapters that have severed ties with naturalist and slaveholder John James Audubon

A cockatoo uses a sharp stick to poke through a membrane before using a scoop to fish out the cashew inside the box.

Like Humans and Chimps, Cockatoos Can Use a Set of Tools to Get a Meal

In lab experiments, the brainy birds carried a stick and scooped with them to get at cashews kept in a box

A screenshot of an interactive walkthrough of the Hantan River in Korea

See Google Street View Images of Korean Demilitarized Zone

Established in 1953, the off-limits area has become a haven for plants and wildlife

A just-hatched chick stands next to its egg.

Why Newborn Chicks Love Objects That Defy Gravity

A clever new study shows the cute critters will often scuttle toward a video of a rising ball

Tourists on a cruise spotted a rare, giant phantom jellyfish in Fournier Bay of Anvers Island off the Antarctic Peninsula last year.

How Vacationers on Antarctic Cruises Are Filling in Scientific Gaps

From ships and submarines, citizen scientists can access remote areas ripe for new discoveries. But does the research make up for the climate impact?

Thousands of migratory birds, including snow geese, sandhill cranes and ducks make Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico their fall and winter home.

The Wonderful World of Birds

The Wonderful World of Birds

As the Smithsonian’s National Zoo prepares to open its reimagined and beloved Bird House, explore the fascinating science of our feathery friends above

The birds gather by the thousands along the Platte River.

America's Waterways: The Past, Present and Future

See Thousands of Sandhill Cranes Gather in Nebraska

Every year, travelers attempt to witness the birds on their long journey north

Balloons can pollute the oceans, harm wildlife and get tangled in power lines.

Seaside California City Bans Balloons in Public

Laguna Beach has joined several other cities taking aim at ocean pollution, wildlife health, power outages and wildfires

A worker catches chickens at a market in Cambodia, where a girl recently died from avian influenza.

Bird Flu Causes the Death of an 11-Year-Old in Cambodia

A father and daughter both contracted avian influenza, the first cases in the country since 2014

An artist's depiction of Macronectes tinae, a newly identified extinct species of giant petrel that lived in New Zealand.

The Wonderful World of Birds

Amateur Fossil Hunter Discovers New Species of Giant Petrel in New Zealand

The now-extinct birds, which lived roughly three million years ago, likely used their hooked bills to feast on seal carcasses

Emperor penguins rely on sea ice to reproduce and, as a result, are vulnerable to global warming.

The Wonderful World of Birds

Scientists Discover an Emperor Penguin Colony From Poop Stains in Satellite Images

Researchers pinpointed the group of roughly 500 birds in West Antarctica

One standout feature of the renovated Bird House at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is the chance for close-up, interactive experiences (above: a cedar waxwing).

The Wonderful World of Birds

Experience the Wonder of Migration at the National Zoo’s New Bird House

Following a six-year renovation, the revamped exhibition will open March 13 with three indoor aviaries

Purple martins perch on a branch in the Brazilian Amazon.

The Wonderful World of Birds

Why Are Purple Martins Declining in the United States?

Mercury contamination in their Amazonian wintering grounds may play a role

Cacao growing on a tree at Zorzal Cacao, the first farm certified by Smithsonian's new Bird Friendly cocoa program.

The Wonderful World of Birds

Why Buying ‘Bird Friendly Cocoa’ Is a Sweet Deal

The Smithsonian launches a new certification for chocolate lovers looking to help their feathery friends

Íris Dröfn Guðmundsdóttir (left) and her cousin Anton Ingi Eiríksson release pufflings from the Hamarinn sea cliff on the Icelandic island of Heimaey.

Northern Europe and the British Isles

An Icelandic Town Goes All Out to Save Baby Puffins

Kids and senior citizens alike rally to rescue beloved young seabirds that have lost their bearings

Flamingo the king pigeon was rescued from Madison Square Park in New York City on January 30, 2023. 

A Mysterious Pink Pigeon in New York City Has Died

The bird may have been colored as part of a gender reveal

Flaco, a Eurasian eagle-owl, stands beside a trap with a rat inside. He tried to grab the rat and became briefly snared by the trap's wires, then got free and flew away.

Owl Escapes From Zoo, Becomes a New York Celebrity

A Eurasian eagle-owl named Flaco has been on the loose for a week after his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo was vandalized

Personnel bury pelicans that may have died from avian flu in Lima, Peru, on December 7, 2022. At least 585 seals and 55,000 birds have been found dead in Peru, likely due to avian flu.

As Bird Flu Spreads to Mammals, Health Officials Urge Caution

Transmission between minks has called attention to the potential risks to humans, though experts say not to panic

A female (left) and male (right) golden-shouldered parrot

The Wonderful World of Birds

Australia’s Most Endangered Parrot Faces an Unusual Threat: Trees

Native vegetation blocks the birds’ ability to see approaching predators

Page 17 of 56