BirdNote Daily

The Bearded Reedling is a wetland songbird that’s enjoying a boom in both population and popularity. Barely larger than a chickadee, the male reedlings are often photographed with their feathers puffed out to near spherical proportions, earning them the nickname of “the roundest bird in the world”. Reedlings breed across much of Europe and central Asia. But in the United Kingdom — where they’re called Bearded Tits — the little birds were nearly wiped out in the 1940s. Thanks to decades of intensive reedbed restoration — and the bird’s capacity to rear several broods in a season — there are now more than 600 breeding pairs of Bearded Readlings in the UK today.
More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.
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Any hobby or special interest has its own jargon. You’ll pick up on the silly slang that birders use as you go – like calling the Yellow-rumped Warbler, “butterbutt.” Still, learning a few basics of bird vocab is useful when you’re starting out. It’ll help you ask better questions when you’re confused. Check out the opening pages of a bird field guide for general info about what to call the different parts of a bird, basics on bird behavior, and birding tips.
More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.
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Gulls are notorious for snatching french fries from waste bins and flocking to landfills. But one Western Gull’s devotion to trash reached a new level with an 80-mile road trip aboard a waste transfer truck in California. The gull may have gotten trapped in the truck unintentionally, but it delivered her to 216-acres composting facility. And shortly after returning to her colony, she repeated her trek! It’s the first time scientists have documented such an unusual commute.
More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.
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Birds have always been a source of inspiration for writers. Edgar Allen Poe, Maya Angelou, and William Shakespeare, to name a few, have all written about birds. But what is it about them that so captures our literary imagination? Words in Flight is an hour-long celebration of contemporary poetry about birds, and what they teach us about ourselves and our world.
More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.
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Great Horned Owls excel at nocturnal hunting, thanks to their acute senses and stealth — but their feet let them secure squirming prey. The outermost of their four toes can rotate forward or backward, an advantage that most other birds of prey lack, letting them capture animals as large as raccoons. A four-pound owl can take flight with six pounds of prey.
More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.
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