By John Barrat, Smithsonian Office of Public Affairs Something is squirming inside a white athletic sock marked with the number 16 and hanging from the belt of biology student Jessica Hollis. Standing in the deep woods of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park's 3,200-acre Conservation and...
For many North American birdwatchers, the Cerulean Warbler is one of the most sought-after species during spring and summer. This elusive, azure-colored songbird is uncommon over most of its breeding range, and spends the majority of its time high in the forest canopy, giving it a reputation for...
Eastern Phoebes are one of the first migratory birds to arrive in the spring in the northeastern United States. They often appear in March, well ahead of the peak migration for most forest songbirds (in May), and they are one of the last to leave in fall, with the peak of migration in October. Their...
The sun is just about to rise on a cool December morning on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The birds awaken at the forest edge and begin calling vociferously: the harsh "shack" call of the Northern Mockingbird, a variety of "chip" calls from cardinals, sparrows, and yellow-rumped warblers, and the...
In summer in the Appalachian Mountains, its buzzy zoo zoo zoo zee song can often be heard drifting from dense stands of rhododendron and mountain laurel. As the naturalist Lynds Jones wrote in 1899, “The song is uttered in a spirited manner while the bird is feeding and flitting about in the foliage...
Although its name sounds like an insult Yosemite Sam might sling at Bugs Bunny, the yellow-bellied sapsucker's moniker aptly describes its appearance and habits. Both males and females indeed have a pale yellow underside, and tree sap constitutes a large portion of this woodpecker's diet. In fact...
An Arctic Tern hovers high above the water, zeroing in on the fish it intends to take back to the nest to feed its ravenous young. With perfect precision, it dives head first into the water and is back in the air within seconds, the fish dangling from its bill. Urged on by parental instinct, the...
Most birders in North America are no doubt familiar with the orange-crowned warbler ( Oreothlypis celata). The species breeds throughout the western U.S. and across the boreal forest from Alaska to Newfoundland, winters in much of Mexico and the southern U.S., and migrates through a broad swath of...
Singing from a concealed perch, the catbird truly enjoys its comfortable position. With its tail held down, body feathers fluffed, and wings drooping at its sides, the catbird exuberantly sings a series of musical whistles and catlike meows, interspersed with imitations of other birds' songs. Video...
Once upon a time, you could, on a summer's day, count on hearing the creaky song of the Rusty Blackbird ( Euphagus carolensis) filtering from the bog lands of the boreal forest. Decades ago, on a winter's day, one could reliably locate small flocks of Rusties foraging at the edge of the swamps in...
Wait. I think I hear a Summer Tanager calling from that shrub over there. No, it sounds more like a Great Crested Flycatcher. But, in a shrub?? No I think I'm hearing a Rufous-sided Towhee!? Is this a strange flock? Hold it, I see a bird that's small and olive, with some yellow below…It's a White...
This species is well named for its blue-gray head that contrasts with white 'spectacles' yellow sides, white wing bars, a greenish back and white belly and throat. However appropriate the name, birders may find the process of naming this vireo confusing. It is clearly the victim of changing...
When birdwatchers list their most beautiful birds, the Swamp Sparrow is seldom, if ever, mentioned. In the world of ornithological aesthetics, sparrows get short shrift. They do not possess the vibrant and gaudy colors of a warbler, tanager, or toucan. However, some bird aficionados tire of spectral...
Like a sumo wrestler, the rufous hummingbird must rapidly gain weight and keep it on, despite extraordinary physical exertion. Weighing in at a little more than a penny, it must double its body weight in order to fuel its migration from breeding grounds in the Pacific Northwest (Alaska to northern...
En medio de un ambiente cada vez más alterado y reducido, tanto en Norteamé-rica como en la América Latina, las aves migratorias han hallado un santuario en un entorno semejante al de los bosques en las plantaciones de café tradicionales.
Varias especies de insectos, entre ellas ...experimentan ciclos vitales durante los cuales las poblaciones de cada especie se mantienen reducidas por varios años y luego son seguidas de explosiones o erupciones poblacionales.
Volar proporciona la mayor movilidad y ha hecho posible la evolución de la migración aérea como un medio para aprovechar los recursos alimenticios distantes y evitar la tensión fisiológica asociada al clima frío.
Un ave migratoria Neotropical es un ave que se reproduce en los Estados Unidos y el Canadá durante el verano, generalmente entre mayo y septiembre, y que pasa el resto del año en México, Centroamérica, Suramérica o las islas del Caribe.
A Neotropical migratory bird is a bird that breeds in Canada and the United States during our summer and spends our winter in Mexico, Central America, South America or the Caribbean islands.
The Turkey Vultures could be seen circling overhead from miles away and the smell was so strong it made your eyes tear. Pulling into the dump in Negril, Jamaica wasn't my idea of a fun way to spend a morning doing bird research in the West Indies, but it turned out to be a easy way to observe...
I commonly experience the Worm-eating Warbler in two ways. During the winter, walking through the tropical forest in Belize, I hear a soft rustling through the drone of cicadas. Whipping around to place my binoculars to my eyes, I glimpse a warbler hanging head down from a leaf draped from a small...
