In late September 2011, three California Condors were released near the Grand Canyon. Eddie Feltes of The Condor Recovery Project says: "We open up the gates from a blind and watch those birds take to the sky." The first few days are the most crucial in the birds' life, because they've…

Imagine a heat wave, and your body covered in down and feathers. How do birds cope? Well, Saltmarsh Sparrows use their bills to shed excess heat. The late Russ Greenberg, once head of the Migratory Bird Center of the Conservation Biology Institute at the Smithsonian, discovered that these…

In January 2011, a pair of Short-tailed Albatrosses produced their first chick on Midway Atoll. Never before had this endangered bird bred outside of Japan. But in March, while the parents were foraging at sea, the tsunami that struck Japan also reached Midway, washing the chick off its…

California Condor #23 is the hero of the California Condor Restoration Project. The project has worked for 30 years to reintroduce captive-bred condors into the wild. Number 23 and his mate were the first released condors to successfully raise a chick on their own. Yet today, #23 sits…

The Klamath Bird Observatory in southern Oregon uses rigorous methods to understand bird migrations and populations. At sunrise, observers record every single bird they see or hear. They record courtship displays and whether the bird is carrying food or nesting material, or singing to…

A native garden provides natural, sustainable habitat that welcomes native birds to your yard. Native plants offer sustenance year round: nectar in spring and summer, along with berries and fruits, and nuts and seeds in autumn and winter. They provide shelter from the weather and…

Ospreys, common along the rivers of Pennsylvania, stopped nesting there in the 1950s, due to the effects of DDT. But in 1980, Larry Rymon, a professor of biology, began to restore Ospreys to Pennsylvania. Larry says: "Osprey have been a part of this planet's wildlife for 17 million years…

Usually sociable, Canada Geese are highly territorial during the breeding season. When faced with interlopers, nesting birds wave their heads from side to side and up and down, honking unceasingly, determined to drive the other birds off. Amidst the honking, you may hear a sound that…

By the late 1950s, Western Bluebirds had disappeared from the San Juan Islands of Washington State. But in 2010, 84 young Western Bluebirds were banded on San Juan Island. How? Barbara Jensen, president of San Juan Islands Audubon, says: "The key to bringing this together has been the…

A male Ruffed Grouse performs his drumming display on a resonant, fallen log in the shelter of a brushy thicket in the forest. Drumming announces a male's territory and his desire for a mate. Ruffed Grouse thrive in young forests. Wildfires once created that type of habitat. Today, wise…