Conor Gearin

2 weeks ago | birdnote.org | Conor Gearin

BirdNote®Orchard Orioles Band TogetherWritten by Conor GearinThis is BirdNote.     [Orchard Oriole song, ML100785]This bird’s song sounds like a nasally imitation of a robin, and the bird singing it is a rusty-brown riff on a Baltimore Oriole. Called the Orchard Oriole, males have chestnut-colored breasts and black backs and wings, while females and immature birds are mostly yellow.

3 weeks ago | birdnote.org | Conor Gearin

BirdNote®How to Be a Better Wildlife PhotographerWritten by Conor GearinThis is BirdNote. Conservation photographer Noppadol Paothong says that if you go out to take pictures of birds, you shouldn’t just aim to take an eye-catching photo. Noppadol Paothong: I think what's different in my approach is that I know the subject I photograph. I like to watch the animal I photograph, and sometimes I would rather watch them than photograph them.

1 month ago | birdnote.org | Conor Gearin

BirdNote®A Lost Hummingbird is Found AgainWritten by Conor GearinThis is BirdNote.     [Colombian mountain birdsong]The Santa Marta Sabrewing is a hummingbird species so rare, they’ve only been documented twice in recent years. Native to the mountains of Colombia, they’re part of the hummingbird group called “emeralds” for their luminous green feathers. Officially described in 1946, no one reported another sighting until 2010. Then the sabrewings went missing for years.

1 month ago | birdnote.org | Gregg Thompson |Conor Gearin

BirdNote®A Kettle of VulturesWritten by Conor GearinThis is BirdNote.     [Gusts of wind]The sight of hundreds of vultures slowly circling overhead might seem pretty ominous. But most of the time, it just means the vultures are on their way somewhere else. In the daytime, hot air rises as the sun heats the ground. The rising column of air is called a thermal, and it’s the perfect way for a Turkey Vulture to hitch a ride. Like an elevator to the skies, the thermal gently wafts the vultures upward.

1 month ago | birdnote.org | Conor Gearin

BirdNote®Raising the World’s Deadliest BirdWritten by Conor GearinThis is BirdNote. You might think the first bird species that humans raised in captivity would be a relatively small one, like a chicken.     [Rooster call]    [Soundscape from Southern Cassowary habitat]But evidence suggests that people in New Guinea reared the cassowary, often called the world’s deadliest bird, as much as 18,000 years ago, long before the domestication of chickens.