Land Birds

"Endangered, you say?"

Five Fascinating Facts About the Amazing Cassowary

They may look pretty scary, but they’re actually pretty cool

A pin-tailed whydah in Africa

This Beautiful Species Could Be Trouble for Native Birds

Analysis shows that the parasitic pin-tailed whydah could impact native birds in the Caribbean, Hawaii and the southern U.S.

Eagles Adopt—Not Attack—a Red-Tailed Hawk Chick

Bird lovers are watching with bated breath to see if the eagles will keep feeding the little guy or turn him into dinner

Tree resin trapped this baby bird 99 million years ago.

This 99-Million-Year-Old Bird Coexisted With Dinosaurs

The tiny bird is a big find for paleontologists

Did Peckish Christians Make Chickens More Social?

Religious dietary laws in the Middle Ages could have helped make the fowl less aggressive

A whooping crane in flight in Texas.

The Hopeful Mid-Century Conservation Story of the (Still Endangered) Whooping Crane

There were just 15 whooping cranes left in 1952. Today there are around 600

Sirocco, currently MIA, has helped millions connect with the island’s endangered wildlife.

Seduced By a Rare Parrot

What can conservationists learn from New Zealand’s official “spokesbird,” a YouTube celebrity who tries to mate with people’s heads?

These baby eagles mean business.

Watch a Baby Bald Eagle Hatch in Real Time

Things are getting serious for the world's most famous bald eagles

This year's spring migration has already begun and is expected to continue now through late May.

The Best Places in the U.S. to See Spring's Migrating Birds

Get out your binoculars—birds are making their annual trek north

Ecologists tend to think of mobbing behavior as primarily a way that smaller birds protect their nests and chicks from larger predators. Shown here, a Willie wagtail attacking an Australian raven.

Why Do Male Birds Take on Larger Predators? Maybe Just to Impress the Ladies

Some mobbing behavior may be less about survival, and more about sexual selection

Wilson works to band waterfowl in the summer to help track the birds. Hunters that harvest banded birds will report their harvest to state wildlife officials.

This Biologist Defies Gravity (and Glass Ceilings) to Document the Effects of Climate Change

As one of five American women in this role, Heather Wilson blends aviation and birds to bolster climate change records

Deciding when to get divorced is a difficult calculation—even for birds.

Birds Struggle to Keep Their Marriages in Rapidly Changing Urban Environments

Deciding whether to get divorced is a complex calculation, even for birds

As a professional falconer, Rosen has trained all of her birds, which now number close to a dozen. Her brood includes Ziggy, a hybrid prairie-gyrfalcon.

Why Winemakers are Turning to Falconry to Tackle Pests

Napa Valley vintners are finding this tried-and-true deterrent more effective than modern technology

The Surprising Reason Birds First Grew Feathers

When birds first grew feathers 150 million years ago, their function was not necessarily to help with flight

The National Zoo's resident cassowary in 2010.

Behind the Scenes at the National Zoo With the World’s Most Dangerous Bird

The zoo's cassowary “still has that mysterious aura about her—that prehistoric, dinosaur-walking-through-the-rainforest-quality."

How far would you go to spot a bird?

Extreme Birdwatching Is a Thing, and This Could Be Its Greatest Year Ever

Thank El Niño for a Big Year that's bashing previous records

Do outdoor cats need to die?

The Moral Cost of Cats

A bird-loving scientist calls for an end to outdoor cats "once and for all"

After just moments in the air, flight 1549 collided with a flock of geese.

Smithsonian Expert Fills in the Missing Science Behind the Movie “Sully”

Forensic ornithologist Carla Dove shares her story of analyzing the bird remains or “snarge” scraped from the engines of flight 1549

Dennis Wiist inspects an eagle's foot at the National Eagle Repository in Commerce City, Colorado.

Inside a Remarkable Repository that Supplies Eagle Parts to Native Americans and Science

The repository, which has long provided feathers to tribes for traditional uses, also helps bird conservation researchers

Rare Dodo Composite Skeleton Goes On Sale

A British auction house is selling one of only a dozen known dodo skeletons, put together by a collector from the bones of several birds

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