Bird ‘Fitbit’ and muscle samples indicate fit fliers
New research on the muscles of black-legged kittiwakes suggests some of the birds are simply better athletes than others.
Jan. 19, 2021 • ~5 min
birds exercise muscles science-and-technology
Vampire finches: how little birds in the Galápagos evolved to drink blood
Finches have evolved to feed off blood from red-footed and Nazca boobies – and we've seen it first-hand.
Jan. 15, 2021 • ~7 min
evolution birds natural-selection mutualism darwins-finches parasitism galapagos
Cities can help migrating birds on their way by planting more trees and turning lights off at night
Cities are danger zones for migrating birds, but there are ways to help feathered visitors pass through more safely
Jan. 15, 2021 • ~9 min
birds migration trees citizen-science parks migratory-birds sustainable-cities light-pollution pavement urban-trees ebird
Vampire finches: how little birds in the Galápagos got a taste for big bird blood
Finches have evolved to feed off blood from red-footed and Nazca boobies – and we've seen it first-hand.
Jan. 15, 2021 • ~7 min
evolution birds natural-selection mutualism darwins-finches parasitism galapagos
What to feed ducks – according to science
Your local ducks (and other wild birds) will thank you.
Jan. 5, 2021 • ~6 min
birds food nutrition ducks parks urban-wildlife ponds bread wild-animals
Bird charity warns of harm from new wind farm
The Hornsea Three development lies 75 miles off England's largest sea bird colony in Yorkshire.
Jan. 2, 2021 • ~6 min
birds wind-power wind-farms rspb hornsea kittiwakes
Forest fires really do benefit spotted owls
Contrary to current perceptions and forest management strategies, wildfires may actually benefit populations of spotted owls.
Dec. 28, 2020 • ~6 min
conservation birds wildfire forests endangered-species featured earth-and-environment
Dancing starling spectacle solves power cut mystery in Airth
Engineers investigating the unexplained outages found they were caused by murmurations of starlings.
Dec. 17, 2020 • ~3 min
birds starlings rspb murmurations airth
From permafrost microbes to survivor songbirds – research projects are also victims of COVID-19 pandemic
Three scientists describe the fieldwork they've had to delay in 2020 because of the pandemic. These are setbacks not just for their careers, but for the body of scientific knowledge.
Dec. 7, 2020 • ~10 min
climate-change covid-19 birds pandemic permafrost microbiology research scientific-research scientists covid-19-pandemic field-research fieldwork svalbard songbirds united-nations-framework-convention-on-climate-change
Flightless birds were more common before human-driven extinctions – new study
Evolution towards flightlessness has been much more common through history than scientists once thought.
Dec. 2, 2020 • ~6 min
birds extinction bird-flight dodo moa
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