Join Debbie Becker on one of her weekly bird walks this Saturday, and you just might see more sweet little phoebes at the Garden.

One species that modern birders can never add to their life lists is the imperial woodpecker, but now, a rediscovered 85-second film clip offers a unique opportunity to see this vanished species in action.

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Each year at Halloween, popular decorations and public perceptions can give some animals a reputation for being menacing or malignant. But some of these creepy critters, like spiders, owls and bats, can be especially beneficial to your backyard habitat.

They say clothes make the man.

Hoopoe caught on limesticks. Photo: Hüseyin Yorgancıname
 
More than 1 million birds have been illegally slaughtered in Cyprus so far this fall, the nonprofit BirdLife Cyprus estimates. They’re being snared in mist nets or trapped with limesticks to feed the demand for Ambelopoulia—banned delicacies that consists of pickled or boiled songbirds.
 

Photo: Courtesy US FWS
Every Thursday we post a funny animal photo that's begging for a caption. Click "Read more" to add your suggestion in the Comments section. On Monday we'll choose our three favorite captions and list them under the image.

Photo: Chris Turner

The ongoing and devastating New Zealand oil spill has imperiled little blue penguins and only do-gooders doing their darndest can help!
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For those of us living north of the equator, it’s nice to know that it’s spring somewhere in the world. And if you were one of the thousands that tuned in faithfully to the Iowa Bald Eagle nest this past spring, you may be ready for a new nest-cam fix.

Pretty boy? Probably a mama's boy, too. Photo: www.dubbelklikdesign.nl

In a nurture-over-nature twist, scientists studying zebra finches found that a mother's investment in early eggs has a greater effect on her son’s good looks than what papa finch actually looked like.