Birds News

November 4, 2024

Top Headlines

Fossil of Huge Terror Bird Offers New Information About Wildlife in South America 12 Million Years Ago

Nov. 4, 2024 — Evolutionary biologists report they have analyzed a fossil of an extinct giant meat-eating bird -- which they say could be the largest known member of its kind -- providing new information about ...

Evolutionary Paths Vastly Differ for Birds, Bats

Nov. 1, 2024 — New research has found that, unlike birds, the evolution of bats' wings and legs is tightly coupled, which may have prevented them from filling as many ecological niches as ...

More Social Species Live Longer

Oct. 27, 2024 — New research has revealed that species that are more social live longer and produce offspring for a greater time-span. This is the first study on this topic which spans the animal kingdom, from jellyfish to ...

What Animal Societies Can Teach Us About Aging

Oct. 28, 2024 — Red deer may become less sociable as they grow old to reduce the risk of picking up diseases, while older house sparrows seem to have fewer social interactions as their peers die off, according to new research which shows humans are not the only ...

Latest Headlines

updated 6:17pm EST

Bird Wings Inspire New Approach to Flight Safety

Oct. 28, 2024 — Engineers found a way to help airplanes avoid stall with lightweight plastic flaps that flutter with pressure changes. The flaps mimick a class of feathers that are key to birds' most daring aerial ...

No Incentive for Older Birds to Make New Friends

Oct. 28, 2024 — Like people, birds have fewer friends as they age, but the reasons why are unclear. New research suggests they may just have no drive ...

Using Weather Radar to Track Australia's Migrating Birds

Oct. 28, 2024 — Scientists have used data from weather radar not to track storms, but to count birds as they travel across Australian ...

Move Along, Moose: Study Reveals the 'Most Canadian' Animals

Oct. 25, 2024 — What is the 'most Canadian' animal? Spoiler: it's not the beaver, or the moose. A new study ranks species of terrestrial vertebrates in Canada by their level of Canadian evolutionary distinctness: ...

Bird Study Finds Sons Help Their Parents Less Than Daughters Because They're Scouting Future Prospects

Oct. 24, 2024 — Male birds help their parents less than females because they're too busy scouting for new places to live and breed, a study ...

New Mapping Techniques Empower Bird Conservation in Colombia

Oct. 24, 2024 — Researchers have introduced a transformative approach to mapping bird species distribution across Colombia, harnessing community science data and innovative modeling ...

Study of Chick Peeps Could Improve Understanding of Animal Emotions

Oct. 24, 2024 — Understanding animal emotions has been a long-running question at the forefront of welfare studies, but a new study may hold the key to decoding the chatter. The answer involves two baby chickens and ...

Will Tropical Biodiversity Run Dry Under Climate Change? Two Visions for the Future

Oct. 22, 2024 — Changing precipitation patterns in the Neotropics, one of Earth's most biodiverse regions, could threaten two-thirds of the area's bird species by ...

Artificial Nests Boost Penguin Breeding Success, but There's No One-Size-Fits-All Design

Oct. 17, 2024 — Artificial nests can boost the breeding success of endangered African penguins, but different designs are more effective at different colonies ...

Real-Time Visualization of Chick Embryo Development from Egg to Chick

Oct. 16, 2024 — Researchers have developed a method for culturing fertilized chick eggs without their shells. The eggs were placed in an artificial culture vessel made of transparent film, allowing for real-time ...

More Resources Needed to Protect Birds in Germany

Nov. 1, 2024 — Researchers developed citizen science platforms as a new data source to evaluate the effectiveness of the 742 protected areas for birds across Germany. This research shows that although these areas ...

How Playing Songs to Darwin's Finches Helped Biologists Confirm Link Between Environment and the Emergence of New Species

Oct. 10, 2024 — They say that hindsight is 20/20, and though the theory of ecological speciation -- which holds that new species emerge in response to ecological changes -- seems to hold in retrospect, it has been ...

Newly Discovered Late Cretaceous Birds May Have Carried Heavy Prey Like Extant Raptors

Oct. 9, 2024 — Newly discovered birds from Late Cretaceous North America were hawk-sized and had powerful raptor-like feet, according to a new ...

