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Eastern Bluebirds Brighten Our Days Feb 10, 2025

Show notes

From their cheerful melodies to their vibrant color and skillful acrobatics, there’s a lot to love about Eastern Bluebirds. Look for them along country roads, city parks, and other open woodlands with plenty of grassy patches where they can hunt for snacks.

Today’s show is in memory of Bud Oehler, whose trail of nest boxes helped bring Eastern Bluebirds back to Southwest Iowa.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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Ptarmigan Toes Feb 09, 2025

Show notes

With its rubbery-sounding rattles and clownish red eyebrows, the ptarmigan is quite the stand-out northern bird. As winter approaches, the ptarmigan’s feet grow feathers, and its claws grow longer. All that added surface area means the ptarmigan practically has its own set of snowshoes.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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Swan Song Feb 08, 2025

Show notes

The idea of the "swan song" recurs from Aesop to Ovid to Plato to Tennyson. Ovid described it, "There, she poured out her words of grief, tearfully, in faint tones, in harmony with sadness, just as the swan sings once, in dying, its own funeral song." But it's based on a sweet fallacy – that a swan sings only when it nears death. And calling the sounds that a swan makes a "song" might be a bit off, too!

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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Cuba’s Giant Eagles Feb 07, 2025

Show notes

Thousands of years ago, giant raptors lived on what is now Cuba. Gigantohierax is an extinct genus of eagles whose fossils have been found in local cave deposits and tar seeps. With an estimated weight of nearly 30 pounds, Gigantohierax suarezi, the larger of the two named species, would’ve been the biggest raptor known from the Americas.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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Bohemian Waxwings Wander South Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

In winter, when snow blankets the northern states, nearly all of the songbirds that graced the days of summer are gone. But there’s one special winter visitor that fills the absence: the Bohemian Waxwing. In autumn, waxwings wander south from the boreal forest into the northern states and along the Rockies. Sometimes, they venture even farther south. In fact, it’s this itinerant life that earned them the name “Bohemian.”

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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Red-headed Woodpeckers Fly on Checkerboard Wings Feb 05, 2025

Show notes

Red-headed Woodpeckers have mastered the art of high-contrast fashion. Both males and females have deep-crimson head feathers. Their clean white body feathers are offset by large patches of ink black feathers on their neck, wings, and tail. This is why you’ll hear some folks refer to them as "flying checkerboards."

This episode is dedicated to Bob Goodale whose lifelong love for birds and nature continues to inspire.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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BirdNoir: Staging a Bird-Murder Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

In this episode of BirdNoir, the Private Eye sees some suspicious activity: a House Sparrow tries to steal a nestbox from Tree Swallows, but then flees the scene in terror. He stakes out the nestbox to see what the Tree Swallows are doing to keep intruders away.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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Kenon Walker, Duckmaster Feb 03, 2025

Show notes

Kenon Walker got one of the most unusual job offers you can get: be the Duckmaster of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. That means he would lead the hotel’s five ducks on a daily march to the fountain in the lobby, a bizarre and beloved tradition that draws visitors from all over. But when he was first offered the job, Kenon was hesitant to take it because all the previous Duckmasters he knew of were white. Or so he thought.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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Small Birds Mob Big Ones Feb 02, 2025

Show notes

When smaller birds join forces to ward off larger birds, it's called mobbing. This behavior — like calling your family for help — is used by many bird species. The best time to observe mobbing is spring and early summer, when breeding birds are trying to protect their nests and young. Birds including swallows, blackbirds, and even these American Crows, seen here mobbing a Red-tailed Hawk, know that there is strength and power in numbers. And they've learned to join forces to protect themselves.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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Winter Birds Love Suet Feb 01, 2025

Show notes

Birds at a suet feeder... What a burst of vitality on a chilly morning! What's the attraction? A cake of suet, suspended from a branch in a small wire feeder. Suet is beef fat, a high-energy food critical for birds' survival in the colder months. Suet is an especially strong magnet for birds (including this Northern Flicker) that eat lots of bugs in the warmer months. You can learn about suet feeders – and what kinds of birds they'll attract – at Birds.Cornell.Edu.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

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