The circulation of a new strain of the H5N1 avian flu virus from China and Vietnam has prompted calls from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN for health authorities to be ready for a possible…
As little as 15 years ago, the boundary between birds and dinosaurs was a fairly sharp one. On one side was Archaeopteryx, a 150 million-year-old magpie-sized creature from Bavaria, southern Germany, long…
Could the zebra finch’s growing popularity ruffle The Body’s feathers?
Tracey Nearmy/AAPIMAGE
Long before Elle Macpherson staked her claim to the title, indeed by the end of the 1890s, Australia had inadvertently exported a model to the northern hemisphere that has become internationally famous…
Some bird species in the southwest desert in the United States are less affected, and sometimes even positively influenced…
A study of green-rumped parrotlets found that adopted chicks use the names given to them by their foster parents, suggested naming is learned rather than hard-wired.
Flickr/barloventomagico
Wild parrots name their chicks by teaching them an individual sound to identify them, researchers have found. Humans and dolphins create unique sounds by which individuals are identified and there was…
Crows remember faces they associate with stressful situations for up to five years. And they tell their friends.
Flickr/monkeyc.net
Crows can remember human faces associated with stressful situations for up to five years and they’ll also warn their friends, a study has found. Crows are known for their extraordinary smarts and have…
Wild zebra finch pairs keep their eyes peeled for opportunities to cheat.
Simon Griffith
Infidelity between sexual partners is ubiquitous – almost as prevalent as the tight and long-lasting social bonds that couples form. But thanks to a recent German study of Australian zebra finches, a cheating…
A study of blue-footed boobies found that while siblings bully each other badly in the nest, the youngsters grow into adults with normal levels of aggression.
Flickr
Harsh sibling bullying maybe tough to endure as a youngster but victims won’t necessarily grow into cowed and meek adults, a study on birds has found. Mexican researchers studying blue-footed boobies…
Would you like to take “ownership” of a black swan?
Catherine Payne
You may have heard that a male black swan was widowed by rock-throwing children in Melbourne recently. The event caused ripples of public concern, but also revealed how little we know about these iconic…
Revered tradition or barbaric bloodsport? The waters are muddy.
peteSwede/flickr
There are few issues as divisive in eastern Australia as duck hunting. And 2011 has been one of the most vitriolic seasons yet. The season opened in Victoria with news that a protester had been shot in…
Flocks falling from the sky can be the canaries in our environmental coalmine.
AAP
The year began with the news that thousands of birds had fallen out of the sky in Arkansas, and 100,000 drum fish were found dead in a river nearby. Soon the media began reporting more incidents all over…