BirdNote

Today is National Public Lands Day. Comprising nearly 850 million acres of land and 3.5 million square miles of ocean, our public lands and waters provide habitats vital to more than 1,000 species of birds, including this Bachman’s Sparrow.

Writer Kurt Hoelting spent a year not driving his car, or riding in a jet, to reduce his use of fossil fuels.

Today you’ll find Snowy Egrets in the south and central United States and in remnant wetlands along the Atlantic coast. But once, they were rare. During the late 1800s, millions of birds – including Snowy Egrets – were killed annually to adorn the hats of fashionable ladies.

The feathers of a bird are, for their weight, among the strongest structures in the world. The bones of this Magnificent Frigatebird weigh less than its feathers! To further reduce weight while maintaining strength, many bird bones are fused.

During fall migration, this Bar-tailed Godwit will fly over the Pacific Ocean, making a non-stop flight of 7,000 miles from Alaska to New Zealand.

At Willowbrook Wildlife Center in suburban Chicago, there’s hope for birds that have collided with skyscrapers during migration. Today, volunteers from Chicago Bird Collision Monitors have rescued and transported 28 injured or stunned birds to the wildlife center for rehabilitation.

Birds make their momentous journeys across the continents, navigating by ancient codes and intelligences. The equinoxes proceed to find their balance of day and night.

The finches of the Galapagos Islands are famous in the history of evolutionary theory. But Charles Darwin spent four years studying other birds as well, as the Beagle circumnavigated southern South America before reaching the Galapagos in 1835.

In classrooms around the country, teachers who love birds and nature are introducing children to a source of life-long enjoyment.

The Green Heron forages on the banks of small bodies of fresh water. Relying on its plumage for camouflage, it perches motionless - body horizontal and stretched forward - waiting for small fish to come close. This heron may use "bait" while hunting for fish.

Gordon Hempton, the Sound Tracker, believes there are lessons we can learn from listening to birds. When Gordon was traveling in the Australian Outback, he heard a Willie Wagtail – like the one pictured here – singing his heart out.

A “river of raptors” flows through Veracruz State in eastern Mexico during the month of September. In Living on the Wind, Scott Weidensaul describes his experience counting the birds: “Nothing in a lifetime of birdwatching had prepared me for this spectacle,” he says.

In September, this Arctic Tern flies from Alaska all the way to Antarctica. Rufous Hummingbirds follow pathways of mountain wildflowers, from as far north as Alaska south to Mexico. Ruby-crowned Kinglets, migrate altitudinally from the mountains to the lowlands.

Govinda Rosling, co-coordinator of the Pigeon Guillemot Research Group, is one of 60 volunteer citizen scientists who dedicate their time during the summer months to survey birds at 25 breeding colonies.

Bird song caught the ear of Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi. And he even named a 1729 flute concerto for a bird - the goldfinch.