The U.S. population of eastern mallards – dabbling ducks with distinctive green heads – has plunged inexplicably by 50 percent in the last 20 years, causing scientists to launch research into the birds’ productivity, changes in their habitat and their genetic diversity.
Researchers have discovered a previously unknown virus infecting nearly a third of America’s bald eagle population. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, USGS and the Wisconsin DNR found the virus while searching for the cause of Wisconsin River Eagle Syndrome, an enigmatic disease endemic to bald eagles near the Lower Wisconsin River. The newly identified bald eagle hepacivirus, or BeHV, may contribute to the fatal disease, which causes eagles to stumble and have seizures.
A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by biologists at the University of Chicago and the University of North Carolina explains how sexual cooperation in species that form long-term pair bonds.
Anthropogenic noise pollution (ANP) is a globally invasive phenomenon impacting natural systems, but most research has occurred at local scales with few species. Researchers in this study investigated continental‐scale breeding season associations with ANP for 322 bird species to test whether local‐scale predictions related to breeding habitat, migratory behavior, body mass, and vocal traits are consistent at broad spatial extents for an extensive group of North American bird species in the continental United States.
A new songbird study that shows memories can be implanted in the brain to teach vocalizations – without any lessons from the parent.
By connecting small, restored patches of savanna to one another via habitat corridors at an experimental landscape within the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a nearly 20-year-long study has shown an annual increase in the number of plant species within fragments over time, and a drop in the number of species disappearing from them entirely.
Data show that since 1970, the U.S. and Canada have lost nearly 3 billion birds, a massive reduction in abundance involving hundreds of species, from beloved backyard songbirds to long-distance migrants.
Hearing casual chatter of birds after predator call reassures squirrels to come off high alert
Sponsored by the university’s Center for Bat Research, Outreach, and Conservation, the free event’s theme this year is “Always Hanging Out! The Busy Social Lives of Bats,” focusing on bat social networks and behaviors.
Crows can voluntarily control the release and onset of their calls, suggesting that songbird vocalizations are under cognitive control, according to a study published August 27 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Katharina Brecht of the University of Tübingen, and colleagues.
A global study comparing 2,062 birds finds that, in highly variable environments, birds tend to have either larger or smaller brains relative to their body size. Birds with smaller brains tend to use ecological strategies that are not available to big-brained counterparts. Instead of relying on grey matter to survive, these birds tend to have large bodies, eat readily available food and make lots of babies.
The Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative has awarded six new grants to support a variety of conservation projects benefiting birds and other species that live in habitats across the country, from grassland, to scrub, forest, and prairie. The Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative was formed in 2013 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Land Trust Alliance.
An international team of scientists reviewed more than 10,000 published climate change studies and has reached a sobering conclusion. Birds and other animals cannot adapt fast enough to keep pace with climate change, throwing species survival in doubt.
MSU scientists show that conservation and construction decisions should rely on multiple approaches to determine waterbird “hotspots,” not just on one analysis method as is often done.
Genetic changes are necessary for species to evolve and adapt to new environments. However, how can one predict such genetic changes? A new study led by Stony Brook University researchers reveals that this may be possible at a molecular level.
A new study in Evolution Letters finds that different bird species in the same challenging environment—the highly saline ecosystem of tidal marshes along ocean shores—were able to evolve unique species-specific ways to address the same problem.
A surprise discovery in a Crimean cave suggests that early Europeans lived alongside some of the largest ever known birds, according to new research published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
A new study published today in Nature, shows that alien bird introductions are most successful in locations and climates similar to their native habitats and in places where other alien species are already established. The discovery is important for understanding the processes that help or hinder species moving between locations, and the next steps for predicting and limiting the threat of future biological invasions.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s debut film, the award-winning documentary Bird of Prey, is now available on iTunes, Amazon, and Vimeo. With fewer than 800 Great Philippine Eagles remaining on Earth, the film tells the moving tale of a small but devoted group of people who are determined to save these magnificent birds from extinction.
A new analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment shows that the world’s protected areas (PAs) are experiencing major shortfalls in staffing and resources and are therefore failing on a massive scale to safeguard wildlife.
Wildlife researchers have long tried to understand why birds fly in flocks and how different types of flocks work.
The abundance of bird species living in agricultural environments has decreased both in Finland and elsewhere in Europe.
Every year, bald and golden eagles are killed when they inadvertently fly into wind turbine blades. One possible way to prevent these deaths is to chase the birds away with acoustic signals. To determine what types of sounds are most effective in deterring the birds, researchers tested the behavioral responses of bald eagles to a battery of both natural and synthetic acoustic stimuli. Auditory neuroscientist JoAnn McGee will present the results of those tests at the 177th ASA Meeting, May 13-17.
Wind turbines are a critical component in the strategy for energy independence, but these massive structures are also killing bats. Now, researchers from Texas A&M University are exploring a unique passive acoustic whistle mounted on turbine blades to warn bats of the deadly turbines using a sound they can easily hear and recognize. They will present the team’s research findings at the 177th ASA Meeting.
Saltwater intrusion changes coastal vegetation that provides bird habitat. Researchers found that the transition from forests to marshes along the North Carolina coast due to climate change could benefit some bird species of concern for conservation.
In a paper published May 2 in Nature Communications, a University of Washington team reports that two major forces have shaped bat skulls over their evolutionary history -- echolocation and diet -- generating a huge diversity of skull shapes across more than 1,300 bat species today.
