Dear Reader, we’ve got some exciting news. JSTOR Daily will be changing its name to BIRDstor Daily as of today. Given the frequency with which we post about birds, this will probably not come as a huge surprise. We start with this collection of bird stories from our first year of publication. Here’s to our avian overlords!
Blackpoll Warblers: Tiny Bird, Huge Journey
April 28, 2015
Blackpoll warblers make a 1,500 mile, non-stop flight over the Atlantic
The Sex Lives of Birds
May 19, 2016
Deep in a Central American rainforest, ornithologists have discovered that a rare bird has an unusual lifestyle.
When Birds Drink Too Much
January 14, 2015
In case you think a few drinks makes your singing better, it doesn’t—and the same goes for drunk birds.
The Sad Story of Booming Ben, Last of the Heath Hens
March 2, 2016
Grassland-dwelling heath hen and prairie chicken populations across the country are in trouble. Loss of habitat continues to threaten their numbers.
Bald Eagles Are Back From the Brink
February 23, 2015
Bald eagles are back from the brink of extinction.
Raptors Are Avian Arsonists
March 1, 2016
Raptors are proving to be great problem-solvers. Falcons, for instance, start their own fires to flush out prey.
Meet the Secretary Bird, Snake Nemesis
April 11, 2016
If snakes have nightmares, they most likely include secretary birds (or secretarybirds)—so-called because the birds’ crests, when flattened against the head, ...
Teddy Roosevelt Weighs in on the Evolution of Camouflage
March 17, 2016
In the years after his presidency, Roosevelt sent a letter to The Condor magazine criticizing painter Abbott Thayer's theory of animal camouflage.
Driving the Evolution of Cliff Swallows
December 18, 2014
Charles R. Brown and Mary Bomberger Brown have been studying cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in southwestern Nebraska since the early 1980s.
![By Martinvl (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://daily.jstor.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/TowerLondonRavens_1050x700.jpg)
The Truth Behind the Tower Ravens
September 29, 2015
Fakelore: the deliberate fabrication of a folklore. A term that perfectly describes the legend of the Tower Ravens, the birds of the Tower of London.
Alexander Wilson’s Birds
April 20, 2015
Before Audubon (1785-1851), there was Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) the "father of American ornithology"
How The Near Extinction of Indian Vultures Led to Disaster
December 16, 2014
The populations of the nine species of Indian vultures began to plummet in the 1990s
The Astounding Adaptations of Long-Distance Flyers
July 29, 2016
Frigate birds are truly champion fliers. The birds can fly for weeks without stopping. How do they do it?
