In early fall, you'll see male ducks - like these Mallards - looking very different from when they flew north last spring. The beautiful drakes seem to be gone. But the males are here - sort of "under cover." In mid-summer, they molted into nondescript, dull plumage known as eclipse…

October 5th, 2019! Cackling Geese-like this one-migrate south from Alaska in October, and flock together for the winter at sites like Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, in southern Washington. In addition to music, the festival offers artwork and guided kayak and walking tours. Keep an…

South Polar Skuas glide just off the Pacific Coast each fall. Skuas are prone to piracy, stealing fish from gulls and terns by chasing them down. These birds are also fierce predators on their Antarctic nesting grounds, raiding penguin colonies, eating eggs and young chicks alike. The word…

In September, a streamlined Peregrine Falcon calls as it wings its way south from its Arctic nesting grounds. The pale gray falcon will spend the winter in Chile. On its back, it wears a miniature satellite transmitter, attached there by members of the Falcon Research Group. In 2006, Bud…

Caroline Raby and others at Cambridge University conducted experiments with Western Scrub-Jays, playing off the birds' natural tendency to cache food. In the first experiment, the jays cached food in the room where they expected to go hungry the following morning. In the second, they…

The Bullock's Oriole is the only member of the oriole family that nests in the Northwest. With a slender, sharply pointed bill, the oriole weaves a marvelous pouch-like nest that hangs suspended from its upper rim. The nest hangs downward four to eight inches. The female weaves together…

A dazzling bolt of avian lightning -- a blaze of neon-orange, shooting across a gray, sage-covered hillside on quick wing-beats. It's a Bullock's Oriole, sailing out from its nest among the upper branches of a cottonwood, hunting for insects in the shrubby sage. Bullock's Orioles return…

The Red-winged Blackbird is a familiar denizen of cattail marshes throughout Washington. In marshes east of the Cascades, Red-wings must share space with a larger cousin, the Yellow-headed Blackbird. The two species don't share evenly. Zoologist and blackbird expert Gordon Orians writes:…

An endangered species in the northeastern part of the US, the Roseate Tern survives only with vigilant protection of its remaining nesting sites. One key site is the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge in Connecticut. The refuge's critical habitats help sustain nearly 300 bird…

Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge is one of the most important sanctuaries on the planet for nesting marine birds. It lies off the north coast of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula. Over 30,000 Rhinoceros Auklets - like this one - nest on Protection Island, and it's home to a…