Category Ornithology

Queens of the Sky: Understanding Female Size Dominance in Raptors

WildWatch Weekly Queens of the Sky: Understanding Female Size Dominance in Raptors Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube A Perfect Time to Look Up As we get ready to kick off another exciting Bald Eagle Cam season at PixCam, it’s the perfect time to look up and reconnect with the incredible raptors that call Pennsylvania home. Soon, fans of the Hays bald eagles (now Glen Hazel), and our other eagle nests across the state, will once again be tuning in daily to watch courtship displays,...

Beyond Parrots: Surprising Songbirds That Mimic in Your Backyard

WildWatch Weekly Beyond Parrots: Surprising Songbirds That Mimic in Your Backyard Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube The Hidden Impersonators: Local Birds That Copy Calls and Songs When most people think of birds that mimic sounds, their minds jump straight to parrots. It’s no surprise that parrots are famous for imitating human speech and other noises. But what many backyard birdwatchers don’t realize is that some of the best vocal impressionists in the bird world are found right...

The Starling’s American Takeover: Beauty, Chaos, and Song

WildWatch Weekly The Starling’s American Takeover: Beauty, Chaos, and Song Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube A Sky in Motion Like a living cloud, a murmuration of starlings twists and folds above a winter field, nature’s ballet, born of an accident in American history. The flock moves as if guided by a single mind, sweeping and turning in fluid arcs that shimmer with the last golden light of day. Each bird reacts in perfect harmony with its neighbors, creating patterns that seem...

The Giant Woodpecker of Our Woods: A Closer Look at the Pileated

WildWatch Weekly The Giant Woodpecker of Our Woods: A Closer Look at the Pileated Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube A Drumbeat in the Forest It’s often the sound that reaches you first, a deep, resonant whock-whock-whock echoing through the woods like the steady rhythm of a carpenter at work. The forest seems to pause for a moment as the sound rolls across the hills, revealing that one of the woodland’s most impressive residents is nearby: the pileated woodpecker. With its bold...

The Power of Many: How Citizen Scientists Are Changing Ornithology

WildWatch Weekly The Power of Many: How Citizen Scientists Are Changing Ornithology Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube The Power of the Crowd Every spring and fall, one of nature’s greatest spectacles unfolds overhead: millions of birds embark on epic migrations, traveling thousands of miles across continents. For centuries, this awe-inspiring movement was a mystery. Scientists pieced together clues using small-scale banding programs, scattered field observations, and a lot of...

Grace in the Marsh: Sandhill Cranes at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge

WildWatch Weekly Grace in the Marsh: Sandhill Cranes at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube Sandhill Cranes on INWR Live Streaming Camera Introduction: A Rare Sighting on Camera There are certain moments in wildlife watching that feel almost magical, and this past week brought one of those rare experiences to our PixCams live streams. Viewers tuning in to the cameras at the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge were treated to the unmistakable sight of...

American Crows—Smart, Social, and Surprisingly Complex

WildWatch Weekly American Crows—Smart, Social, and Surprisingly Complex Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube The American Crow - Identification & Behavior The American Crow is one of the most familiar and easily recognized birds in North America. About the size of a Red-tailed Hawk’s wing length when fully spread, yet slimmer in build, crows measure roughly 16–21 inches long with a wingspan of 33–39 inches. Their all-black appearance from bill to tail gives them a striking...

How Tracking Devices Unlock the Secrets of Bird Migration

WildWatch Weekly How Tracking Devices Unlock the Secrets of Bird Migration Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube Marshall Radio Telemetry Tracking Device How Tracking Devices Unlock the Secrets of Bird Migration Every year, billions of birds take to the skies, embarking on extraordinary migrations that span continents and oceans. For centuries, humans could only wonder where these feathered travelers disappeared to each fall and how they found their way back each spring. But thanks to...

Juvenile Helpers: Cooperative Breeding in Bluebirds

WildWatch Weekly Juvenile Helpers: Cooperative Breeding in Bluebirds Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube Nature's Helping Hands: Cooperative Breeding Not all birds fly the nest and leave family life behind. In a remarkable natural behavior known as cooperative breeding, some juvenile birds actually stick around to help raise their younger siblings. That’s exactly what we’ve seen recently at one of our PixCams neighbors nest cameras a young bluebird from an earlier brood lending a...

Flocking Together: Why Birds Form Winter Groups

WildWatch Weekly Flocking Together: Why Birds Form Winter Groups Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube The Perks of Group Living: Why Birds Flock Together in Winter Have you ever looked out your window on a chilly winter morning and noticed a flurry of birds gathering together? From small flocks of chickadees and titmice to vast clouds of starlings moving in synchronized swirls, flocking behavior is a fascinating and essential survival strategy for many species. But why do birds come...