When scientists first thought to deceive predators with bird smells, the idea seemed crazy. But after seeing how fake news messes with the minds of both humans and animals, it now makes sense.
Kea were able to correctly guess the most probable scenarios, by evaluating various physical and social cues. Previously, only great apes and humans were known to be able to understand probability.
The New Zealand robin is a small and ordinary-looking songbird, but it can take down enormous invertebrate prey and hide morsels for later consumption.
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Rachael Shaw, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
The New Zealand robin has learnt to hide left-over food for later consumption, and it turns out that male birds with the best spatial memory have the greatest breeding success.
A male hihi on a flowering flax bush.
Mhairi McCready
Inbreeding and male infertility could be impeding the recovery of one of New Zealand’s threatened birds - the stitchbird, or hihi. Hihi sperm might hold the answer, and help raise funds for conservation.
The flightless, nocturnal and sweet-smelling kākāpō was thought to be extinct, but during the 1970s, two remnant populations were discovered. One, in Fiordland, included only males.
From Wikimedia Commons