BirdNote

The territories of Townsend's Warblers and Hermit Warblers overlap in Washington State. Ornithologists call the overlap where the two species interbreed a "hybrid zone." The hybrids - like the one seen here - reveal characteristics of both.

December 26th is known in the British Isles and elsewhere as St. Stephen's Day, in honor of the first Christian martyr. Beginning in the 16th Century, local lads would go forth for a yearly wren hunt.

A winter morning in Oaxaca, Mexico - a great time to visit old friends who spent the summer in the United States.

To celebrate the season, Nancy Rumbel, who composed and played the BirdNote theme music, performs "Carol of the Birds." This version was arranged by Nancy herself, with the accompaniment of Pine Siskins, Black-capped Chickadees, a Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, House Finch, American Goldfin

A stiff December breeze blowing down the Columbia River delivers an exhilarating chill. A stretch of river near Bridgeport, in north-central Washington, is held tightly by a series of dams, creating massive lakes - lakes which, in winter, harbor thousands of water-birds.

In The Golden Bough, Sir James Frazer describes early Europeans building solstice fires at year's end to strengthen the sun. Seeing the sun steadily weakening, steadily falling in its arc across the sky, they did what they could to restore it to health.

The American Bittern's deep, resonant calls have earned it the nicknames "thunder-pumper" and "stake-driver." Bitterns nest in marshes throughout much of Canada, and they winter along both US coasts south into Central America.

The Twelve Days of Christmas began as a French love song. The song's age is uncertain, but likely dates to at least the Sixteenth Century. A woman's generous "true love" delivers gifts over the twelve days. The first seven days' gifts are all birds.

In World War I, carrier pigeons were crucial in relaying messages from the front to positions behind the lines. The most renowned was Cher Ami - or Dear Friend - flown by the U.S. Army Signal Corps during the Battle of Verdun in France.

It's winter on Homer Spit in southern Alaska, and Rock Sandpipers feed along the gravelly shore. These small shorebirds scurry this way and that, probing into the gravel and seaweed. Anything that moves is fair game, especially amphipods, the little crustaceans that hop about when exposed.

The Pileated Woodpecker makes loud, hard whacks, as it leans back and then slams its bill into the side of a living tree. Sounds painful, if not downright disabling! How does the woodpecker's brain withstand it?

In recent decades, the number of Marbled Murrelets, a seabird of the Pacific coast, has declined. Scientists in Canada and the US have analyzed the chemical composition of murrelet feathers - some from birds carefully preserved since 1894 by the Burke Museum in Seattle.

Just for a LARK, MARTIN and JAY decided to have a SWALLOW. MARTIN's car, a FALCON, was low on PETREL, so he said, "Let's DUCK into a local tavern - TERN here." They had to show IDs at the door, to prove they weren't TANAGERS.

Adult volunteers across Canada and the US count the winter birds of their area during the century-old Christmas Bird Count, or CBC. These counts provide scientists with valuable information about the number and distribution of the birds.

How do birds fare before a storm? Patrick Comins of Audubon Connecticut says, "Seabirds try to avoid a hurricane if they can, but sometimes end up getting blown off course. Most landbirds are pretty tuned in to weather changes.