At first glance, Virginia’s farmlands seem quite peaceful. But beneath the swaying fields of hay lies a bustling ecosystem for the birds that call the grasslands home. One such avian animal—the eastern meadowlark—is key to the health of its habitat.
In April, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center spent two weeks in Texas for the second season of “Ecology of Urban Birds,” a program that brings middle school students into the field with Smithsonian scientists.
Humans have Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. Wire-tailed manakins have social networks, too. For more than 17 years, Smithsonian ornithologist Brandt Ryder has studied this bird's unique social systems. Learn more in this Q&A.
The Smithsonian Bird Friendly® certification seal has evolved twice since the program began 20 years ago. The latest logo is a bold rectangle that features shady habitat, soaring songbirds and the Smithsonian Sunburst.
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is dedicated to saving species. Every year, its team of conservationists here and around the globe works hard to make that mission a reality — and 2018 was no exception.
A new paper describes a dragonfly’s full life cycle for the first time. Insects are a critical driver of food webs, so figuring out why their populations are falling dramatically is important for the future success of a wide range of species.
As part of the Bird-Friendly Coffee initiative, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center ecologist Robert Rice and partners are gearing up to find out which trees in shade coffee farms supply the most food resources for birds.
Insect-eating birds that depend on high-calorie, high-protein cuisine (namely caterpillars and spiders) to feed their young are finding the menu severely lacking in backyards landscaped with even a small proportion of nonnative plants, according to a new study from SCBI.
Migratory bird conservation is taking flight at zoos and aquariums, according to a new paper published in Zoo Biology. The study outlines the role that Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited institutions are currently playing or could play in the conservation and management of native songbirds...
Nearly 50 percent of the planet is covered by the high seas, referred to as the “Wild West” of the ocean and among the least protected areas in the world. In September, the United Nations will convene to discuss the management of the high seas beyond national jurisdiction and opportunities for...
In March, a team of Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center scientists traveled to Texas to begin their annual study of birds that travel through the Gulf of Mexico.
Brown pelicans are a favorite of visitors to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s American Trail exhibit. Yet, many zoogoers may not realize that these marine birds call the Chesapeake Bay home. Last summer, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center research ecologist Autumn-Lynn Harrison placed GPS tags on the...
SMBC Director Pete Marra is the recipient of the American Ornithological Society’s prestigious Elliott Coues Award in recognition of his outstanding and innovative ornithological research.
In November 2017, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center postdoctoral fellow Alex Jahn traveled to southern Brazil to study the migration of snail kites with Brazilian colleagues at Taim Ecological Station.
With a new statistical tool from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, researchers can take data and better understand the strength of migratory connectivity—whether and when populations spread out or stay together in different seasons of the year—in a quantitative way.
For the first time ever, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has teamed up with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to track the migration of brown pelicans. In this Q&A below, research ecologist Autumn-Lynn Harrison talks about the migration.
What happens when a migratory bird’s path lands it right in an urban area like Washington, D.C.? The city is known for its extensive park system, but can these urban parks support wild birds through the breeding season? Moreover, how do birds’ natural behaviors change when they’re living the city...
The Kirtland's warbler is an endangered migratory songbird that breeds almost exclusively in Michigan and winters primarily in the Bahamas. The species nests on the ground and will only breed in young Jack Pine forests. Decades of fire suppression prevented the formation of new breeding habitat for...
The island scrub-jay, a songbird endemic to Santa Cruz Island off the coast of southern California, has made headlines in recent years for bucking evolutionary and biological trends—and is at it again this year.
Fitted with a GPS device the weight of a paperclip, a gray catbird in the Washington, D.C., area flies south, unaware that the device records its every move. That data is key for conservation biologists, like Brandt Ryder of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, who aim to understand the threats...
The period of a migratory bird’s annual cycle thought to be the most perilous—its twice-annual journeys over oceans and inhospitable landscapes—is also the least understood. A new collaborative study led by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) synthesizes what is already known and outlines...
Where do migratory birds go when they head south for the winter? To find out, students in the United States are partnering with classmates in Latin America as part of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center’s Bridging the Americas/Unidos por las Aves program.
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is transforming its historic 1928 Bird House into “Experience Migration,” a state-of-the-art exhibition about one of the most spectacular stories in the natural world—the migration of birds in the Western Hemisphere. “Experience...
When we think about birds migrating to the tropics, we often focus on nearby areas such as Mexico and the Caribbean. However, each fall, millions of songbirds migrate from North America to their wintering areas in the northern Andes of South America.
Flight affords the utmost in mobility and has made possible the evolution of avian migration as a means of exploiting distant food resources and avoiding the physiological stress associated with cold weather.
