Calling all bird watchers! 🐦 Join the Great Backyard Bird Count Feb 13–16. Spend 15+ minutes watching birds, count what you see, and submit to eBird or Merlin to help scientists protect birds worldwide. 🐦🌎 Learn more: https://www.birdcount.org/.

Let’s go, girls! 🙂‍↕️ Today is #InternationalWomenAndGirlsInScienceDay, and we are celebrating by hearing from just a few of the amazing women scientists at The Morton Arboretum! 👩‍🔬 Drop a 🔬 in the comments to celebrate women in science—or tag a woman or girl who’s interested in tree science. 💚

Bark is beautiful. 🌳 Come see for yourself! Each species has a characteristic color and texture to its bark. 🌈 Bark isn’t just for looks—it’s a tree’s armor! 💪 🔗 Learn more and discover some distinctive bark textures across the Arboretum: https://arb.eco/3LIvzPX.

With cold temps ahead, you may hear about “exploding trees” — but it’s not that explosive. 🌳❄️ Sudden cold rarely causes this. What’s more common is frost cracking, when bark warms in the sun, then cools and shrinks faster than the inner wood, creating a vertical crack. Learn more: bit.ly/4a9Lb8k.

Snowy songbird trail, @mortonarboretum.bsky.social this morning.

Undergrads: strengthen your research skills with a summer at the Arboretum! Gain the guidance of staff scientists through the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at The Morton Arboretum. Apps due Jan. 31! bit.ly/49t9pZD #SummerInternship #TreeScience #STEM

The Arboretum is pleased to have been mentioned among @wttw.bsky.social’s most-read nature stories in 2025, for an important article on stopping the spread of invasive buckthorn in Chicago-region forests. ICYMI, read more here: bit.ly/4q8xWKE