The Institute for Bird Populations

Zoomed in photo of a female Mallard's head by Aaron Maizlish.

🪶 The answer to this week's #BitOBird quiz is....Mallard! Congrats to our winner @pavlovcat.bsky.social ! Don't worry if you missed it this week, we'll post another quiz next Monday at 11am ET/10am CT/9am MT/8am PT.

The clue for the #BitOBird game: a close-up photo of a portion of a bird.

Here's the clue for this week's #BitOBird game! Can you ID this bird from just this little bit? (Note: we stick to North American birds, if not we’ll tell you.) 1st to reply w/ the correct answer gets bird nerd bragging rights. If you're stumped, we'll post the answer in 2 hrs 🪶

Call of the Wild Field biologist and bioacoustic researcher Maia Persche listens to the woods, recording soundscapes that can reveal insights about biodiversity and habitat management.

Our project on #Soundscapes in #Oak #Woodlands led by my incrdible wife, Maia with @uwmadison.bsky.social Zuzana Burivalova at #BarabooHills was featured in @nature.org (magazine)

Check more: @bhrc.bsky.social that includes longterm #birdringing
@instbirdpop.bsky.social

tinyurl.com/nhk3kzxx

Photos of a mug, sweatshirts and a tshirt available at IBP's merch store on Bonfire.com. Text on graphic says Looking for holiday gifts for the Bird Nerds in your life? Check out IBP’s store on Bonfire.com!

Give a gift with double the benefit! Your favorite bird nerd 🪶 gets a cool new mug, hoodie, or more- and the proceeds help fund IBP's science to support effective conservation. All orders printed on demand so there's no waste. Check out our merch here:
www.bonfire.com/stor...

Photo by Jason Ahrns of two Boreal Chickadees sitting on the rim of a blueberry pie in the snow. Text on the graphic says Happy Thanksgiving from your friends at The Institute for Bird Populations.

We're thankful for the birds and so much more! Happy Thanksgiving from your friends at IBP. 🪶

Photo of a Golden-crowed Kinglet perched in afir tree by Eric Guzman. Text below the photo says: Golden=crowned Kinglet by Eric Guzman. 2025 North Cascades National Park.

This photo of a Golden-crowned Kinglet in North Cascades National Park by Eric Guzman won 2nd place in the Birds category of our photo contest. Eric was a member of our backcountry bird surveying team in the National Parks of the Pacific Northwest this year. 🪶🌎🧪

Here, Have A Fancy-Ass Turkey As Americans prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, a quick dive into turkey taxonomy and anatomy.

Can I interest you in some snoods, wattles, & caruncles? 🦃

This post is full of turktastic facts for the big day, as well as a wee bit of shameless self-promotion. But hey, I have some stuff to be thankful for! 🧪

jasonbittel.substack.com/p/here-have-...

Sorry we missed #bitobird this week but we'll be back Dec. 1!

Graphic with a photo of the header of IBP's 2025 Annual Report which features a photo of a Mountain Bluebird taking flight by Nigel/Flick. Text says Our 2025 Annual Report is out now! The Institute for Bird Populations 2025 Annual Report.

🪶🌎🧪 2025 was a challenging year for many, including IBP. Read all about it and the great work we did despite the chaos in our newly released 2025 Annual Report → storymaps.arcgis.com...

#Wisdom is back!
The world’s oldest known living banded bird, Mōlī (Laysan albatross) queen, has returned to Kuailhelani (Midway Atoll). #Birds

Photo of a female William's Sapsucker peeking over the top of a tree snag by Trish Gussler.

🪶 The answer to this week's #BitOBird quiz is....Williamson's Sapsucker! Congrats to our winner @awiner.bsky.social ! Well done! Don't worry if you missed it this week, we'll post another quiz next Monday at 11am ET/10am CT/9am MT/8am PT.

The clue for the #BitOBird game: a close-up photo of a portion of a bird.

Here's the clue for this week's #BitOBird game! Can you ID this bird from just this little bit? (Note: we stick to North American birds, if not we’ll tell you.) 1st to reply w/ the correct answer gets bird nerd bragging rights. If you're stumped, we'll post the answer in 2 hrs 🪶

A red-orange leaf-footed bug sits on a mullein feed head surrounded by other nymphs.

🪶Nick Spigler's photo of a leaf-footed bug took 3rd in the "other wildlife" category of our photo contest. Nick worked on our bird monitoring crew at Fort Bragg in NC, which is home to some of the largest remnants of the endangered longleaf pine ecosystem and the bird community associated with it.

Photo of a dark pink variety of indian paintbrush with lupine and a mountain in the background. Caption below the photo says: Olympic Paintbrush by Melissa Marshall • 2025 Olympic National Park, Washington

🪶 This photo of Olympic paintbrush, was taken by Melissa Marshall in Olympic National Park (of course!) and won 3rd place in the botany category of our photo contest. Melissa was a member of our backcountry bird surveying team in the National Parks of the Pacific Northwest this year.

Photo of a Pinyon Jay perched on a juniper by Nick Athanas. Text on graphic says: New Research from IBP! On a Local Scale, Pinyon-Juniper Specialist Birds are Resilient to Changes in Tree Canopy Cover But it's not all about the trees, shrubs matter too!

🪶🌎🧪New research from IBP and the National Park Service on Pinyon-Juniper bird communities. You can read about it on our blog and access the paper here: birdpop.org/pages/blogPo...

