Weekly Data: How Many Firds Are Really Killed By Wind Turbines?

The rapid spread of wind power will see millions of birds killed each year, but this still pales in comparison with deaths from other hazards.

Ever since the first commercial wind turbines came online in the 1980s, there have been people preoccupied by their negative impacts on the environment. Whether it be criticisms of turbines as blights on the landscape, scepticism at the complicated mineral requirements of the technology, or anger at noise produced by the blades as they turn, the anti-wind lobby has been fierce.

Sea-eagle “Invisibility” Shows Why Study of Bird Movements is Not Easy

The Steller’s sea-eagle has disappeared. At the time of this writing, the bird had not been reported since January 24, when it was back in Boothbay Harbor and on Southport Island after a few days over at Pemaquid Harbor.

Of course, many people are still searching for it on a daily basis. But how far from the last place it was sighted should they search? This bird is clearly very unpredictable given it’s half a world away from where its fellow sea-eagles are at the moment, so it’s probably presumptuous for anyone to guess what it might be doing.

New York’s Heritage Wind Decision Aims to Reduce Project’s Impact on Birds

The state’s new Office of Renewable Energy Siting sets a precedent acknowledging the need to minimize environmental impacts. Members of the conservation community, including American Bird Conservancy (ABC), Genesee Valley Audubon Society, and Rochester Birding Association, have long expressed grave concerns about the Heritage Wind project. While some of these concerns remain, ABC  believes that ORES rendered a thoughtful decision that reasonably balances renewable energy development with the need to protect the state's declining bird populations.

Many Birds Are Shrinking and Growing Longer Wings as the World Warms. Why?

A growing body of research suggests a warming world could mean smaller birds with longer wings, but nothing about the findings is settled. Climate change is massively altering our world. Hotter temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, rising sea levels, more frequent wildfires, and melting sea ice are all affecting birds and their habitats. But climate change may be having another, less intuitive impact on birds: A host of scientific studies show that birds are gradually shape-shifting—their bodies are miniaturizing at the same time as their wings grow longer.

Birds Shuffle and Repeat Their Tunes to Keep the Audience Listening

The tweets of a little song sparrow and its "bird brain" are a lot more complex and akin to human language than anyone realized. A new study finds that male sparrows deliberately shuffle and mix their song repertoire possibly as a way to keep it interesting for their female audience. The research, from the lab of Stephen Nowicki, Duke University professor of biology and member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, and colleagues at the University of Miami, shows that singing males keep track of the order of their songs and how often each one is sung for up to 30 minutes so they can curate both their current playlist and the next one.

Red Knots, Northern Gannets Highlight Christmas Bird Count

The hunt was on for all kinds of birds on Ocracoke as dozens of avid birders fanned out on the island in late December for the annual Christmas Bird Count.

A red-breasted nuthatch was what Jeffrey Beane, Stephanie Horton and Lloyd Lewis were trying to find early in the morning as they strolled the village.

“It’s usually found in Hammock Hills,” said Beane, who is the collections manager for herpetology with North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh.

Answering an Age-Old Mystery: How Do Birds Actually Fly?

Have you ever looked up to see a  hawk soar overhead, or a small chickadee flit by and wondered: How do they do that? Believe it or not, scientists never really knew either⁠—until now. Talia Lowi-Merri: I looked at the relationship between form and function in the most basic sense. Talia Lowi-Merri is a Ph.D. student at the University of Toronto in Canada. She says bird flight has everything to do with the shape and size of a bird’s sternum, or breastbone. Bird sternums have a projection from the middle called the keel, and this is where the flight muscles are attached.

10 of the Biggest Birds on Earth

Discover what life is like for some of the biggest birds to roam the planet

Some of the biggest birds on Earth can stand taller than any NBA player and spread their wings wider than kings size bed. 

There are almost 10,000 species of birds on Earth and they come in all different shapes and sizes — from the tiny bee hummingbird to the massive ostrich. Here are 10 of the biggest birds to inhabit our planet, including the tallest, heaviest and those whose wings spread the furthest.

If Rover Can Make It Here, Perhaps Bald Eagles Can Make It Anywhere

A white-headed raptor has been preying on smaller birds in Central Park. It’s come a long way since conservationists affixed aluminum bands to its legs four years ago.

Visitors to Central Park’s reservoir in New York are taking in a drama filled with feathers. Its star performer, thrilling parkgoers and terrorizing gulls, is Rover, a bald eagle. The city’s birders have been tracking Rover for two years, and some point to his ongoing story as demonstrating the conservation benefits of attaching aluminum bands to the legs of threatened bird species when they are young.

A Bird in the Hand | Chesapeake Bay Magazine

The little song sparrow doesn’t know it, but it may become a bellwether for its species. Feet up, head gently cradled between Jim Gruber’s index and middle fingers, it fusses as the bespectacled researcher crimps a tiny aluminum anklet around one of its legs. Further avian indignity ensues. The bird’s wing is measured. Its estimated age and its gender are noted. Gruber blows softly on its breast and belly feathers to assess its fat content. Finally, he weighs the sparrow by carefully inserting it headfirst into a long plastic cone attached to a digital scale.

Birds of Ocracoke: The Blue Jay

It can be surprising that some bird species, which are common and easily seen on the mainland of North Carolina, can be few in number or nonexistent on Ocracoke Island. On the other hand, we have some common birds that are the envy of many. We get to see Brown Pelicans, White Ibis and Royal Terns flying overhead much of the year and Great-crested Flycatchers nesting in our village.

The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is present year round in the village, but not regularly seen or heard. Seasonally, they are higher in numbers in summer.

These Delightful Photos Highlight How Native Plants Support Birds

Capturing a crisp image of a bird in flight, two mates lovingly preening each other, or an intense predator-prey interaction are coveted shots for any photographer. However, photographing birds with native plants—not just any plant—offers an exciting and captivating challenge.

Launched in 2019, the Plants for Birds category of the Audubon Photography Awards aims to put just as much emphasis on the flora as the fauna in each shot—and the entries have only gotten better each year.