This is Bird Note.

If you're trying to spot a bird, you should look up, right?

While it's true that there are many beautiful birds to see in the sky,

plenty of species are easier to find by keeping your eyes and ears to the ground.

For birds like this spotted towe, the forest floor

is like a grocery store stocked with protein-packed insects and fatty berries ripe for the picking.

Like many sparrows, the towees use their powerful feet to kick up leaf litter beneath dense underbrush.

If you come across a roadside mudflat or crop field, check to see if any of those scattered

rocks are on the move.

These open habitats are great stopover sites for migratory shorebirds looking for rest and a meal.

Songbirds, like these American pippets, are also frequent visitors. Their tan brown feathers

help them blend into the background as they scuttle about, often bobbing their tails as they go.

Pippets are so well suited to traveling on foot that they've got extra long claws on their back toes to keep steady

on rough terrain. Even some colorful songbirds prefer to skulk. You might think this Kentucky

warbler's bright yellow throat would be easy to find in the swampy woodlands it calls home,

but he's happy to sing to the high heavens with both feet on solid ground.

For Bird Note, I'm Ariana Rimmel.