Backyard Bird Watching

Jackie, the Big Bear bald eagle, died of bird flu. How eagles catch it, what the necropsy found, and whether your backyard feeder birds are at risk.

23 of 50 common backyard birds have clearly declined since 1966. See USGS survey trends for your state: the biggest drops, biggest gains and the winners.

Maine’s first gray heron turned up in Cape Elizabeth in October 2026. What it is, every North American record, and how to tell it from a great blue heron.

How do birds survive the winter? Chickadees, redpolls, kinglets and grouse use 7 tricks, from fat and fluffed feathers to cold feet and snow roosts. Chart.

What does it mean when you see a cardinal? The folklore, from a Cherokee story to the modern ‘visitor’ saying, and the reasons cardinals are everywhere.

Barn owls are nesting in a Manhattan water tower, a first for the borough. Why it is rare, what a barn owl sounds like, and how it compares to yard owls.

Birds hit windows because they see reflected trees and sky or a clear path through the glass. Here’s why it happens, which windows are riskiest, what actually works, and what to do for a stunned bird.

A little gray bird with yellow on it is often a yellow-rumped warbler. Our chart shows where the yellow sits on 9 look-alikes, from kinglets to siskins.