When you think of bird migrations, you might think of a bluebird or a robin first. But some owls do migrate – such as the Short-eared Owl, which flies south for the winter. Northern Saw-whet Owls were once thought non-migratory, but in fact they travel at night, unseen. Snowy Owls breed in…

Music producer So Wylie began transforming bird calls and songs into musical “bird beats” during the pandemic. The first bird beat she made was inspired by Rocky, a Northern Saw-whet Owl that was found bundled up in the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in 2020. Since then, the Boreal Owl…

Does staying cooped up inside with your kids sometimes drive you up the wall? Take comfort in the bird that does it year after year — the hornbill. Each breeding season, a female hornbill plasters herself into her nest cavity, leaving only a thin slot for ventilation and food. She stays…

Polar bears use Arctic sea ice to hunt seals, but a warming Arctic means the bears have to return to land earlier in the year. Their arrival coincides with droves of birds sitting on eggs. A single clutch of eggs isn’t enough to satisfy a bear, so they go from nest to nest, sometimes…

Greater Anis make communal nests in which two or more pairs share responsibilities. But that doesn’t mean they cooperate with their neighbors. Researchers in Panama captured anis on camera tossing fake eggs out of artificial nests. Although scientists haven’t yet seen anis destroy real…

Birds are ideal hosts for various viruses: they gather in large flocks, often carry viruses without any symptoms, and their migrations connect all parts of the world. But as far as SARS-CoV-2, the kind of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in humans, it seems there’s no need to worry. In a…