Countryside living. Getting on a bit. It was only a matter of time before I gave into certain impulses: I’m curious about birdlife. It’s a curiosity that’s at risk of developing into outright ...

Heard a chirp or spotted a flutter? These free apps identify backyard birds by sight or sound — no binoculars or in-depth ...

Birding is a popular pastime for people of all ages. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, more than 45 million people enjoy watching birds. It’s a hobby you can pick up at any time, it’s ...

Springtime and the world in early May is alive with birdsong before sunrise: to some, a discordant cacophony, to others, a heavenly, harmonious chorus. Gone are the days when you just grabbed your ...

I heard a tune playing over a grocery store’s sound system but could not recall the name of song or singer. I opened the Shazam app on my phone and nodded to myself — “You Never Can Tell” by Chuck ...

It’s spring, and nature is pulling me away from my computer as I write this. The sun is shining, the world is warming up, and the birds are chirping away. And that got me thinking: What if a ...

Is that the tweet of a titmouse? Or the chirp of a chickadee? After you download the Merlin Bird ID app, you can use your smartphone to identify sounds and match them to the birds in trees nearby and ...

Spring is the time to tune your ears to melodies and call notes of songbirds, as males sing their hearts out during spring breeding season. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology released the Merlin app in ...

Merlin was on the job at Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis Park one recent day, helping birders identify bird songs. Not Merlin the storied magician, although what was happening could be ...

Despite its brilliant plumage — jet-black wings on a crimson body — the songbird can be a hard one to spot in a forest because it prefers to stay high in the canopy. It sounds a little like a robin to ...

I’m not a bird watcher, but I’ve become a bird listener ever since downloading a bionic ear app to my phone. It lets me enter a different world, one where I’m surrounded not just by chirping but by ...