Shows With Contributions by Chris Peterson

Black-faced Solitaire - Elusive Singer

In wet mountain forests of Costa Rica, a slate-gray bird like this one sings as it moves furtively in the dense understory. It’s the Black-faced Solitaire. Naturalist and birding guide Roger Melendez has been listening to its eerie and gorgeous song for over 20 years. But even Roger has a hard... read more »

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Pied-Billed Grebe Nest Construction

The call of the Pied-billed Grebe is unusual. Their nests are unusual too – little platforms of plant material that float on water, hidden behind vegetation. Martin Muller, an expert who loves unraveling the mysteries of Pied-billed Grebes, explains how grebe parents like this one build their nests. read more »

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Topics & Themes:  nesting

Birdsongs near Home

Who's in the neighborhood today? It's amazing how many birds you can see – and hear – when you go for a walk. There's a towhee... and a Steller's Jay ... now, a junco ... There's the "tin trumpet" sound of this Red-breasted Nuthatch. And the Ruby-crowned Kinglet is warming up, all because it's... read more »

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Topics & Themes:  birdwatching

Savor the Sight of Migrating Birds

In the United States and Canada, International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) is celebrated in May. Justin Pepper of the Audubon Chicago Region shares his insights about this special time of year, when birds like this Blackburnian Warbler are on the move. “It’s awe inspiring to realize that our... read more »

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Topics & Themes:  birding, migration

Welcome to the Macaulay Library

The crisp song of a cardinal . . . the goofy call of a Willow Ptarmigan . . . You can hear these recordings and 150,000 others when you log on to the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The bird sounds you hear on BirdNote come from this library. Linda Macaulay, after whom the... read more »

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Topics & Themes:  sound

A Building Manager Shows the Way

Geoff Credi is the facilities manager for an impressive glass building in Chicago. In 2004, Credi learned about the devastating problem of birds colliding with glass. As a result, the building he manages became one of the first to participate in the Lights Out Chicago program, voluntarily turning... read more »

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Waking to Howler Monkeys - With Roger Melendez

Dawn breaks in Costa Rica. As in many places around the world, people wake to the crowing of roosters . . . or in Costa Rica, it might be howler monkeys! Costa Rican birding guide Roger Melendez says that the male wants to know… “Is everybody awake? Is everybody listenin' to what I’m... read more »

Bird Rehabilitation at Willowbrook Center

At Willowbrook Wildlife Center in suburban Chicago, there’s hope for birds that have collided with skyscrapers during migration. Today, volunteers from Chicago Bird Collision Monitors have rescued and transported 28 injured or stunned birds to the wildlife center for rehabilitation. Many birds... read more »

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A Virginia Rail on Michigan Avenue

Jump to: "A Building Manager Shows the Way"Chicago’s Michigan Avenue – with towering glass skyscrapers and fancy boutiques – is the last place you’d expect to see a bird that normally hides in freshwater marshes. Yet, during migration, secretive Virginia Rails like this one pass over the... read more »

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Celebrate the Earth

Celebrate the earth -- from a canyon in the West, where Western Meadowlarks sing … to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, where a pair of Common Loons returns to breed and raise their young, and spring peepers sing for mates … to an old-growth hardwood forest in North Carolina, where warblers and... read more »