June 2013

Editor Chuck Hagner explains why our annual mid-year roundup of new books -- and feature articles about coffee, whip-poor-wills, and Peregrine Falcons -- are sure to increase your understanding and enjoyment of spring's birds.

Dramatic photos show what happens when rival Peregrine Falcons compete for a preferred nest site on a bridge outside Cleveland, Ohio.

Reminiscences of the role played by the whip-poor-will in two items of great beauty -- a famed short story by William Faulkner and a friendship with two Massachusetts birding legends.

Answers to readers' questions about our February 2013 article about coffee and birds, and a list of popular coffee brands that are bad for birds.

Located just four miles north of the Rio Grande, a great place to find 30 South Texas specialties.

In this oasis in the desert northwest of downtown Las Vegas, four small lakes and plenty of trees attract birds year-round.

An urban magnet for migrating warblers with a beautiful, panoramic view of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon.

On the north shore of Lake Ontario, marshes and forests that host three world-class migration events every year.

How Mother Nature balances gains and losses among bird species.

Five simple ways you can make your yard list grow.

How large and small eggs and long and short incubation periods affect different hatchlings' survival chances.

How to distinguish Gambel's Quail from California and Scaled Quail. Plus, what to look for to recognize the unusual Gambel's Quail X Scaled Quail hybrid.

What to look for when a bird looks other than expected.

A woodland warbler, a grassland sparrow, and a marsh-nesting tern to look for in May and June.

What bands reveal about where a Peregrine Falcon was banded and the incredible distance it flew.

Why Belted Kingfishers sometimes act like flying battering rams.

How introduced shrubs are turning the feathers of Baltimore Orioles red.

Why researchers believe a vulture painted in 1734 and described in 1791 but never seen again may have been real.

How American Redstarts painted by an Ontario artist for the 2013 International Migratory Bird Day poster show four seasons of migration.

A Spotted Redshank in Indiana, Common Eider in Oregon, and four more recent rarities.

How a new refuge in Ecuador will protect breeding habitat for the Esmeraldas Woodstar, one of the world’s smallest and rarest hummingbirds.

Suggestions from third-graders for saving Spotted Owls, and reader-taken photos of a Red-tailed Hawk, Bohemian Waxwings, a nest full of Eastern Kingbirds, a shimmering Anna's Hummingbird, a darling Sandhill Crane chick, a thirsty Baltimore Oriole, and a young Black-crowned Night-Heron. Also, see the winner of our most recent photo contest.

How kneeling on a California beach produced a beautiful bill-level view of a pair of Black Oystercatchers.

Readers respond to our recent articles about preventing window collisions, feather color, kinglet identification, and coffee farms and migratory birds.