A paradise tanager looks directly into a camera with its green head cocked, visible red spot on its back, and stunningly bright blue breast.
Research and Collections
Hidden black and white feathers are the secret behind songbirds' dazzling colors
Colorful songbirds like tanagers use a painterly technique to make their colors pop
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Vintage illustration of various feathers and specimen skins of birds
Research and Collections
How Bird Feathers Work
A brief look at the structure of feathers—and what they mean to birds
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An silhouette of a bird filled with naming words like 'black' 'western' etc
Research and Collections
A First Step to Bird Names as Simple as ABC
First-of-its-kind Avian Lexicon Atlas maps how bird species get their names
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Illustration of ice age bird, the teratorn.
Meet Teratorn, the Largest Bird Found at La Brea Tar Pits
The teratorn was undoubtedly big, but was it a big vulture or something else?
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A male house finch with a little red plumage around its beak and breast alongside otherwise gray feathers being held still by a person's hand
Research and Collections
Bird banding, Wildfire Smoke, and the Nature Gardens
Researchers band birds and collect feathers in the Nature Gardens to study the impacts of wildfire smoke on birds.
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House Finch Collection Drawer
Wildfire Smoke in Bird Feathers
NHM researchers look at dirty feathers to understand the effects of wildfire smoke on birds
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Close up of Andean Storm-petrel Tag
The Newly Described Andean Storm-Petrel Is Just Our Type (Specimen)
Get a behind-the-scenes look at Ornithology's type cabinet and meet some of the specimens used to describe new bird species
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Red-tailed hawk perched next to a pipe on its nest
Hawks Are Everywhere!
Red-tailed Hawks Nesting at the Coliseum
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Lunar New Year year of the dragon illustration
Year of the Dragon
Celebrate the 2024 Lunar New Year, Year of the Dragon, with highlights from the collection 
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Blue-grey gnatcatcher on Laurel Sumac from the Irwindale burn area
Nature in L.A.
Ash and Green Shoots
Wildfires can leave scars on our psyches and the landscape. Community Science Program Manager Sam Tayag discusses finding solace in witnessing nature’s recovery.
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