Wild files | Willy's Wilderness

A bright yellow bird perched on a snag, singing with an open beak against a blurred green and brown background.

Noisy neighbors: Birds you're hearing now

Discover the birds making noise this spring and summer! Learn about bluebirds, owls, towhees and kingfishers while exploring nature with your ears.

Get outside

A silhouette of a person stargazing under a vast, starry sky with a bright meteor trail.

Fun after dark: Explore the night sky

Explore the May night sky with this simple guide. Discover stars, constellations, and fun ways to watch the sky at night.

Get outside

A bearded vulture with striking orange and black feathers stands on rocky terrain, against a backdrop of rugged stone cliffs.

Wild Relatives: The bone-eating bearded vulture

Bearded vultures are not like other birds. These large mountain birds eat bones and even drop them from the sky to crack them open. Discover how they survive and why they are so unique.

Creature features

A meandering brown river winds through dense green forest, visible from an aerial view, with fields in the distant background.

A river adventure: Explore from source to sea

Join Willy the Woodchuck on a river adventure. Learn how rivers start, grow and travel from source to sea.

The more you know

A low-angle view of a person in blue shorts kicking sand on a beach at sunset, with golden light and mountains in the background.

Science at the beach: Hot sand, cool water

Have you ever walked across the sand at the beach on a hot summer day? It’s hot, right? Good thing you can cool off your feet by dipping them in the water. But wait? Why is the sand so much hotter than the water? Try this simple at-home experiment to find out.

Try it!