A swift and skilful hunter of the Australian skies, this compact falcon rockets through city parks and woodlands at high speed to catch birds mid-flight. The Australian Hobby is a sleek, medium-sized ...

In Christian art the Goldfinch stands for Christ's Passion, and it appears in hundreds of devotional pictures, Raphael's Madonna of the Goldfinch among them. Here is what it meant, where those ...

A Goldfinch sounds tinkling: a quick two- or three-note call and a fast, liquid song of twitters, trills and buzzes. Listen to recordings of the song, calls and young birds, and learn when, where and ...

The Oregon Junco, the Slate-colored Junco and four other forms are all one species, the Dark-eyed Junco. How to recognize each one, male and female, where each lives, the Guadalupe Junco, and how ...

In early spring, cardinals feed on the ground for seeds in fields, meadows and leaf litter. Once the leaves open, they move up into trees and shrubs for buds and caterpillars. In fall they take fruit ...

The word flamingo comes from the Portuguese/Spanish word ‘flamengo’ meaning flame-coloured when translated and best describes the striking pink feathers of the adult flamingo. However, newly-hatched ...

Crows have a reputation as being not only highly intelligent birds, but also very social ones. The loud, intense cawing of a crow is an unmistakable sound, and is used as a form of communication ...

The Common ostrich is the largest, heaviest bird in the world. These colossal birds can reach a staggering 150kg and 2.8m in height. Ostriches can't fly - they are simply far too large and heavy. To ...

Seagulls - which are actually just gulls from the family Laridae - are some of the world's most widespread and successful birds. There are 54 species of gulls, and they inhabit every continent on the ...

With their tufted crest, buff plumage, bandit-style facemask markings and bright red waxy wing feathers, cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) are a distinctive sight, with large flocks descending on ...

The mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is the most abundant duck species in North America. In fact, ‘Greenheads’, as they are affectionately known are probably the most familiar duck species in the world.

Turkey vultures (Cathartes aura), also known as turkey buzzards, or just buzzards, get a bad wrap because of their wrinkly, bald faces and proclivity toward eating carrion. These birds are not exactly ...