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Birds

Pepper, the southern boobook. The southern boobook is Australia’s smallest and most common owl. It gets its name from the sound of its hoot.

Bird Watching Has Never Been More Fun

These photos by portraitist Leila Jeffreys are for the birds

New Research

African Vultures Could Go Extinct Within the Next Century

Poachers, poison and collisions with wind turbines are killing these important scavengers

Cebreros station

Cool Finds

Falcons Protect This Deep Space Antenna

Nesting birds and their droppings can keep space scientists’ telescopes from getting a clear signal

The Kirtland's warbler needs humans to cut and replant the trees it nests in. Without this work, the species' painstaking recovery from less than 1,000 males to over 2,000 could be erased.

Age of Humans

This Bird Didn’t Start the Fires, But It May Need Them to Survive

An endangered bird once threatened by humans now relies on us for its survival

New Zealand North Island Robin

New Research

How to Give a Robin an IQ Test

Testing whether individual animals are smarter than others of their species is tricky

New Research

New Proof That Ancient Egyptians Bred Birds of Prey

A recent 3-D scan of a mummified falcon shows it was force fed sparrows and mice

A mother hummingbird in Arizona incubates her eggs under the indirect protection of her neighborhood hawk.

New Research

Hawks Act as Unwitting Muscle for Hummingbirds

In Arizona, hummingbirds seem to deliberately seek out bodyguard hawks to shield them from nest-robbing jays

New Research

90 Percent of Seabirds Have Eaten Plastic

And plastic pollution will threaten even more birds as production grows

The Andean cock-of-the-rock display is known for its unique mating behavior and is a favorite of birders.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Inca Road

Why Birdwatchers Flock to Ecuador

Home to the highest density of bird species per acre on Earth, the country is a birder’s paradise

Ask Smithsonian

Ask Smithsonian: Why Do Flamingos Stand on One Leg?

Flamingos may be doing their one-legged tree pose to stay warm or just because it’s comfortable

A hummingbird sticks out its tongue in Ecuador.

New Research

Hummingbird Tongues Are Pumps, Not Straws

A tiny, quick pump mechanism lets birds slurp up nectar at a rate of 14 licks per second

This man living in Dubai would need proper documentation if his bird is to fly — on an airplane, that is

Cool Finds

Falcons Can’t Fly Without Passports in the United Arab Emirates

ID documents are helping stamp out smuggling for the prized birds

Why Do Hundreds of Macaws Gather at These Peruvian Clay Banks?

Brightly colored parrots of the western Amazon basin display a behavior not seen anywhere else

The Oldest Bald Eagle in the U.S. Was Killed by a Car Last Month

Here’s to you, 629-03142

Tiny ovenbirds wore an even tinier backpack equipped with a GPS tracker that monitored their migratory paths over the course of a year—offering new data on their routes.

The Hottest New Accessory for Songbirds: Tiny GPS-Enabled Backpacks

Peter Marra and Michael Hallworth of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center test a groundbreaking device that tracks birds’ migrations

Flamingos at the the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo in Israel, possibly contemplating their escape

Cool Finds

Forget Llamas and Lions, Flamingos Are the Best Escape Artists

The pink birds are tougher than they look

Java sparrows are both vocalists and percussionists.

New Research

These Sparrows Sing to the Beat of Their Own Drum

Java sparrows amp up their tunes with acoustic beak taps synchronized with chirps

The Eurasian tree sparrow is one of 30 bird species in decline around Fukushima.

Birds Are in a Tailspin Four Years After Fukushima

Like the proverbial canary in a coalmine, avian abundances may paint a grim picture of the effects of nuclear disasters on wildlife

Cool Finds

Putting Hummingbirds to the Test

One hummingbird, 20 MPH wind, 1000 frames per second

New Research

How ‘Waves’ Rippling Through Bird Flocks Help Them Escape Predators

Starlings are known for their coordinated movements and a common study animal for researchers seeking to explain such behavior

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