In June, when birdsong is on the wane, many baby birds leave the nest.
It quietly drills small holes in the bark of favored trees, then returns again and again to eat the sap that flows out.
Be still and blend in.
High in the Northwest mountains, where the long summer days stay cool, a beautiful song echoes. But then, we went astray.
As we ponder the wonders of bird sounds, how many of us think of gulls?
They occasionally crowd into suburban bird feeders, nudging out smaller birds.
Be still and blend in.
On a warm, sunny day, an American Robin sits on the ground, its wings outstretched and its tail splayed behind. With clown-like faces and huge, multicolored bills, they stand upright on sea cliffs along the northern oceans.
Band-tailed Pigeons stay in small flocks most of the year, uttering their soft call.
John James Audubon, the French naturalist who spent his adult life studying and painting the birds of North America, saw only this Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a bird of eastern North America.
And no bird has been so often evoked and emulated in song and symphony as the cuckoo. Shrub-steppe is disappearing from the interior west as it is cleared for irrigated crops.
Puffins are icons of the seabird world.
While we may be more inclined to prize gulls for their ability to catch French fries in mid-air along the waterfront, they are actually quite accomplished vocalists.
The plight of the young bird is illustrated by this encounter between predator and prey, as a young hawk sets out on its first hunting expedition. The mating call of the bullfrog was once heard only in the eastern half of North America. This is the time of year that young birds leave the nest, and they are especially vulnerable to cats.
Shrub-steppe is disappearing from the interior west as it is cleared for irrigated crops.
The mating call of the bullfrog was once heard only in the eastern half of North America. They may never know the names and songs of the birds they see or understand the wonder of migration. Are gulls underrated as singers? They may never know the names and songs of the birds they see or understand the wonder of migration. Be still and blend in.