Photo of a snow-covered Mount Rainier in the golden light, with wall of a cabin in the edge of the frame. Caption on the photo says: Mount Rainier by Wren Wagenbach • 2025 Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

Wren Wagenbach's photo of Mount Rainier took 3rd place in the scenery category of our photo contest. Wren was a member of our crew surveying birds in the national parks of the Pacific Northwest as part of the NPS's Inventory and Monitoring Program. 🪶

Photo of a person reading in a hammock in a tropical forest. Caption below the photo says: Relaxation on Rota by Asch Nighthawk • 2025 Rota, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

Asch Nighthawk, a member of our bird monitoring crew on the island of Rota in the western Pacific, also won third place in the fieldwork/lifestyle category with this photo of crewmate Annika relaxing after the day's work was done. 🪶

A six-panel comic. In panel 1, text says "People often wonder, why don't I see baby pigeons? Here's where they're hiding:" and there's an egg with an arrow pointing to a question mark, then an arrow pointing to an adult pigeon. Panel 2 says "Pigeons don't nest in trees. They nest in sheltered spaces on or in buildings. This keeps their babies safe from weather and predators." There's a pigeon nesting in a sheltered cavity in the side of a building. Panel 3 says "The hidden babies look like this: like moldy potatoes, but cute" and there are two baby pigeons looking, well, like moldy pink and gray potatoes with yellow fuzz. Panel 4 says "Older baby pigeons hide in plain sight. When they leave the nest, they're adult-sized, but they're still young and learning" and a fledgling pigeon is flying out of a building saying "aaaaaa". Panel 5 says "Here's how to identify these young pigeons" and shows a fledgling pigeon with arrows pointing to these features: eyes may be gray-brown, pale-edged feathers, smaller "nose" (cere), subdued hues, and looks worried. Panel 6 says "Scientifically speaking, though, all pigeons are sweet babies" and there are three very cute round pigeons, a gray, white, and red one, with arrows pointing to them to make things look scientific.

Baby pigeon mystery.
My pigeon book is here: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/rosem...

Photo of a Brown Booby flying just overhead against a blue sky by Asch Nighthawk. Caption on photo says "Brown Booby by Asch Nighthawk 2025 Rota, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands"

Each year IBP holds a photo contest for our seasonal employees. This photo of a Brown Booby by Asch Nighthawk took 3rd place this year. Asch was a member of our Tropical MAPS crew, monitoring birds on the island of Rota, CNMI in the western Pacific. 🪶🌎🧪

Photo by Michele Dorsey Walfred of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker perched on a wood deck or feeder.

🪶 The answer to this week's #BitOBird quiz is....Yellow-bellied Sapsucker! Congrats to our winner @birderk.bsky.social ! Don't worry if you missed it this week, we'll post another quiz next Monday at 11am ET/10am CT/9am MT/8am PT.

The clue for the #BitOBird game: a close-up photo of a portion of a bird.

Here's the clue for this week's #BitOBird game! Can you ID this bird from just this little bit? (Note: we stick to North American birds, if not we’ll tell you.) 1st to reply w/ the correct answer gets bird nerd bragging rights. If you're stumped, we'll post the answer in 2 hrs 🪶

Photo by Michele Dorsey Walfred of two Blue Jays at a feeder full of peanuts. Each bird has a peanut in its beak. Text on the graphic says: Have a great weekend! Hope you have a fun dinner out with your friends.

🪶 Have a great weekend!

Yup! It's a bird-eat-bird world out there!

Photo of a Juniper Titmouse by Wendy Miller. Text on the graphic says "Unsolicited Bird Fact: Female Juniper Titmice don't scare easily. When a predator approaches an incubating female on the nest, she doesn't flee- she hisses like a snake. Researchers in the 1940s checking nests noted that females often had to be removed the nest by hand in order to see the eggs. This bravado may work well when dealing with Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays, who frequently raid Titmouse nests to eat the eggs or nestlings.

Did you ask for a bird fact? No, but you're getting one whether you like it or not. 🪶

A photo by Allan Hack of a California Quail calling against a backdrop of green leaves. A speech bubble from the bird says "Thank you Mount Diablo Bird Alliance."

🪶 A big thank you to Mount Diablo Bird Alliance for their generous support of IBP during these uncertain times when many of our projects with our federal partners have been cancelled. We are grateful for you!

Photo of a coffee mug with a graphic with the "Unsolicited Bird Facts" shooting star, and a drawing of a Chickadee with a speech bubble that says "Did you ask for a bird fact? No, but you're getting one whether you like it or not. "

🪶 Are you a fan of our Unsolicited Bird Facts? Do you force avian trivia on your friends? You need this mug! Plus, your purchase will benefit a great non-profit that does research to support effective conservation of #birds and other wildlife.

www.bonfire.com/unso...

Way to go @dane2.bsky.social ! You are our winner!

Photo by Julio Mulero of a Montezuma Quail standing on a rock.

🪶 The answer to this week's #BitOBird quiz is....Montezuma Quail! Congrats to our winner! Don't worry if you missed it this week, we'll post another quiz next Monday at 11am ET/10am CT/9am MT/8am PT.

The clue for the #BitOBird game: a close-up photo of a portion of a bird.

Here's the clue for this week's #BitOBird game! Can you ID this bird from just this little bit? (Note: we stick to North American birds, if not we’ll tell you.) 1st to reply w/ the correct answer gets bird nerd bragging rights. If you're stumped, we'll post the answer in 2 hrs 🪶

Photo of a juvenile Spotted Owl by Skylar Bol. The photo is edited so that the owl is wearing an Ewok costume and holding a spear. Text on graphic says Happy Hall-owl-ween.

🪶 Happy Hall-🦉-ween! How do you like my costume?