World of Birds

Send us Fan MailBirds can be the gateway drug to developing a condition called ecological awareness. They can not only get us into birding, but make us aware of how interconnected the environment is, of how they interact with the plants, insects and mammals that share the same habitats. Join me in this episode oh how birds can open our eyes to the nature around us.If you want to get more into birding, check out my upcoming online membership course at www.thebirdingacademy.com

Send us Fan MailJoin the World of Birds in this episode to learn all about the Winter Finch Forecast, how to find finches in your area and birding tips and tricks for finding these boreal finches!

Send us Fan MailGetting started in Birding? Check out the upcoming Birding Academy! In the birding world, there are several community science initiatives to get people excited to contribute important data that helps biologists track bird populations and movements throughout the year. And starting November 1st, marks the beginning of Project Feederwatch.Project Feederwatch allows you to count birds from your own home to help the study of birds!

Send us Fan MailGetting started in Birding? Check out the upcoming Birding Academy! There has always been a strong connection between birds, birding and art. Even birders who are not artist are probably very familiar with artists such as Sibley, Peterson and of course Audubon, who was famous for his Birds of America project where he drew over 400 of Americas bird life. In this episode I will be going over the creation of his signature project as well as how it has inspired me to create my own project with a similar goal, of drawing most of Americas great birdlife.To follow along with this project, follow me on Instagram and Facebook at Kaylafiskbirds to see each species as they are completed.

Send us Fan MailGetting started in birding? Check out my upcoming Birding Academy!When we typically think of pollinators, we think of insects, but birds also fill this important ecological role. Join me as we go over how birds across the world act as pollinators.

Send us Fan MailA look into the world of owls and their amazing unique adaptations.

Send us Fan MailMany in the eastern half of North America might be surprised to hear that the House Finch, a common backyard bird, is not native to their area. Here is the story of how the House Finch arrived in the east.

Send us Fan MailA look into one of the 251 families of birds in the world, Regulidae. This family contains the kinglets and only contains six species, two of which can be found in North America.

Send us Fan MailA sad tale of how the Passenger Pigeon went from being the most abundant bird species in North America to extinct in a time frame of only about 100 years.

Send us Fan MailA look into the the life of Wisdom the Laysan Albatross, the oldest known bird in the world, who is believed to have hatched in 1951.

Send us Fan MailA look into the world of swifts. These birds are made for life on the wing, with several amazing adaptations that make this life possible.

Send us Fan MailA look into an example of one of the amazing migration patterns birds can have, spotlighting the Blackpoll Warbler. A small songbird who flies thousands of miles over open oceans without stopping, to get to its wintering grounds in South America.

Send us Fan MailA look into a rarely heard song from a common forest bird, the Ovenbird.

Send us Fan MailA look into the Vermivora Warblers, the Blue-winged Warbler and the Golden-winged Warblers, and their fascinating hybridization.

Send us Fan MailA look into the main categories of birds you would see while hawk watching, the buteos, falcons, accipiters, eagles and the oddballs that don't fit into these groups.

Send us Fan MailA look into the family Passerellidae, or the New World Sparrows, a family of birds that contains 132 species.

Send us Fan MailA look into how some birds have ocelli, or false eyespots and their purpose.

Send us Fan MailA look into the flight style of the Turkey Vulture.

Send us Fan MailHawaii is home to many endemic birds, including the I'iwi. In this episode you will learn a bit about this little honeycreeper and the threats it is facing.

Send us Fan MailEver wonder how birds survive winter or other rough times where food may be hard to find, here is a look into one of the behaviors birds use to survive these time periods.

Send us Fan MailWith how difficult it can be to find food in the winter, many species choose to migrate south, but what about the insect eating birds we see during the winter months like Brown Creepers and Kinglets?

Send us Fan MailA look into one of the ways Ruffed Grouse deal with winter conditions.

Send us Fan MailA look into the details of a bird's facial anatomy, their eye rings.A bird's anatomy can be highly variable, from the broadest being body shape, color, bill, wings and feet. Down in more minute features that can often get overlooked. When drawing, we are always told the eye is the most important feature that you want to stand out. But how often do you notice the intricate feathers or bare skin that are around that eye. What color they are, do they form a shape or particular pattern?Bare skin surrounding a bird's eye is called an orbital ring. This can be of various thickness, from a thin ring like the killdeer to excessive like a white-eye, a group of birds named after this large orbital ring they have.If a bird has a particular colored feathers around their eye, it is often referred to as an eye ring, generally, a different color than the rest of the face or head. This difference can be subtle or bold, broken or complete.The bare skin or feathers can be of various thickness, each variety of this part of a bird's anatomy can help add to its overall appearance.Birds such as killdeer can have a red orbital ring around their eyes, or a stunning blue like on a Double-crested cormorant. They can even change as a bird ages, if you look closely at a fledgling tufted titmouse, you may notice that the flesh around their eye is actually a bright yellow, which will fade eventually to a pale gray that we are more often familiar with this common backyard bird. Orbital rings are believed to help indicate to other birds that they are sexually mature and healthy.Other birds, feathers may make up this eye ring. From there, this group of feathers may have different colors as it encircles the eye. If all these feathers are the same color, they are referred to as a complete eye ring, if it is broken up with a different color, it's an incomplete or broken eye ring. One form of a broken eye ring is called an eye arc, generally seen as a partial eye ring directly above and directly below the eye. This characteristic can be seen in species such as the Northern Parula. How bold or subtle an eye ring can also vary, a good comparison is the very subtle eye ring on the Orange-crowned Warbler and the bold white eye ring of the Connecticut Warbler.It's interesting to note that the appearance of an eye ring can also be affected by other parts of a bird's facial anatomy such as eye lines, lores, and eyebrow/ supercilium.

