Shorebirds Flock to Restored Pond at Pine Island Sanctuary

There’s a pond at the Donal C. O’Brien, Jr. Sanctuary and Audubon Center, the Pine Island Club, just to the west of the clubhouse, with a troubled past.

Sometime in the 1940s, when the Pine Island Club was a hunting club, the membership dug out an existing pond, put in what was perhaps a 3 inches in diameter pipe to carry water from a canal off Currituck Sound and then bulkheaded the shore.

Habitats WatchList Identifies Most Threatened Bird Habitats Throughout North America

For the First Time, Bird Habitats Are Evaluated and Formally Ranked in Detail.

Developed by American Bird Conservancy (ABC) in partnership with NatureServe and Habitats of North America authors Iain Campbell and Philip Chaon, The WatchList of Terrestrial and Freshwater Bird Habitats of the U.S. and Canada — the Habitats WatchList — offers a new way to categorize, map, and assess risk for bird habitats.

Los Angeles Bird Rescue Center Experiencing "acute influx" of Oiled Birds

A Los Angeles bird rescue center is asking beachgoers to be on the lookout for beached, oiled birds, as a suspected natural oil seepage in the Ventura area is primarily affecting a specific waterbird.

So far, the International Bird Rescue center in San Pedro has taken in 97 oiled birds in the last three days from the Ventura, Santa Barbara area.

Maryland’s Tern Raft Celebrates Five Successful Years of Hosting Nesting Waterbirds

Maryland’s tern raft hosted hundreds of terns again this year—including nesting pairs of two different state-listed-endangered species—and saw more than 350 tern chicks fledge during the island habitat’s fifth year in operation.

The wooden-framed artificial island has floated in Chincoteague Bay in Worcester County since 2021 and serves as a breeding habitat for colonial nesting waterbirds that are listed as endangered in Maryland.

Bird-defending Audubon Chapter Defeats Florida Development Planned by Nation’s Largest Homebuilder

Since the 1880s we’ve referred to dopey people as birdbrains. I contend it’s a misnomer. Birds are actually pretty smart – think about how far they migrate without any access to maps or GPS! I think the people who like birds are pretty smart too. Exhibit A of my argument would be what the Sarasota Audubon Society has accomplished in defending a bird sanctuary called the Celery Fields.

Lost or Leading the Way? Rare Birds May Signal Shifting Migration Routes

On a 2009 hike in the Huachuca Mountains of southeastern Arizona, a group of birders heard an otherworldly, ethereal bird song floating, flute-like, through the canyon. The hikers identified the singer as a brown-backed solitaire, recognizing immediately that the bird was very far from home. The brown-backed solitaire spends its life in the mountain forests of Mexico and Central America — what was it doing in Arizona?

How Do Migrating Birds Know Where They're Going?

To navigate the skies, birds rely on a complex sensory tool kit.

Every year, billions of birds migrate in and out of the United States. And across the world, birds fly thousands of miles to reach their seasonal destinations. Some birds, like the Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), even rack up enough miles over their lifetime to fly to the moon and back. But when birds embark on these epic journeys, how do they know where they're going?

Studies: Extreme Weather Fueled by Climate Change Is Adding to Bird Declines

Scientists have typically pointed to habitat loss as the key factor behind the worldwide drop in bird populations worldwide, but climate change poses a second, closely linked threat. Bird populations across the globe have been decreasing sharply for decades. A landmark study published in 2019 estimated that the total number of breeding birds in North America had dropped by almost 30% since 1970. (This story was originally published by The Revelator.)

What Birds Can Tell Us About the Health of San Francisco Bay

A new website, the San Francisco Bay State of the Birds, created by the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture and Point Blue Conservation Science, provides scientists, policymakers, and the public with an up-to-date look at which Bay Area bird populations are thriving and which are declining, and what that says about the health of San Francisco Bay’s wetlands and waters.

