Scientists Say Oriole Hybridization Is a Dead End
Baltimore and Bullock’s Orioles Are Not Merging A half-century of controversy over two popular bird species may have finally come to an end. In one…
Ornithology
Listen to Sparrow Song That Went “Viral” Across Canada – Traveled Over 1,800 Miles
Most bird species are slow to change their tune, preferring to stick with tried-and-true songs to defend territories and attract females. Now, with the help…
Birds Can Thrive in Urban Environments With Either Big Brains or Frequent Breeding
Researchers have found that birds can thrive in cities either by having larger brains or by breeding more often. A new study in Frontiers in…
Scientists Make Birds Watch TV – Here’s What They Learned
By watching videos of each other eating, blue tits and great tits can learn to avoid foods that taste disgusting and are potentially toxic, a…
New Changes in Bird Migration Discovered After Examining 50 Years of Data
A growing body of research shows that birds’ spring migration has been getting earlier and earlier in recent decades. New research from The Auk: Ornithological Advances on…
Urgent Action to Protect California Spotted Owls Recommended by Wildlife Biologists
In the Pacific Northwest, the range expansion of Barred Owls has contributed to a conservation crisis for Northern Spotted Owls, which are being displaced from…
Scientists Identified a New Bird Species: It Looks Identical to Another With Very Different Genes
Scientists have identified a new bird species from the Southern coast of China, that diverged from its Northern relatives around half a million years ago….
How Flight Feathers Evolved: Study of Chickens, Ostriches, Penguins, Ducks and Eagles
If you took a careful look at the feathers on a chicken, you’d find many different forms within the same bird—even within a single feather….
Record Shattered for Loudest Bird Call Ever Measured by White Bellbirds in Amazon [Video]
Researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on October 21, 2019, have captured the loudest bird calls yet documented. The calls are the mating songs…
New Record for Loudest Bird Call Set During Mating Ritual
University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Brazilian institute researchers record top avian noisemaker. Biologist Jeff Podos at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with Mario Cohn-Haft at…
GPS Tracking Reveals Rare ‘Itinerant Breeding’ Behavior in California Bird
Reproduction and migration are the two most demanding tasks in a bird’s life, and the vast majority of species separate them into different times of…
Investigating Impact of Human-Caused Noise Pollution on Birds on a Continental-Scale
Researchers explore the value of continent-wide analyses of anthropogenic noise pollution on birds. Anthropogenic noise pollution (ANP) is a globally invasive phenomenon impacting natural systems,…
Biologists Track Global Reductions in Terrestrial Mammalian Movements
Humans change entire landscapes – by building cities and roads, by farming land and by exploiting natural resources. What effects does this have on animals…
Super Black Gives Bird of Paradise an Edge
The mating display of the male bird of paradise owes its optical extravagance to a background so black it is the envy of telescope and…
Shrews Reduce the Size of Their Organs in the Winter
New research shows that tiny mammals reduce the size of their organs in the winter and can even decrease and rebuild bones. During winter, the…
Free Mate Choice Enhances Reproductive Success
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute show that behavioral compatibility plays an important role in mate choice in zebra finches. Zebra finches allowed to breed…
Birdsongs Elicit “Emotional” Response From Birds
Scientists indicate that birds listening to birdsong may be experiencing an emotional response akin to when humans listen to music. The study tracked the neural…
Urban Birds Use Cigarette Butts to Get Rid of Pests
A team of ecologists discovered that city birds may be inserting cigarette butts into the lining of their nests in order to repel arthropods. The…