The European goldfinch, with its wonderful coloration and melodic singing, is a favoured pet for people living in the western Maghreb. But continued poaching is putting the species in danger.
New research provides early evidence of general intelligence in animals.
These migratory pied imperial-pigeons in Far North Queensland, like many of Australia’s 22 species of native pigeons and doves, play an important role in our ecosystems but may be at risk from emerging viruses in domestic pigeons.
Dejan Stojanovic
Two recently emerging viruses in domestic pigeons in Australia may pose a significant threat to Australia’s 22 species of native pigeons and doves, many of which have crucial ecosystem roles.
The great auk by John James Audubon.
University of Pittsburgh/Wikimedia
Being blue is risky for superb fairy-wrens: males become more cautious when their plumage turns blue, and other wrens take advantage by using them as colourful decoys.
The birds commonly seen in urban backyards of Australia are increasingly introduced species like this house sparrow, sharing a birdbath with a native red-browed finch.
Wanda Optland
We all know how vital it is for our native bird species to thrive. But what if the only birds that visit your garden are introduced “pest” species? Many people feel these birds deserve some love too.
Intensified rice production in Cambodia’s dry season is wreaking havoc on local bird populations.
The potential to harm local birdlife is often used to oppose wind farm development. But research into how birds die shows wind farms should be the least of our concerns.
from www.shutterstock.com
Wind turbines kill some birds, but their contribution to total bird deaths is extremely low, as three studies show.
Shown as bright orange and pink highlights under X-ray fluorescent light, birds incorporate metals like zinc and bromine into feathers as they grow.
Nature Scientific Reports
Richard Banati, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
Ordinary grey bird feathers placed under X-ray fluorescence reveal beautiful patterns of elements like zinc, telling a story of feather growth and the environments the birds have experienced.
Hundreds of large old trees were removed when the Hume Highway was widened.
Brian Yap/Flickr
When the Hume Highway was widened, hundreds of nest boxes were installed to replace habitat for three threatened species. Four years of monitoring has concluded the program is entirely unsuccessful.
These birds spend long periods, often asleep, standing on one leg. Is it passive biomechanics or active nervous system control of their muscles that allows them to do easily what’s impossible for us?
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 mores influenced ideas not just about men and women but animals too.
Joseph Christian Leyendecker
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.
Seed-eating birds like this male king parrot enjoy birdbaths - but they like food even more.
Glenn Pure
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.