Feature Channels: Birds

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To woo a mate, the Albert’s Lyrebird of Australia becomes a real song-and-dance bird. Each male first chooses a stage of entangled vines, then in performance he shakes the vines as part of his courtship footwork, synchronizing each shake with the beat of his striking song.

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The NestWatch project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology documents when and where birds are nesting. The evidence from recent years shows that birds are nesting weeks earlier than they used to and this spring may be no exception.

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The following statement was released today by Central Park Zoo:Postmortem testing has been completed for Flaco, the Eurasian eagle owl that was found down in the courtyard of a Manhattan building a little over a year after his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo was vandalized on February 2, 2023.

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Acoustic recordings of a colony of little auks reveal their nocturnal activities and offer valuable monitoring means for avian biology in the Arctic.

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We expect tropical animals to handle a certain degree of heat, but not wild swings in temperature. That seems to be true for tropical ectotherms, or “cold-blooded” animals such as amphibians, reptiles, and insects.

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New research led by the University of South Australia explains how eating faeces (known as coprophagy) shapes wild birds’ digestive tracts (gut biota), enabling them to absorb lost or deficient nutrients and adjust to seasonal variations in food sources.

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A grey seal has been seen spitting a jet of water at a sea eagle, a defensive behaviour that hasn’t been reported before, according to a new study from the University of Portsmouth.

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A streaming camera has gone live on the Great Horned Owl named Athena. She's nested for more than a dozen years at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. Now, everyone can see her family grow.

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Eight new Pacific bee species and new insights into Fijian bird behaviour on Viti Levu Island have been described in new scientific studies led by Flinders University.

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Rare tropical forest bird had not been seen in nearly two decades

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A Wildlife Conservation Society delegation is heading to the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals CoP14, Feb. 12-17, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

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Nestling songbirds relocated as part of conservation programmes successfully learn the song repertoires they need to communicate – and ultimately survive – in the wild, a new study has found.

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Evolutionary biologists at Johns Hopkins Medicine report they have combined PET scans of modern pigeons along with studies of dinosaur fossils to help answer an enduring question in biology: How did the brains of birds evolve to enable them to fly?

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The latest research and expertise on the flue can be found in the Influenza channel on Newswise.

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According to recent data, bird populations in North America have declined by approximately 2.9 billion birds, a loss of more than one in four birds since 1970. Experts say this bird loss will continue to grow unless changes are made in our daily lives. 

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Owls are fascinating creatures that can fly silently through some of the quietest places. Their wings make no noise while flying, enabling them to accurately locate their prey using their exceptional hearing ability while remaining undetected. This unique ability depends on many factors and has long been a hot research subject.

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The 27th annual Great Backyard Bird Count is taking place February 16 through 19, 2024. Participating with friends, family, or a community group means there are more eyes to spot the birds and a deeper well of knowledge to draw from.

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Hummingbirds use two distinct sensory strategies to control their flight, depending on whether they’re hovering or in forward motion, according to new research by University of British Columbia (UBC) zoologists.

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Ecological and environmental factors are known to affect invasion success. Now, scientists have found that “braver” birds are better at invading new environments.

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About a decade ago, BRI hosted a Bio Blitz at our River Point bird monitoring station in Falmouth, Maine.

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Neon green hoods, turquoise bellies, ornate crowns—neotropical birds come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Combined with unique patterns, textures, and song, they either blend in or stand out in thick jungles filled with hundreds of other species competing for the same or similar resources.

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Two things stand out when you walk into Ed Jenkin’s office: he always offers a welcoming smile, and once you acknowledge him, your eyes are drawn to the beautifully curated, vibrant artwork on his walls—photographs he has taken of the many species of birds and the variety of landscapes where he has studied these birds around the globe.

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An international team including researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) and the National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN-CSIC) has studied the distribution of 115 species of birds in spring and 72 that spend the winter in nine European cities.

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Ashley Dayer hopes to peck away at the notion that bird feeding is simply for the birds.

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It's the moooost wonderful time...of the year! Are you looking for new story ideas that are focused on the winter holiday season? Perhaps you're working on a story on on managing stress and anxiety? Perhaps you're working on a story on seasonal affective disorder? Or perhaps your editor asked you to write a story on tracking Santa? Look no further. Check out the Winter Holidays channel.

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New research has found that two similar species of birds – both capable of displaying self-control through delayed gratification – behave very differently around their favourite food when they have company.

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Whether to find food, reproduce, reduce competition, escape predators or escape winter, migration is a survival mechanism for many animal species.

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The discovery of 27 avian footprints on the southern Australia coast — dating back to the Early Cretaceous when Australia was still connected to Antarctica — opens another window onto early avian evolution and possible migratory behavior.

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The world’s total population is expected to reach 9.9 billion by 2050. This rapid increase in population is boosting the demand for agriculture to cater for the increased demand. Below are some of the latest research and features on agriculture and farming in the Agriculture channel on Newswise.

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For the first time, researchers have detected a highly infectious type of bird flu virus in wetlands frequented by waterfowl, which they report in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

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Desert birds lay larger eggs when they have more helpers to feed their chicks, new research shows. White-browed sparrow weavers live in family groups in which only a dominant pair breeds and their grown-up offspring, particularly females, help to feed nestlings.

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The American Ornithological Society recently announced that it will change all English language common names of birds that honor people, to avoid recognizing historical figures with ties to slavery, racism, and colonialism. Historian David Sepkoski, who studies the history of biological and environmental sciences, answers questions about this change in the naming convention.

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The American Ornithological Society recently announced that it will change all English language common names of birds that honor people, to avoid recognizing figures with ties to slavery, racism, and colonialism. Historian David Sepkoski, who studies the history of biological and environmental sciences, answers a few questions about this change in the naming convention for birds.

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Scientists have unlocked the genetic basis underlying the remarkable variation in body size observed in song sparrows, one of North America’s most familiar and beloved songbirds. This discovery also provides insights into this species’ capacity to adapt to the challenges of climate change.

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Sage grouse and cows can coexist on the same land without declines in greater sage grouse nest success or insect abundance, according to a 10-year University of Idaho study.

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Whole genome sequencing of North American song sparrows has revealed the genetic underpinnings for a stunning range of body sizes found throughout the bird’s westernmost range—an adaptation that may make the birds more resilient to climate change. This work is the first output from a larger research effort to sequence song sparrow genomes from across North America, spanning nearly all of the 25 recognized subspecies.

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New research from Japan published in the Ecological Society of America’s journal Ecology suggests that increasingly severe weather driven by climate change may push oceangoing seabirds to their limits.

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Pair-bonded Java sparrows show enlarged eye rings to signal breeding readiness.

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A new study provides evidence that pigeons tackle some problems just as artificial intelligence would – allowing them to solve difficult tasks that would vex humans.

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Read the latest research news on air pollution, nanoplastics, waterborne illnesses and more in the Pollution channel on Newswise.

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The prime directive for Project FeederWatch has been and continues to be gathering data about how bird populations and distributions are changing across the United States and Canada—vital information for conservation.

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Tropical forests are among the most important habitats on our planet. They are characterised by extremely high species diversity and play an eminent role in the global carbon cycle and the world climate.