Acorn Woodpeckers live in close-knit family groups and have one of the most complex breeding systems of any bird in the world. In about 20 percent of family groups, up to 3 related females may lay eggs in the same nest. They raise the chicks cooperatively with one or more related males. This behavior is known as joint nesting or “cooperative polyandry.” Only five other species of birds worldwide are known to do this. The reasons that may be driving the behavior are outlined in a study recently published in The American Naturalist.
A hybrid bird species on the Galapagos Islands could help scientists find a way to stop an invasive fly which is killing off the hatchlings of famous Darwin’s finches at an alarming rate, according to new research. 10 related species of the iconic Darwin’s finches are being threatened by the invasive fly Philornis downsi from South America, which lays its eggs into birds’ nests where the predators then hatch and devour defenceless chicks before the parents can react.
Zoologists from Trinity College Dublin, working with partners from Halu Oleo University (UHO) and Operation Wallacea
The turkey vulture and the black vulture are able to coexist because their traits reduce the need for them to compete for nutritional resources.
Cross-referencing a decade of Google searches and citizen science observations, researchers have determined which of 621 North American bird species are currently the most popular and which characteristics of species drive human interest. Study findings have just been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A new paper published today in the journal Nature Communications shows a blueprint for conserving enough habitat to protect the populations of almost one-third of the warblers, orioles, tanagers, and other birds that migrate among the Americas throughout the year. For the research, an international team of scientists used the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's global citizen science database, eBird, to calculate how to sufficiently conserve habitat across the Western Hemisphere for all the habitats these birds use throughout their annual cycle of breeding, migration, and overwintering. The study provides planners with guidance on the locations and amounts of land that must be conserved for 30 percent of the global populations for each of 117 Neotropical migratory bird species.
Ithaca, NY—Around the world, birds are building nests and raising families—even near homes, offices, or in local parks. Anyone who finds a bird's nest can help scientists by reporting to the free NestWatch project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. NestWatch collects, analyzes, and distributes data, serving as a warehouse of nesting bird information. NestWatchers, in turn, get to witness the start of new life and help to preserve it with their valuable information.
Birds, although they have larynges, use a different organ to sing. Called a syrinx, it’s a uniquely avian feature. Now, a team that brings together physics, biology, computation and engineering finds that the syrinx confers an advantage: by sitting so low in the airway, the syrinx can produce sound with very high efficiency.
In the first global test of the idea, scientists have found evidence that some woodpeckers can evolve to look like another species of woodpecker in the same neighborhood.
In the journal Science, Jeffrey Foster detailed his latest research on the relationship between bird and plant species on Oahu and how reliant the birds and plants are on each other, raising concerns about the ecological effects of continued extinction.
Birds that produce faint chirps called flight calls during nighttime migration collide with illuminated buildings much more often than closely related species that don't produce such calls, according to a new analysis of a 40-year record of thousands of building collisions in the Midwest.
Birds-of-paradise are a group of songbird species, and are known for their magnificent male plumage and bewildering sexual display. Now, an international collaborative work involving Dept. of Molecular Evolution and Development of University of Vienna, Zhejiang University of China, and Swedish Museum of Natural History analyzed all together 11 songbird species genomes, including those of five bird-of-paradise species, and reconstructed the evolutionary history of their sex chromosomes.
Scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have published new research highlighting artificial light at night as a contributing factor. They've ranked metropolitan areas where, due to a combination of light pollution and geography, birds are at the greatest risk of becoming attracted to and disoriented by lights and crashing into buildings. The research was published today in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. It combines satellite data showing light pollution levels with weather radar measuring bird migration density.
New University of Delaware research has found that migratory birds prefer foraging in native leguminous tree species over non-native and many other trees used on many coffee farms. The findings will help farmers choose trees that are best for both birds and business.
Bromethalin, a common rat poison, is the agent responsible for a neurological disease that has sickened or killed birds from a popular flock of naturalized parrots that reside primarily in the Telegraph Hill area in north San Francisco, according to a new study led by the University of Georgia Infectious Diseases Laboratory and funded by Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue.
After a five-year experiment, researchers from Florida State University and the Tallahassee-based Tall Timbers Research Station found that when fewer mates were available for brown-headed nuthatches, these small pine-forest birds opted to stay home and help their parents or other adults raise their offspring.
Large herbivore populations can substantially recover after war-induced declines, given that protected area management is provided, according to a study published March 13 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Marc Stalmans of Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, and colleagues. But the community structure may take longer to restore, as the rate of recovery varies for different populations.
Using data on 77 North American migratory bird species from the eBird citizen-science program, scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology say that, in as little as four decades, it may be very difficult to predict how climate change will affect migratory bird populations and the ecosystems they inhabit. Their conclusions are presented in a paper published in the journal Ecography.
The greatest advances were found among short-distance migrants that winter in Europe or North America: about 1.5-2 days per decade. Long-distance migrants that winter in the tropics have also advanced the start of their migration
Feathers evolved in dinosaurs and are a key characteristic of birds today. They are arranged in a precise hexagonal pattern in a bird’s skin, but it has been unclear how this happens.
Scientists have revealed the African origins of New Zealand’s most mysterious giant flightless bird – the now extinct adzebill – showing that some of its closest living relatives are the pint-sized flufftails from Madagascar and Africa.
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