Send us Fan MailA look into how what a bird eats can affect it color, with a spotlight on the Cedar WaxwingIf you see a flock of Cedar Waxwings, you may notice that some have yellow tipped tails while others may be orange. That color change is a direct result of something relatively new being included in their diet.When a waxwing’s tail feathers grow in, they are typically a bright yellow, but when the tail is growing in and they eat berries from the honeysuckle plant, an introduced invasive plant that produces a high yield of dark red berries, their tail feathers will grow in at varying levels of orange. This is because these berries contain high concentrations of carotenoid pigments and when ingested, get deposited in their feathers. Carotenoids are one of the four different pigments that make up a feathers color, creating shades of yellow, orange and red. This pigment cannot be created though, it must be ingested, generally getting this pigment from the fruit, berries, and seeds they eat.These berries become ripe around the same time that Cedar Waxwings are nesting, because of this the young end up being fed a high percentage of these berries, resulting in most of the young growing in orange-tipped tails. Though, later in the season when they molt again but don’t have access to the berries of the honeysuckle, their new tails feathers grow back in with the typical bright yellow tips. So, when you see a Cedar Waxwing with an orange or red tail, it is most likely an individual that hatched that year.Another backyard bird that this change can be seen in is the Northern Cardinal. Their color is even impacted by the same plant as the Cedar Waxwing. Males who feed on a large percentage of the honeysuckle berries grow in feathers that are a much more vibrant red than ones that have a more varied diet.Unfortunately, the berries from the honeysuckle plant are not as nutritious, so while male cardinals that eat them can be a more vivid red and may appear as a better mate from a female's perspective, studies have shown that these same males typically weight less and are probably not as healthy as males who have not included as many of the berries in their diet and are not as vividly colored.Another backyard bird's whos color can be affected by what's included in their diet is the House Finch, the males can have varying shades of red depending on the percentage of berries they eat.An additional drastic example of diet affecting a bird's color can be seen in flamingos. These birds' diet consists of krill, brine shrimp and other invertebrates, who in turn, feed on algae high in carotenoids. As the carotenoids in algae goes up the food chain, the concentration of this pigment increases, resulting in the pink you see in the brine shrimp and krill, and in the bright pink you see in the plumage of flamingos. In captivity, where flamingos may not naturally have access to this pigment, their feathers would be gray or a very pale pink. To recreate this coloration, zoos feed their flamingos a special diet containing synthetic canthaxanthin to achieve this pink color.

Send us Fan MailA look into the life of the Evening Grosbeak, a large boreal finch that is a welcome guest at any bird feeder.

Send us Fan MailA look into one of the ways birds express color.

Send us Fan MailA quick look into the world of Hummingbirds.

Send us Fan MailA quick episode about an unique woodpecker adaptation.

Send us Fan MailA quick look into what makes bird eggs so unique and what shapes their appearance.

Send us Fan MailA look into some of the ways birds change in appearance as they age, from fledgling to an adult.

Send us Fan MailA look into how biologist classify what a species is in the bird world.

Send us Fan MailAll about the bird family Parulidae, also called new world warblers or wood warblers.

Send us Fan MailA little episode about the Steller's Sea eagles biology and life history.

Send us Fan MailA look into some of the strategies birds use to survive winter conditions.

Send us Fan MailThis episode goes over the bird family Charadriidae, which contains plovers, dotterels and lapwings. There are a total of 68 species in this family in 10 genera.Bird songs Copyright Macaulay Library

Send us Fan MailThis episode features the hoary redpoll, a small round finch species that lives high up in the arctic tundra.Bird songs Copyright Macaulay Library

Send us Fan MailThe California condor population was at one point at only 22 individuals, but the determination of several individuals and agencies has led to it being brought back from the brink of extinction. As of 2020 there are more than 500 individuals in the world.

Send us Fan MailThis episode is featuring a look into the lives of Albatrosses.

Send us Fan MailA look into the parts of a birds lifecycle. This episode is about baby birds, more specifically the categories of the different styles a baby bird can hatch and grow up.Bird songs Copyright Macaulay Library

Send us Fan MailThis episode is a species spotlight for the cute little black-capped chickadee. This little songbird is a common sight at bird feeders in its range so I hope that this episode will teach everyone a little bit more about this bold little bird.Bird songs Copyright Macaulay Library

Send us Fan MailA new series in the World of Birds Podcast! Each episode shares the story of a conservation of a species. This episode features the Whooping Crane and how it went from only 20 individuals in the 1940's to almost 800 individuals now.Bird songs Copyright Macaulay Library

Send us Fan MailMany birders and nonbirders may be noticing a few unusual species at their feeder this year, that is because this year is an irruption year for many boreal finches, but what is an irruption and what causes it?Bird songs Copyright Macaulay Library

Send us Fan MailA glimpse into some of the aspects that make owls so unique, characteristics of the two families that are called owls. A look into their life, habits, food and more.Bird songs Copyright Macaulay Library

Send us Fan MailA glimpse into the great natural wonder of bird migration. A look at why and some aspects of how they complete this amazing journey year after year.Bird songs Copyright Macaulay Library

Send us Fan MailAn episode featuring Vultures and some of their unique behaviors, adaptations and characteristics.

Send us Fan MailA mini episode featuring the smallest bird found in the world, the Bee Hummingbird.

Send us Fan MailWith over 10000 recognized species of birds, there is a staggering amount of variety found through out this group. From little hummingbirds to giant ostriches, cryptically colored nighthawks to brilliantly colored tanagers. Birds can come in so many different shapes and sizes, each part of their body evolved to make use of every environment, food source and niche available to them. this episode offers just but a glimpse into some of the variety you can see in this unique animal classification.

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