“Bury your head in the sand” is a well-known idiom that means to ignore one’s problems. If you bury your head in the sand, you can’t see your problems - but that doesn’t mean they’ll go away! This ...

Sparrows are often an overlooked bird, due to their rather drab gray-brown plumage and status as one of the world’s most common birds. However, delving deeper into their symbolic meanings in many ...

Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) are cosmopolitan birds of prey that have different migration routes across the globe. They are expert fish hunters that can be found patrolling up and down rivers and ...

Pelicans are unmistakable with their enormous bills and giant webbed feet. There are only eight species of pelicans, though they are distributed across every continent except the Arctic and Antarctica ...

The Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) is a bird species that has long been held in awe for its incredible migrations between the North and South polar regions. Amazingly, recent studies have shown that ...

The American robin (Turdus migratorius) is a familiar sight on lawns across the country, but have you ever wondered whether young American robins are born with the iconic red breast? Or if not, how ...

Geese are members of the Anatidae waterbird family, and there are two genera; Branta, the black geese, and Anser, the grey geese. Geese are powerful, robust birds that tend to live at higher latitudes ...

Budgies – or budgerigars to give them their full official name – are sociable and fascinating birds, also known as parakeets in some countries. Although native to Australia, they are kept as pets all ...

The whimsical Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) is found across the eastern half of North America and parts of Central America, ranging from Ontario and Quebec west to Kansas and Nebraska and ...

“Female peacocks” is an oxymoron. Peacocks are male peafowl, and peahens are female peafowl. There’s no such thing as a “male peacock”! Nevertheless, peafowl have come to be known simply as peacocks.

Sounds like car alarms and cell phones may seem totally out of place coming from backyard shrubbery, but there might be a simple explanation – a skilled avian mimic, working through its playlist. Some ...

Ducks belong to the Anatidae family, which contains some 174 species spread across 43 genera. With their broad and stout body, large beaks and webbed feet, ducks are a common and recognisable sight ...