The Black-headed Grosbeak is a large russet-toned songbird with a massive egg-shaped head and a gargantuan triangular bill ideally suited to cracking nuts and seeds. The body is thick, tubular and robust with a fairly short tail for its chunky size. Breeding males have a burnt-orange body, blackened head, wings, and tail with bright slashes [...]

The Great Egret is the iconic symbol of the National Audubon Society and the American conservation movement, representing the successful fight against the 19th-century feather trade. Nearly hunted to extinction for their billowing, glossy white breeding feathers used in the fashion millinery trade, their plight spurred major conservation legislation resulting in landmark bird protection laws [...]

Double-crested Cormorants are a common sight on California’s coast and waterways, often seen flying in a V-formation or swimming with only their necks and heads visible. They are often seen standing with wings spread out to dry, because they have evolved to have feathers that become easily waterlogged, allowing them to dive deeper without air bubbles getting [...]

The American Pipit is a welcome winter visitor to our parks and open spaces with wide expanses of grassy scrubland. This diminutive songbird breeds in the most northerly arctic tundras and lofty arid mountain tops. Pipits then escape that increasingly frozen terrain in the fall, descending in noisy flocks to safely overwinter in our far [...]

The Merlin is a small, powerfully built falcon known for its incredible speed, agility, and fierce hunting prowess. A fearsome hunter, this bird of prey specializes in rapid aerial ambushes of smaller birds. Historically, in medieval Europe they were used in falconry, being particularly favored by noblewomen for hunting skylarks, earning them the nickname “lady [...]