Birds News

June 11, 2025

Top Headlines

Birds Nested in Arctic Alongside Dinosaurs

May 29, 2025 — Spring in the Arctic brings forth a plethora of peeps and downy hatchlings as millions of birds gather to raise their young. The same was true 73 million years ago, according to a new article. The paper documents the earliest-known example of birds ...

Even Birds Can't Outfly Climate Change

May 28, 2025 — As rising global temperatures alter ecosystems worldwide, animal species usually have two choices: adapt to changing local conditions or flee to a cooler clime. Ecologists have long assumed that the world's bird species were best equipped to respond ...

How Does Digestion Affect Molecular Analysis of Owl Pellets?

May 27, 2025 — Researchers found that digestion in hawks and owls can alter the results of isotopic analysis in pellets and ...

Managing Surrogate Species, Providing a Conservation Umbrella for More Species

May 23, 2025 — A new study shows that monitoring and managing select bird species can provide benefits for other species within specific ...

Songbirds' Great Risk Results in Great Genetic Reward

May 21, 2025 — Songbirds who make the arduous flight from their nesting sites in northern boreal forests to warm, southern climates in the winter may be rewarded for their journey with greater genetic ...

Taking the Guesswork out Birdsong Evolution

May 21, 2025 — Biologists recently announced that they have released the first broad scale, comparative, fine-grained analysis linking the amplitude, or volume, of a birds' song to its vocal frequency, or pitch. Though biologists have long wondered whether birds ...

Common Diabetes Drug Helps Chickens Lay More Eggs

May 20, 2025 — What do chickens and people with a common reproductive disorder have in common? More than one might think -- and a widely-used diabetes medication might just be the surprising ...

UV Light and CT Scans Helped Scientists Unlock Hidden Details in a Beautifully-Preserved Fossil Archaeopteryx

May 14, 2025 — Archaeopteryx is the fossil that clearly demonstrated Darwin's views. It's the oldest known fossil bird, and it helps show that all birds -- including the ones alive today -- emerged from dinosaurs. ...

Butterflies Hover Differently from Other Flying Organisms, Thanks to Body Pitch

May 13, 2025 — Butterflies' flight trajectories often appear random or chaotic, but their hovering patterns can potentially provide critical design insights for developing micro aerial vehicles with flapping wings. ...

Flamingos Create Water Tornados to Trap Their Prey

May 12, 2025 — Flamingos have developed an amazing variety of techniques to create swirls and eddies in the water to concentrate and eat brine shrimp and other organisms, a biologist found. They stomp dance to stir organisms from the bottom and concentrate them in ...

Helping Birds and Floating Solar Energy Coexist

May 12, 2025 — How might floating solar energy projects impact wild birds and vice versa? A paper outlines key considerations for a growing floating solar ...

More Social Parrots Have a Better Vocabulary

May 6, 2025 — For social animals, communication is a key that unlocks the benefits of group living. It's well known that animals with more complex social lives tend to have more intricate ways of communicating, from the clicks and whistles of dolphins to the ...

Latest Headlines

updated 9:28am EDT

Birds Form Bonds That Look a Lot Like Friendship

May 7, 2025 — A study of starlings in Africa shows that they form long-term social bonds similar to human ...

How Hunting Harriers Home in on Their Prey

May 6, 2025 — Owls, well adapted to hearing the exact location of prey, have something in common with an unrelated group of raptors -- harriers. A new study has found that harriers across the world are able to ...

Study Shows How Millions of Bird Sightings Unlock Precision Conservation

May 1, 2025 — A groundbreaking study reveals that North American bird populations are declining most severely in areas where they should be thriving. Researchers analyzed 36 million bird observations shared by ...

New Research on Bird Behavior Suggests That Evolution May Repeat Itself

Apr. 28, 2025 — The study found that bird species who nest in tree cavities have independently evolved heightened aggression across lineages, particularly in ...

Family First: Scientists Reveal Long-Tailed Tits' Remarkable Family Bonds

Apr. 28, 2025 — Forget fleeting friendships the social secrets of the long-tailed tit has revealed an extraordinary level of family commitment even during migratory journeys. Birds that babysit: scientists reveal ...

Big Brains and Big Ranges Might Not Save Birds from Climate Change

Apr. 22, 2025 — Some species that breed over large geographic areas can still be adapted to a fairly narrow range of climates, making them more vulnerable to climate change than previously thought. Also, species ...

Experimental Bird Flu Vaccine Excels in Animal Models

Apr. 17, 2025 — A vaccine under development has demonstrated complete protection in mice against a deadly variant of the virus that causes bird flu. The work focuses on the H5N1 variant known as 2.3.4.4b, which has ...

Range Expansion in Lesser Goldfinches

Apr. 22, 2025 — New research shows that Lesser Goldfinches, a small songbird traditionally found in Southwest USA, are expanding their range northward through the Pacific Northwest at an unprecedented rate, ...

Americans Don't Think Bird Flu Is a Threat, Study Suggests

Apr. 18, 2025 — A team led by researchers say public ignorance and apathy towards bird flu (highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI) could pose a serious obstacle to containing the virus and preventing a ...

