BirdNote

Barn Swallows are heading south by now, many headed for South America. Birding guide Harry Fuller says: "Just think!

In New York City's Central Park, you can see the country's most famous Red-tailed Hawk. He's named Pale Male because of his unusually light coloring. And he has a multi-million-dollar view from his nest on a co-op building above Fifth Avenue.

It's late summer, and migratory birds are departing. Many resident birds remain, but their voices are now quiet. During fall and winter, birds don't need to sing to establish a breeding territory or attract a mate. Many songbirds lose the ability to sing in the winter.

In 1805, members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, while exploring north of the Columbia River, came upon a California Condor.

A forest fire roars along a mountain slope once green with spruce and pines, ignited by a lightning strike late in a Northwest summer. Once the fire has run its course, acres of blackened trunks stand silently against the blue sky.

The Ramsey Canyon Preserve in the Huachuca Mountains of Arizona is famous for the clouds of hummingbirds that swarm around its feeders in late summer. But the rare and spectacular Elegant Trogon is also found here.

Birding guide Harry Fuller describes why national wildlife refuges and observing wildlife there (like this Northern Rough-winged Swallow) are so important.

This Laysan Albatross, with a wing span of about seven feet, is completely at home in the vastness of the open ocean. It glides up and down, back and forth, across the wake, sometimes riding up 100 feet, then coasting right back down near the surface.

The Flammulated Owl is a study in camouflaged grays and browns, with cinnamon-brown shoulder straps and large brown eyes. This astute aerial predator stands a little more than six and a half inches tall, from its sharp-clawed feet to its stubby, ear-like tufts.

Barred Owls are very territorial, and they don't migrate. Solitary calls from a male in early spring probably mean that he has not attracted a mate. In May and June, he continues to hoot, though less frequently. By summer, breeding season has passed.

Young male Song Sparrows learn about 10 songs from adult tutors - sometimes from their fathers, but not always.

Crows and gulls are opportunists - grabbing a bite wherever, whenever, however they can. Listener Nick Woodiwiss of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, wrote to BirdNote about a funny scene between an American Crow and a Glaucous-winged Gull on the beach. Can you guess who wins?

Great Blue Herons nest in colonies, in adjoining trees or with several nests in one tree. But by autumn, the adults and gangly young have left the nests to take up solitary lives, a pattern that is the reverse of many other species.

Paul Davis owns 1,500 acres in the Hill Country of Texas that he manages, not for cattle, but as habitat for warblers and vireos. He’s preserving stands of native juniper. He says: “We have two birds down there that are very, very localized.

Ospreys nest near water in a tall tree or on a tower, where they are exposed to all the elements, including direct sunlight which can sometimes produce scorching temperatures. At other times, they're pounded by rain, as they protect their young.