Dear Bird Folks, I asked my teacher how many different birds there are in the world, but she didn't know, so she asked another teacher. That teacher wasn't sure but thought the world had something like 22,000 different birds. Is she right? - Everett, Grade 1, Eastham...

Dear Bird Folks, I was reading on a birding blog that some guy from Pittsburgh is traveling to the Cape to see birds called "rheas." First of all, I didn't know what a rhea was until I looked it up. Second, what are flightless South American birds doing on Cape Cod...

Dear Bird Folks, My wife and I are planning a trip to New Zealand and Australia in January. We will be doing mostly tourist things, but I'd also like to do some casual birding. Since we only have three weeks, I'm wondering if you have any thoughts as to which country...

Dear Bird Folks, I've just discovered your website and have enjoyed reading your information about birds. Someone in my office told me that penguins don't have knees? That would explain why they walk the way they do. Is it possible that they really don't have knees?...

  Dear Bird Folks, My ten year old son has always wanted to see a roadrunner. We have set up a family vacation to Arizona, where I understand the roadrunner is the state bird. Do you think that we'll actually see roadrunners? Also, do you have any advice on how...

Dear Bird Folks:   Last January, when everything was frozen solid, flocks of starlings would come and splash about in my heated birdbath. When my little cockatiel "Chip" takes a bath, she appears to get soaked down to her pink skin. Why, when the temperature was...