Archer Larned, University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Sarah Luttrell, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
During bird irruptions, hundreds or thousands of a single species show up outside their normal territory. Most of what we know about irruptions comes from data collected by citizen scientists.
Victorian attitudes influenced what scientists thought they were observing about sexual behaviors in the animal world. But modern techniques reveal the myth for what it is.
Is providing birds with food and water making them too dependent? Or are gardens just the new frontier of Australia’s urban landscape? New research aims to find out.
For a long time it was not believed that animals were even capable of feeling pain, let alone complex emotions. We now know that is far from the truth.
A new exhibition exploring the relationship between birds and humans is variously gaudy, delightful and disturbing. We sent two ecologists along to review the show.
For more than three decades an egg found in a remote Australian desert was thought to be from a rare nocturnal parrot. So what happened when scientists decided to double-check?
Bird baths are more than just ornamental splash pools. They’re also a site where animals socialise and intense rivalries play out. And bird bath design, location and cleanliness can have a big impact.
When is a galah not a galah? That depends on which scientific name is attached to the Australian bird. There’s been some confusion over this, which DNA testing has finally solved.