How Do Birds Know When to Migrate?
Lengthening days set off a cascade of events in migratory birds that culminates in the birth of a clutch of chicks.....»»
Mammals were not the first to be warm-blooded
Endothermy, or warm-bloodedness, is the ability of mammals and birds to produce their own body heat and control their body temperature......»»
New study offers hope to endangered species troubled by neophobia
Findings from a new study investigating how birds experience neophobia, which is the fear of new things, could play a vital role in helping to save Critically Endangered species......»»
Watch live as 55,000 beluga whales migrate across the ocean
Every year, around this time, around two-thirds of the world’s beluga whales migrate to southern Canadian waters. Normally, following this kind of yearly migration would be more difficult. Thankfully, Explore.org and Polar Bears International follo.....»»
Study of published research suggests both brain size and brain-to-body ratio are factors in intelligence in birds
An international team of researchers has found evidence that both total brain size and the size of a brain in relation to the body are factors that determine intelligence in animals. In their paper published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolutio.....»»
The unexpected benefit of designing farms for the birds and the bees
Hint: It has to do with your morning coffee. Sipping a coffee on your way to work is a ritual most people take for granted without thinking about how the delicious coffee beans reached their cup. You probably know that coffee comes from tropical regi.....»»
Brain size vs. body size and the roots of intelligence
In birds, brains that expand after birth appear to be linked to creative behavior. Enlarge (credit: Andrew Howe) Behavior that we'd consider intelligent is oddly widespread in the animal kingdom. Animals with very different br.....»»
Rebound for bird on brink of extinction
A recent survey in northern Victoria uncovered a record number of plains wanderers—small, quail-like birds that live only in eastern Australia grasslands, and represent an ancient lineage of birds that evolved in Gondwana more than 100 million year.....»»
Study reveals yunnanozoans as the oldest known stem vertebrates
Scientists have long puzzled over the gap in the fossil record that would explain the evolution from invertebrates to vertebrates. Vertebrates, including fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and humans, share unique features, such as a backb.....»»
Mercury exposure disrupts the lipid metabolism of migratory birds
Migratory birds have been called the super-athletes of the animal kingdom because of the remarkable endurance they display during hours-long, non-stop flights that can span thousands of kilometers. Their endurance is made possible by several unique p.....»»
Evidence found that colorful ventral wings help colonizing birds avoid collisions
A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in China, the U.S. and Germany has found evidence that suggests that colorful ventral wings help colonizing birds to avoid running into one another. In their paper published in the journal Pr.....»»
Avian influenza: Past, present, future
Due to the possibility that bird flu viruses could mutate and gain the ability to spread easily between people, avian influenza poses a significant pandemic threat to birds and humans alike. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) h.....»»
Study explores coevolution of mammals and their lice
According to a new study, the first louse to take up residence on a mammalian host likely started out as a parasite of birds. That host-jumping event tens of millions of years ago began the long association between mammals and lice, setting the stage.....»»
How the Yurok Tribe is bringing back the California Condor
Birds' reintroduction offered insight into importance of parenting in species. Enlarge / The California condor is a New World vulture, the largest North American land bird. This condor became extinct in the wild in 1987, but the specie.....»»
The hawk has landed: braking mid-air to prioritize safety over energy or speed
Researchers at the University of Oxford have found that hawks control their flight to ensure the safest landing conditions when perching, even if it takes longer and more energy to do so. Understanding how birds optimise their landing manoeuvres thro.....»»
Birds warned of food shortages by neighbor birds change physiology and behavior to prepare
Songbirds learning from nearby birds that food supplies might be growing short respond by changing their physiology as well as their behavior, research by the Oregon State University College of Science shows......»»
New survey suggests charismatic songbird"s numbers have dramatically declined
The evening grosbeak, a noisy and charismatic songbird, once arrived at Oregon State University in springtime flocks so vast an OSU statistics professor estimated there were up to a quarter million of the birds on campus daily......»»
Identifying bird species by sound, an app opens new avenues for citizen science
The BirdNET app, a free machine-learning powered tool that can identify over 3,000 birds by sound alone, generates reliable scientific data and makes it easier for people to contribute citizen-science data on birds by simply recording sounds......»»
New research suggests heat waves could lead to avian population decline
Understanding how birds respond to climate change is a critical area of research that Elizabeth Derryberry, associate professor in the UT Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and her colleagues are racing to understand, including the incre.....»»
Infrastructure, hunting and climate change linked to huge migratory bird declines
Migratory birds are declining globally because of the way that humans have modified the landscape over recent decades—according to new research from the University of East Anglia......»»
The importance of large pieces of wood in streams for land-based animals
Land managers have invested millions of dollars annually since the 1980s to place large pieces of wood back in streams, owing primarily to its importance for fish habitat. But little is known about how large wood in streams impacts birds and land-bas.....»»