Many birds have common names that refer to their dominant body color, like the Gray Catbird. Yet some species of gray birds received more colorful descriptors than others. Silvered, plumbeous, glaucous, and slate are just some of the bird world’s many shades of gray!More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

In 1907, a German pharmacist named Julius Neubronner invented the pigeon camera. It was a small camera strapped to a pigeon’s breast — like a photographic baby-bjorn. A timer let the camera take multiple snapshots throughout the bird’s flight. This allowed for some of the earliest aerial photography, and even seemed promising for military reconnaissance.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

In this episode, environmental educator and nature enthusiast Nicole Jackson tells the story of an unexpected backyard birding experience when she visited her mom in 2021. When she arrived, Nicole saw typical birds such as robins and jays, but then saw something less common: a brightly colored Blackburnian Warbler! Nicole’s mom asked what she was looking at, and Nicole showed her pictures of all the nearby birds on her phone. Nicole helped her mom create an account on Merlin Bird ID and document her first bird sighting.This week is Black Birders Week. Learn how to participate in Black Birders Week here and by following #BlackBirdersWeek on social media.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Deja Perkins, an urban ecologist and co-organizer of Black Birders Week, remembers seeing House Sparrows all over Chicago as a kid. These little brown birds are native to Eurasia and North Africa, but were forced to adapt to many places around the world where they were introduced. Though many people consider House Sparrows to be urban pests, Deja admires them and draws parallels between their natural history and the story of her own ancestors.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.

Grackles, vultures, and other big black birds are often disparaged by people who’d rather they stay out of sight. But Marcus Rosten, an environmental educator and co-organizer of Black Birders Week, appreciates these birds for the important roles they play in nature and the ways their stories reflect his own experience as a Black birder.This year, Black Birders Week is celebrating miraculous shades of brown by highlighting the beauty and importance of sparrows while also drawing parallels with the struggles and triumphs of Black birders. Learn more about how to participate in this week’s events here.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.