BirdNote Daily

Brown-backed Solitaires are ordinary-looking: medium-sized, gray-brown birds. But they have one of the most melodic, complex songs in the world, ringing out year-round in high-altitude forests from Mexico to Central America.

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It's easy to feel helpless during a heat wave, as if there's nowhere to hide from the sun. Birds feel much the same. Extreme heat poses a risk to young birds of many species. Here are three things we can do to protect birds and ourselves from heat.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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American Goldfinches are one of our most familiar birds, but they lead lives that are anything but ordinary. These birds will sometimes raise two broods a year, have a secret weapon against cowbirds, and have the ability to distinguish between songs that — to our ears — sound the same. Backyard birds they may be, but American Goldfinches never cease to amaze.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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At a glance, swallows and swifts, both graceful fliers, look much alike. But swifts — like this Chimney Swift — have longer, slimmer wings and short bodies, enabling them to glide for long periods. Their glides are punctuated by rapid, stiff bursts of wing-beats. Swallows, on the other hand, flex and flap their wings. Why do swifts have such a peculiar, stiff wing stroke? Picture a bird wing, with two halves jointed in the middle. Swift wings have a short inner “half” and a long outer half. This causes the stiffness.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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At the end of summer, the once-bright feathers of a male American Goldfinch look ragged. Growing new flight feathers in a process called molting makes him more vulnerable to predators. Before migrating to wintering grounds, many songbirds stop at a secondary location to undergo the awkward phase of feather replacement. It’s called molt migration. The places birds go to molt could be important targets for conservation efforts.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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