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A California condor, the largest North American bird with a wingspan of up to 10 feet.
animals

How the California Condor Comeback Was Hatched

Once on the brink of extinction, the massive birds now number in the hundreds.
Danna Staaf June 7, 2023
On the nesting colony platform, a common tern watches over its chicks beside tufts of artificial grass that mimic the birds' traditional nesting habitat.
science

Maryland's Rare Seabirds Get a Life Raft and Babysitters

Scientists don bike helmets and dodge bird poop to care for a colony of endangered common terns.
Ashley Stimpson June 6, 2023
A Steller’s sea eagle near Sapporo, Japan.
science

What a Roving Steller's Sea Eagle May Tell Us About Ourselves

Thousands of miles from its native range, the raptor illustrates how attitudes toward nature vary.
Adriana Craciun May 22, 2023
A swallow in Griebnitzsee
Potsdam, Germany

Griebnitzsee Rauchschwalben (Gribnitzsee Station Swallows)

A local train station entrance hall doubles as a sanctuary for barn swallows.
The Gloucester Cathedral–shaped lamprey pie for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.
medieval

5 of Our Favorite Odd Traditions of English Royalty

From a coronation pie made of lampreys to someone to chat with you in the loo.
April White April 26, 2023
A white pelican with a bump on its bill is pictured here standing next to the brown pelican, a state symbol, which are often only a third the size of white pelicans.
Placida, Florida

White Pelican Island

Every winter, this tiny islet on Florida’s Gulf Coast is swarmed by some of the largest birds on the continent.
bird
Pilcopata, Peru

Jardín de Picaflores Inkamazonia

The Peruvian Andes are a center of hummingbird diversity, and this garden offers an opportunity to see more than 30 species of hummingbirds.
The "tyrant of Lake Lucerne" is now a taxidermied attraction—sometimes on display at the Orange County Regional History Center—and his descendants occupy the city's lakes.
objects of intrigue

Meet the Ornery Granddaddy of Orlando's Famed Swans

Billy was a local celebrity in the early 1900s. And he might have been a murderer.
April White April 18, 2023
Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta

Pelican Island

Hundreds of pelicans call this island no larger than a car their home during the summer months.
Snow geese fly away from Montana's Berkeley Pit after a sunrise hazing in 2021.
science

At Montana's Infamous Berkeley Pit, Saving Lives Means Hazing Birds

Engineers and ecologists have considered everything from lasers to cannons to keep waterfowl out of the toxic water.
Sarah Trent April 10, 2023
The Gocta Waterfalls in northwestern Peru are the subject of one of our favorite recent Atlas Obscura Podcast episodes.
science

7 Recent Atlas Obscura Podcast Episodes You Just Have to Hear

For our two-year pod-iversary we're headed back to some of the coolest places we've taken you recently.
April White March 22, 2023
This photo, captured by researchers Matthew Gardner and David Pereira on Grand Bahama in 2018, is one of the last-known sightings of the Bahama nuthatch. It is believed the bird was wiped out by Hurricane Dorian in 2019.
science

The Last Days of the Bahama Nuthatch

What's it like to "very probably" witness extinction?
Shoshi Parks March 15, 2023
Culver Hole
Port Eynon, Wales

Culver Hole

This tall stone wall with no door and ill-matched windows was built centuries ago, and used as a shelter for domesticated pigeons.
White ibis at Coburg Lake Reserve
Melbourne, Australia

Bin Chicken Island

This island at Coburg Lake Reserve is home to a sizable, very visible colony of Australian white ibis.
paintings

Did Ancient Egypt Have a Pigeon Problem?

More than 3,000 years ago, the birds appeared in unexpected places.
Shoshi Parks January 25, 2023
Written by Elizabeth Z Pardue, Photos by Michele Zapf
islands

This Tiny Island Was Settled Thousands of Years Ago. It Hasn’t Really Changed.

Home to 4,600-acres of natural wonderland, mysterious ancient artifacts, and Gullah Geechee history.
Cher Ami, a black checker pigeon, earned his fame carrying messages for the American military during World War I. The pigeons recruited by the CIA during the Cold War were trained to undertake more clandestine tasks.
cold war

When the CIA Spied on American Citizens—Using Pigeons

The seemingly birdbrained Cold War experiment is still partially classified.
Steven Ewin January 11, 2023
Video • Discover More Wonder in Visit St. Pete/Clearwater

Dive Into Florida’s Sunken Gardens

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