Penguin Elegance

Feathers are wonderful things.
They are lightweight yet powerful enough to allow birds to soar through the air. Their bright colors, crests and plumes are vital to breeding success, as the females choose the most visually appealing mate.
It stands to reason that something that important should be regularly maintained, and in the bird world, that is [...]

Pileated Woodpecker Video

At a height of 17 inches, pileated woodpeckers are the largest woodpeckers in North America (unless someone finds a live Ivory-billed woodpecker). They are found throughout Canada, and in dense mature forests in the eastern half of the USA.
Rarely seen, they are a birdwatchers delight when they are spotted.  If you’re looking for them in [...]

How Smart Is a Crow?

I knew members of the Crow or Corvidae family were smart, but this video blew me away! He tries it, thinks about it, then fixes the problem. Too spooky!

more about “How Smart Is a Crow?“, posted with vodpod

Bone Bustin’ Birds

In the high mountains of southern Europe, Africa, India and Tibet lives a large bird that exists on a diet of bone.
The lammergeier, or bearded vulture, eats almost exclusively the bones of dead animals – up to 90% of their diet is bone. They are the only vertebrate in the world with this diet, and [...]

Live Streaming Eagles

I’m sitting here at my computer in Alberta, listening to the occasional squawks of a bald eagle sitting on a nest in British Columbia, with American robins and frogs in the background. You gotta love the internet!
Hancock Wildlife Federation has set up a live streaming video of a bald eagle nest located in a high [...]

Whooper Alert

Growing up in northern Alberta, I distinctly remember flocks of whooping cranes passing over our house. It was a normal as the sun setting. Little did we know what the future held for these huge, whooping birds.
The whooping crane was designated as an Endangered Species in Canada in 1978. Low population numbers, loss of habitat, [...]

Dead Meat Gifts

It’s spring at last! Today is officially the first day of the season, and in many areas it’s been a long time coming.
As a birdwatcher, my thoughts naturally turn to our feathered friends as the weather warms up. The popular press is doing the same thing, and the news posts today are flooded with articles [...]

Mystery Photo

How’s your eyesight? Want to take a guess at what this is?
We’ll leave this photo unidentified for awhile, just to see how sharp our readers are. Drop us a comment with your best guess!

Herding Penguins

Conservationists are getting increasingly inventive these days, and many are finding the simple ways still work the best.
In Belize, they are using donkeys to safeguard herds of cattle from jaguars. It seems the donkeys are hyper-aware of their surroundings, and notice the big cats long before the cows do, alterting the herd to the danger. [...]