Plus: An amazing puffin video, a bird quiz, and a countdown to the Great Backyard Bird Count
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Cornell Lab eNews

February 8, 2026

Click or tap to read about the sports teams named for birds, and the birds that can be found near stadiums.

Illustration by Joel Popp, 2026 Bartels Illustrator.

Birds to Compete in Super Bowl Today

Birds are a top choice for pro sports teams in need of a nickname, and one of those birdy teams is even competing in the big game! Here's how a host of teams came by their avian mascots—and what eBird has to say about how likely you are to see those birds around the places their teams play. Jump into the colorful stories.

P.S. We're not taking sides on this one, but the Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold uses Merlin Bird ID! 😮

Click or tap to find out all about the Great Backyard Bird Count

Red Crossbills by Nick Saunders / Macaulay Library.

The GBBC Starts Friday—Come Birding With Us!

Next weekend, YOU can participate in a meaningful, collaborative "big game" 😉. From February 13-16, we'll see how many birds we can spot from all around the world. Can we get one million people to come out to join us? It’s great for anyone at any skill level, and it takes as little as 15 minutes. Visit Great Backyard Bird Count to find out more.

 

Free Webinar—Getting Ready for a Wonderful Weekend of Birding:
Wednesday, February 11, 7:00 p.m. ET.
This lively, beginner-friendly webinar will inspire you to get out and get birding for the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend. Register.  

Click or tap to watch an amazing video on Atlantic Puffins

Wild Birds Revealed is sponsored by OM SYSTEM.

How Can Puffins Fly Both in the Air and Underwater?

To answer that question, two wildlife photographers set out to document the flying, floating, and plunging prowess of Atlantic Puffins at sea. See how they devised a clever way to get close to puffins in the water, and the amazing images and videos they recorded. Watch now! 

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Mystery bird by Matt Zuro / Macaulay Library.

What Bird Is This? 

This colorful, medium-sized hawk often hangs out in suburban woods and backyards in the eastern and southeastern U.S. Its relatively short tail and long, broad wings signal it’s a buteo rather than one of the accipiters such as Sharp-shinned or Cooper's Hawk. A separate population lives along the West Coast and in the Central Valley of California. Do you know the name of this species? 

Walk leader Adé Ben-Salahuddin regards an "early" bird. Photo by Nicholas St. Fleur.

Bird News and Resources

 
Have a Birdy Valentine’s Day! We had fun making 16 funny, punny Valentine’s Day cards featuring eagles, swallows, hummingbirds, and more. Perfect for your birdy sweetheart! Download for free.
 
Explore the Bird Family Tree Like Never Before: It's a brand new digital tool for scientists, and a digital toy for bird nerds...presenting the Birds of the World Phylogeny Explorer! See how all the bird species are related, and when they split off from each other over the last 100 million years. Give it a spin! 
 
Meet the Backyard Birds Revealed Photographers: In this special live event on Feb. 24, we’ll sit down with Tim and Russell Laman to chat, take questions, and reveal how they captured beautiful moments for the series. Get details and register.
 

Calling All K-12 Teachers: Are you interested in going to the Peruvian Amazon? The Morpho Institute is offering fellowships to teachers interested in participating in bird research. Deadline: March 1. Learn more and apply here.

 
Be a Part of Positive Change! Calling all land trusts and conservation orgs: Apply for small grants ($10K to $25K) to fund projects that help birds. The deadline for proposals is March 1. Apply now. 

 

Attend a Bird Festival: Festivals are a great way to enjoy birds and meet like-minded people. See our bird festival directory.
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The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a membership institution dedicated to interpreting and conserving the earth’s biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds.

 

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