Drier Winter Habitat Impacts Songbirds' Ability to Survive Migration

Oct. 4, 2024 — A new study shows environmental conditions in migratory birds' winter homes carry over to affect their ability to survive spring migration and the breeding ...

New Mechanism Uncovered for the Reduction of Emu Wings

Oct. 4, 2024 — Researchers have uncovered a fascinating mechanism behind the reduction and asymmetry of emu wing bones. The wings not only show significant shortening, but the skeletal elements also fuse ...

The True Global Impact of Species-Loss Caused by Humans Is Far Greater Than Expected

Oct. 3, 2024 — The extinction of hundreds of bird species caused by humans over the last 130,000 years has led to substantial reductions in avian functional diversity -- a measure of the range of different roles ...

Outdoor Businesses and Venues Could Benefit from Boosting Biodiversity

Oct. 3, 2024 — Visitors to vineyards enjoyed their tours more when they heard enhanced sounds of diverse birdsong, new research has ...

Drone Footage Provides New Insight Into Gray Whales' Acrobatic Feeding Behavior

Sep. 25, 2024 — Drone footage is offering new insight into the acrobatics undertaken by gray whales foraging in the waters off the coast of ...

Personality Traits in Geese Linked to Love Match and Reproductive Success

Sep. 21, 2024 — Birds of a feather flock together but strong pairing in geese has been shown to produce better breeding results, according to a new study. Focusing on a group of captive greylag geese, bird behaviour ...

Scientists Quantify Energetic Costs of the Migratory Lifestyle in a Free Flying Songbird

Sep. 18, 2024 — Millions of birds migrate every year to escape winter, but spending time in a warmer climate does not save them energy, according to new research. Using miniaturized loggers implanted in wild ...

Highly-Sensitive Beaks Could Help Albatrosses and Penguins Find Their Food

Sep. 17, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that seabirds, including penguins and albatrosses, have highly-sensitive regions in their beaks that could be used to help them find food. This is the first time this ...

Scientists from 33 European Countries Join Forces to Generate Reference Genomes for the Continent's Rich Biological Diversity

Sep. 17, 2024 — The European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) pilot project reports its success in uniting scientists from across Europe to produce high-quality reference genomes for 98 species. This marks a ...

'Food Theft' Among Seabirds Could Be Transmission Point for Deadly Avian Flu

Sep. 16, 2024 — If seabirds can catch avian flu by stealing food from infectious birds, it gives scientists a clue where to monitor for outbreaks among these vulnerable ...

New Chickadee Research Finds Cognitive Skills Impact Lifespan

Sep. 6, 2024 — Western animal behavior and cognition researchers tracked the spatial cognition and lifespan of 227 mountain chickadees for more than a decade. They found the birds with better spatial learning and ...

'Some Pterosaurs Would Flap, Others Would Soar' -- New Study Further Confirms the Flight Capability of These Giants of the Skies

Sep. 6, 2024 — Some species of pterosaurs flew by flapping their wings while others soared like vultures, demonstrates a new study. Findings include a new pterosaur with a five-meter wingspan, which is one of the ...

State-by-State Data Boosts Bird Conservation Planning

Sep. 5, 2024 — New data summaries will help state wildlife planners assess the status of bird populations that live in or pass through their state -- a crucial tool in protecting ...

Researchers Give Adult Zebra Finches Back Their Ability to Learn New Songs

Sep. 3, 2024 — We all know the adage, 'You can't teach an old dog new tricks.' As we age, our ability to learn new skills, like mastering a foreign language or picking up a musical instrument, seems ...

Like People, Vultures Get Set in Their Ways and Have Fewer Friends as They Age

Aug. 30, 2024 — Young griffon vultures move frequently between sleeping sites in different locations, interacting with many friends. They get set in their ways as they age and roost in the same spots with the same ...

Listen Up: New Insights Into Little Penguins' Sensitivity to Noise

Aug. 28, 2024 — Researchers have used state-of-the-art imaging technology to shed light on the hearing sensitivity of Australian Little Penguins and the danger of marine noise pollution. The study details how Little ...

Human-Wildlife Overlap Expected to Increase Across More Than Half of Land on Earth by 2070

Aug. 21, 2024 — Human-wildlife overlap could increase across about 57% of the global lands by 2070 and could lead to more conflict between people and animals. Understanding where the overlap is likely to occur -- ...