A New Record for California's Highest Tree

Apr. 17, 2025 — A professor's casual hike in the High Sierra turned into a new elevation record for California's highest tree, the Jeffrey pine, which wasn't formerly known to grow at extreme ...

Little Birds' Personalities Shine Through Their Song -- And May Help Find a Mate

Apr. 15, 2025 — In birds, singing behaviors play a critical role in mating and territory defense. Although birdsong can signal individual quality and personality, very few studies have explored the relationship ...

Foraging on the Wing: How Can Ecologically Similar Birds Live Together?

Apr. 15, 2025 — A new study used modern methods to reassess a foundational study in biology that explained how ecologically similar species of wood warblers coexist. The research team examined foraging behavior, ...

European Bird Declines Linked to Range of Climatic Conditions Experienced

Apr. 9, 2025 — New research suggests conservation efforts could more effectively identify and protect bird species at greatest risk from climate change by better understanding the range of specific conditions they ...

Colourful City Birds

Apr. 9, 2025 — Bird species that do well in urban areas are more colorful and less ...

Mapping Mercury Contamination in Penguins of the Southern Ocean

Apr. 9, 2025 — In 1962, when environmentalist and author Rachel Carson penned 'Silent Spring,' alerting the world to the dangers of the pesticide DDT, it was the reproductive threat to birds -- the bald ...

Reduced Movement of Starlings With Parasite Infections Has a Negative Impact on Their Offspring

Apr. 9, 2025 — Infections with parasites often entail no recognizable signs in many wildlife species, but can have still negative effects across generations. Infected animals often have a slightly reduced body size ...

New Research Finds Fluorescence in Feathers of Long-Eared Owls

Apr. 8, 2025 — Researchers report their discovery of fluorescent pigments in the feathers of Long-eared Owls, that can only be seen by humans with the help of ultraviolet ...

An Antiviral Chewing Gum to Reduce Influenza and Herpes Simplex Virus Transmission

Apr. 4, 2025 — Low vaccination rates for influenza viruses and the lack of an HSV vaccine underscore the need for a new approach to reduce viral transmission. Researchers have now used a clinical-grade antiviral ...

How a Small Number of Mutations Can Fuel Outbreaks of Western Equine Encephalitis Virus

Apr. 4, 2025 — New research shows how small shifts in the molecular makeup of a virus can profoundly alter its fate. These shifts could turn a deadly pathogen into a harmless bug or supercharge a relatively benign ...

Century-Old Clues Reveal Hidden Threat to Australian Songbird

Apr. 4, 2025 — A hidden threat facing one of Australia's most iconic birds has been uncovered in a new study. The critically endangered regent honeyeater once numbered in the hundreds of thousands, but their ...

Migrating Flies Vital for People and Nature

Apr. 2, 2025 — Buzzing insects may be seen as pests -- but globally, hundreds of fly species migrate over long distances, with major benefits for people and nature, new research ...

A Hit of Dopamine Tells Baby Birds When Their Song Practice Is Paying Off

Mar. 25, 2025 — By watching the ebb and flow of the brain's chemical signals, researchers are beginning to disentangle the molecular mechanisms underlying the intrinsic motivation to learn. In a new study of ...

Making Foie Gras Without Force-Feeding

Mar. 25, 2025 — Researchers wondered if there was a more ethical way to enjoy foie gras, so they created a process to replicate the dish without force-feeding ducks and geese beyond their normal diets. They treated ...

Galapagos Birds Exhibit 'Road Rage' Due to Noise

Mar. 20, 2025 — A new study has discovered that birds in the Galapagos Islands are changing their behavior due to traffic noise, with those frequently exposed to vehicles showing heightened levels of aggression. ...

From Dinosaurs to Birds: The Origins of Feather Formation

Mar. 20, 2025 — Feathers, essential for thermoregulation, flight, and communication in birds, originate from simple appendages known as proto-feathers, which were present in certain dinosaurs.By studying embryonic ...

Scientists Map Neural Wiring of Vocal Circuits in Songbirds

Mar. 18, 2025 — Researchers have mapped the long-range synaptic connections involved in vocal learning in zebra finches, uncovering new details about how the brain organises learned vocalisations such as ...

Current Antivirals Likely Less Effective Against Severe Infection Caused by Bird Flu Virus in Cows' Milk

Mar. 17, 2025 — Existing antivirals may be less effective against this H5N1 bird flu strain, and prevention measures, such as avoiding raw milk consumption and reducing exposure in dairy workers, may be the most ...

How a Hummingbird Chick Acts Like a Caterpillar to Survive

Mar. 17, 2025 — For the first time, scientists described a hummingbird chick potentially mimicking a poisonous caterpillar to avoid getting ...

Unique Dove Species Is the Dodo of the Caribbean and in Similar Danger of Dying out

Mar. 17, 2025 — Ancient DNA shows an endangered dove species endemic to Cuba is more genetically distinct than the dodo was before it died ...

How Big Brains and Flexible Skulls Led to the Evolution of Modern Birds

Mar. 17, 2025 — New research shows how physical changes in the skull affected the mechanics of the way birds move and use their beaks to eat and explore their habitats -- adaptations that helped them evolve into the ...