The Kaua'i O'o, a small forest bird, was once found on the Hawaiian Island of Kaua'i. Sadly, the O'o's song was heard for the last time in 1987. The native birds of the Hawaiian Islands have been hit hard by changes brought about by humans. Habitat destruction, introduction of non-native…

We asked Dr. Julia Parrish what lessons she has learned from 20 years of studying seabirds such as Common Murres. Lesson #1: Everybody can get out there and experience nature. It helps to define who you are and your part in the world. Lesson #2 is a conservation lesson. We have lots of…

In the year 1900, the holiday season was approaching. With that would come the Christmas "Side Count," when, by tradition, you'd go out and shoot as many birds as you could. But a birder named Frank Chapman proposed that people go out and count birds, instead. Today, the Christmas Bird…

Seabird poop, known as guano, has been used to enrich soil, to make gunpowder, and believe it or not, as a skin treatment. Bird poop is a valuable commodity. South America's Pacific Coast has some of the world's largest deposits of guano, from species including the Peruvian Pelican, the…

For 20 years, Julia Parrish of the University of Washington has been studying seabirds on the Pacific Northwest coast. During this time, the population of Bald Eagles has rebounded. What does the growing eagle population mean for Common Murres? When an eagle flies over a nesting area of…

Paul Bannick, naturalist and wildlife photographer, gives this advice: Most of the work of taking a photograph is done in advance, and it involves both research and field work. Learn as much as you can about the habitat. Pay attention to the landscape, where the light comes from. And…

When it's time to pick their four acres of wine grapes, Carl and Rita Comfort would rather the birds didn't beat them to it. Without some form of bird control, they could lose about 10% of their harvest. So at their vineyard, Comforts of Whidbey, they broadcast the distress calls of birds…

Urban light creates a fatal attraction and disorients migrating birds, which often fly around until exhausted and drop to the ground. Or they may strike a building or window. To prevent these needless deaths, the city of Toronto has created a "Lights Out Toronto" program. Lights go out in…

The celebrities of the Whooping Crane world have to be the Lobstick family, named for the Lobstick marshes where they nest in Canada. The Lobstick male, at 33, is the oldest Whooping Crane in the wild whose age we know for certain. And Tom Stehn of the US Fish and Wildlife Service tells us…

Every day in October 2011, nearly 3.5 million hours were spent playing Rovio's award-winning game, "Angry Birds." We don't know of too many birds whose eggs are stolen by pigs, but no bird is happy when its eggs are stolen. You might hear an American Robin, sounding its alarm. An angry…