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The song of a sacred bird echoes up the stairs if you clap your hands.
Chichen Itza, Mexico

Chichen Itza Chirp

Clap your hands at the base of the pyramid, and the song of a sacred Mayan bird will echo through the air.
The great auk was most comfortable in the water.
islands

After the Last Great Auks Died, We Lost Their Remains

Before they went extinct, great auks were some of the world's most fascinating creatures.
Sarah Laskow March 8, 2018
Cormorants on Lake Merritt.
islands

The Long, Complex History of Oakland's Man-Made Bird Islands

This five-piece archipelago on California's Lake Merritt is a unique avian hotspot.
Zoë Beery March 8, 2018
Welcome to Tern Island, you wingless freakazoid.
maps

Go Tour This Digitized Island Full of Birds

Terning and terning in the widening gyre.
Cara Giaimo March 7, 2018
Like other members of the enantiornithine family, the fossilized fledgling (reconstructed here) likely had claws on its wings.
animals

Found: A 127-Million-Year-Old Fossil of a Fledgling

These tiny, prehistoric bones tell a story about flight.
Jessica Leigh Hester March 5, 2018
Alex serenades a Coke can.
sounds

Alex the Honking Bird May Be the First Interspecies YouTube Celebrity

The distinctively voiced cockatiel has earned both human and avian fans.
Cara Giaimo March 2, 2018
One of a kind?
genetics

How Many Species of Ravens Are There?

It's surprisingly hard to tell.
Jessica Leigh Hester March 2, 2018
Muriwai, New Zealand

Muriwai Gannet Colony

New Zealand's west coast is one of the best places in the world to view these large seabirds.
This plate from <em>Birds of America</em> depicts the American Flamingo.
ornithology collections

The Centuries-Old Mystery of How Florida Got Its Flamingos

How did these statuesque birds get to the peninsula, and where did they go?
Jessica Leigh Hester February 22, 2018
Hodgson among his decoys.
animals

Why Drones Are Counting Thousands of Decoy Ducks

To test the gadget's data skills, researchers speckled a beach with fake fowl.
Jessica Leigh Hester February 20, 2018
The showcases.
Bamberg, Germany

Bird Hall of Bamberg Natural History Museum

A beautiful collection of taxidermy birds and rare pomological wax models.
A helmeted honeyeater in captivity.
animals

Life Lessons From the Helmeted Honeyeater

This endangered species is learning when to love and when to fear.
Cara Giaimo February 15, 2018
Cutlery is the canvas.
animals

Meet the Artist Who Makes Creatures Out of Cutlery

It's fork art!
Anne Ewbank February 14, 2018
An image of the moa, by Heinrich Harder, shows them erroneously being hunted with bows and arrows.
animals

What Fossilized Poop Tells Us About an Extinct Giant Bird From New Zealand

Resurrecting the moa's diet.
Natasha Frost February 13, 2018
Permanently Closed
Duck Village.
Il-Gżira, Malta

Duck Village

The eclectic seaside sanctuary caters to a rather fowl crowd.
Two joyful Australian magpies share a treat.
science

Australian Magpies From Big Families Do Better in Intelligence Tests

The bigger the brood, the brighter the bird.
Natasha Frost February 8, 2018
They're cute, but you really shouldn't.
animals

The CDC Is Begging People to Stop Cuddling Chickens

Snuggling and smooching your poultry may end in salmonella.
Anne Ewbank February 7, 2018
Knock, knock.
science

What's Going on Inside Woodpeckers' Brains?

Researchers pried open the skulls of birds in museum collections to take a closer look.
Jessica Leigh Hester February 2, 2018