The Great American Turkey
The turkey was semi-domesticated and kept in pens in the American Southwest some 2,000 years ago—but not for the reason you think.
The Whip-Poor-Will Has Been an Omen of Death for Centuries
What happened to this iconic bird of American horror?
A Brief Guide to Birdwatching in the Age of Dinosaurs
Archaeopteryx and Hesperornis should be on the lists of any dino bird watcher.
New Zealand’s Quest to Save Its Rotund, Flightless Parrots
DNA sequencing, GPS tracking and tailored diets are slowly restoring the endangered kākāpō.
Ali: Alfred Russel Wallace’s Right-Hand Gun
Wallace wouldn't have become a famous naturalist without help from colonial networks and hundreds of locals, including his indefatigable Sarawak servant, Ali.
What it Sounds Like When Doves Cry
A century ago, an ornithologist proposed a system for transcribing bird sound as human speech. It did not catch on.
Words for Birds
From the meaning of birdsong to the history of birdwatching, from the effects of climate change to the cunning of crows—our bird stories have it all.
Every Good Bird Does Fine
Is birdsong music, speech, or something else altogether? The question has raged for millennia, drawing in everyone from St. Augustine to Virginia Woolf.