Nature Notes
Why do rattlesnakes rattle and hummingbirds hum?
How do flowers market themselves to pollinators?
Why do tarantulas cross the road?
Nature Notes investigates questions like these about the natural world of the Chihuahuan Desert region and the Llano Estacado. Through interviews with scientists and field recordings, this Marfa Public Radio original series reveals the secrets of desert life.
Join host Dallas Baxter for new episodes on each week on Thursdays. Episodes are written and produced by Andrew Stuart and edited by Marfa Public Radio and the Sibley Nature Center in Midland, Texas.
Nature Notes is supported by Shield-Ayres Foundation.
Latest Episodes
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Animals and insects aren’t being altruistic when they pollinate a plant. So how do plants attract and reward them for their services? -
Learning to vocalize is a surprisingly unusual ability in the animal world. How do young songbirds master their musical talents? -
Ladybugs are renowned as a good luck symbol and welcomed with open arms by gardeners. Why are these colorful insects worthy of such admiration? -
The 21 oak species in our region assume many forms and are survivors of the last Ice Age. Who are these tenacious trees? And what animals depend on them today? -
Some birds sing. Others twitter, tweet or trill. But the common nighthawk goes boom in the night. This noise isn’t all that sets nighthawks apart in the avian world. What else makes them unique? -
Big Bend National Park is home to many rare and endangered species, but the Big Bend gambusia lives particularly close to the edge of extinction. How has this fish hung on to such a precarious existence? -
Not all owls hunt at night and nest in trees. Burrowing owls greet the sun from abandoned prairie dog dens. What else makes these tiny birds unique? -
Summer storms send many desert frogs and toads into a raucous reproductive frenzy. What role do their choruses play in their hasty courtship? -
In the Chihuahuan Desert, we spend fall, winter, spring and summer talking about our fifth season—the rainy season. What does its arrival mean for our plant and animal neighbors? -
The Chihuahuan Desert and the Llano Estacado have a wealth of wintering hawks. Several species nest in the region, too. Each family of hawks has its own hunting behavior. Can you use their behavioral cues to identify each hawk species on the wing?
