BirdNote Daily

Circling silently above the earth on broad, black wings, vultures need little introduction. We know them as nature's clean-up crew, dining on dead and decaying animals. A unique range of adaptations allows vultures such as this Black Vulture to feast on food that’s off limits for many other organisms. Vultures also appear to have a remarkable immune system. For them, and for many other organisms, one key to understanding their place in nature is understanding their relationship with other elements in their environment.

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In birding lingo, a lifer — or life bird — is any species you see or hear for the first time. Birders get very excited about lifers. Some even mark the occasion with a special dessert called lifer pie. The tradition started at a birding festival in northwest Ohio — called the Biggest Week in American Birding — where attendees celebrate new life birds at the local tavern over a slice of homemade pie. Any flavor will do! Lifer pie is more about the feeling than the filling – making it easy for anyone to join in.

This episode is brought to you by Wild Delight Bird Food, which aims to support wild bird populations with clean, nutritious ingredients in every blend. Available at Chewy.com.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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In one of the most iconic founding legends of the Americas, a Golden Eagle devouring a serpent atop a cactus marked the spot where the Mexicas would build Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire. Over the centuries, that ancient metropolis transformed into what we now call Mexico City. Though the mythical eagle is now commemorated on the national flag of Mexico, real Golden Eagles need our help through conservation research and habitat protections.

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Solar panels are a popular source of renewable energy, but large groupings of them — called arrays — can take up a lot of space. Chelse Prather, an ecologist at the University of Dayton, wanted to know how wildlife are using the habitats underneath two arrays in Ohio. The first site was a fixed array with panels that are locked in place. The second was a tracking array where panels tilt to follow the sun. Chelse and her students found American Robin nests at both sites, but the tracking array nest looked… weird. In their study published in 2025, the team confirmed that these nests were unusually tall and mounted to the support beams at odd angles. It’s a new example of how birds are adapting to a changing world.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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In this episode of BirdNoir, the Private Eye gets a call from his friend Frank, his eyes and ears in the neighborhood. He’s hearing a Red-shouldered Hawk call, but there’s no hawk in sight. Going through the lineup of usual suspects found in backyards, they examine the surprising talent for mimicry found among common birds and finally put the finger on the trickster.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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