News

White-throated Sparrow

White-throated Sparrows are changing their tune: your recordings at work for science
By Kathi Borgmann
The sweet song of the White-throated Sparrow drifts through forests and meadows all summer long across Canada, the northeastern U.S., and the northern Midwest. Field guides tell us that the song they sing sounds like Oh-sweet-canada-canada-canada or Old-Sam-Peabody-Peabody-Peabody.  But, Dr. Ken Otter, from the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada, and colleagues recently discovered that…
Read more White-throated Sparrows are changing their tune: your recordings at work for science
Jerry Liguori, raptor expert, preserves his legacy in the Macaulay Library

Jerry Liguori, raptor expert, preserves his legacy in the Macaulay Library
By Kathi Borgmann
Jerry Liguori has dedicated his life to sharing his knowledge and passion for raptors with the world. Nobody knows raptors better than Liguori—he is the authority on North American hawks. Liguori has authored numerous articles and three authoritative, must-have books on raptor identification, as well as a ground-breaking video-focused raptor ID app. His books offer…
Read more Jerry Liguori, raptor expert, preserves his legacy in the Macaulay Library
Chipping Sparrow

A simple song can say a lot: Geographic differences in the Chipping Sparrow’s song are discovered using citizen-science recordings
By Abigail Searfoss, PhD and Nicole Creanza, PhD, Vanderbilt University
Many avian species in North America differ in physical appearance, leading researchers to split them into separate subspecies, often based on geography. Just how subspecies form is a question many researchers are trying to answer: How do these physical and plumage differences arise? Do subspecies have behavioral differences, too, such as different songs? How do…
Read more A simple song can say a lot: Geographic differences in the Chipping Sparrow’s song are discovered using citizen-science recordings
An expedition to the Solomon Islands with sound recordist Lucas DeCicco

An expedition to the Solomon Islands with sound recordist Lucas DeCicco
By Kathi Borgmann
In the 21st century, surprising as it might seem, there are still places on earth that we know little about. Take the Solomon Islands, a group of six major islands with more than 900 smaller islands in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea. Scientists say that there is still…
Read more An expedition to the Solomon Islands with sound recordist Lucas DeCicco