Study Shows 1 in 4 Birds Gone Since 1970

This is the first study to undertake an accounting of the net population changes across a total of 529 breeding bird species in the United States and Canada. The researchers analyzed birds on a group-by-group basis, allowing them to identify declines among species that use similar habitats. The data included 48 yrs. of data from multiple independent sources, including the North American Breeding Bird Survey and the Christmas Bird Count. A analysis of 11 yrs. of data from 143 NEXRAD radar stations showed a similarly steep decline in migration.

Migration Myths: How Our Ancestors Made Sense of the Natural World

Dark-bellied brent geese, dunlins, godwits and many other migratory birds spend the winter on our coastlines then start to disappear in March, then reappear in the autumn.

We now know they’ve flown to northerly breeding grounds thousands of miles away. But it’s not surprising that our ancestors tried to make sense of this extraordinary natural phenomena.

Do American Robins Migrate?

Springtime singer or snowy sentinel? The American Robin may be one of North America's most familiar songbirds, yet its wintering patterns raise a common question: Do robins migrate?

The answer is yes and no. We associate robins with spring for good reason: In many places, they arrive with the warm weather. But that doesn't mean all of these birds escape winter's bite.

The Legend of the Hermit Thrush

The legend of the hermit thrush was told by parents to teach their children the value of honesty.

Long, long ago the birds had no song. It was a time when only humans had this melodious gift. Each day, the people would sing a song of greeting to the sun as it rose, and one of farewell as it set. The birds admired the songs and would often stop their flight and listen to the beautiful voices. In their hearts they wished they too could be endowed with this gift.

The Hidden World of the American Oystercatcher

Inspired by ancient offering vessels, Rachel Frank’s sculpture captures the delicate cycle of a shorebird’s life in the intertidal zone. Sculptors often spend a lot of time with their subjects, but Rachel Frank takes that connection to another level.

As a rehabilitator at the Wild Bird Fund in Manhattan, she’s cared for an array of creatures that live in or pass through the city, including rodenticide-poisoned owls, kestrels injured by cats, and diseased hawks.

Grainger McKoy: The Bird Artist

Feather by feather, sculptor Grainger McKoy captures the beauty of birds as few artists ever have. Grainger McKoy is an artist. He also carves birds out of wood. These may or may not be two different things, and to Grainger McKoy it doesn’t seem to matter.

It doesn’t take long in his presence to feel like you’re with someone who has fallen through a hole in the pocket of time and somehow landed to live with the rest of us sad, contemporary people, here in the twenty-first century. He really doesn’t belong.

Barred Owls Branch Out And Explore The Forest

Moss and Maple have officially graduated to their next stage of development!

The owlets from the 2025 Wild Birds Unlimited Barred Owl Cam took their first steps out of the nest box on May 11.

One adventurous owlet leapt to a nearby tree to begin exploring, and the second joined its sibling on May 12 as they ventured out together.

Young Green Heron’s Lightning Strike

Taken by RCC’s Director of Campus and Civic Engagement, Diego Tover, this remarkable video demonstrates the lightning speed of an immature Green Heron spearing a fish with astounding accuracy.

It then hauls it out of the water and enjoys a well-earned meal. Green Herons are typically hard to spot since they move slowly or stand stock still.

Wild Turkey

Contrary to popular lore, Benjamin Franklin never publicly voiced opposition to the bald eagle as a national symbol, nor did he ever publicly suggest the turkey as a national symbol.

The Wild turkey is an upland ground bird and a United States native. It’s the heaviest member of the diverse Galliformes (a group of game birds which includes grouse, pheasants, and partridges) and is the same species as the domestic turkey, which was originally derived from a southern Mexican subspecies of Wild turkey.

Momentary Meditations are published every Monday to awaken what Rachel Carson called “the sense of wonder” and what Albert Schweitzer called “a reverence for life.” Looking deeply into our interdependence with all life on earth helps us know what we must do. In our harried world, these meditations are meant to serve as a renewable resource for compassion and love.

Focused Attention - Mysterious and agile, this female Ruby-throated hummingbird delights in open flowers. Perfectly positioned by powerful tiny wings, it probes blossom after blossom with its long bill, combining beauty with life-sustaining intention.