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Birds

Gripping onto the edge of an iceberg in East Greenland, a polar bear looks out across the sea ice and sniffs the air. “The scene reflects a landscape that never stays still, where ice fractures, drifts and reforms around it,” photographer Rhiannon Lawler of the United Kingdom writes in a caption. Lawler captured the photo with a drone, keeping a safe distance from the animal.

These 16 Splendid Aerial Views Capture Wildlife From Above, Revealing the Beauty and Mystery of Nature

The second International Aerial Photographer of the Year contest selected its winners and 101 top images. Here’s a selection of the photos that spotlight animals from a new perspective

The 1611 oil painting Air

Scientists Just Learned That This Bat Eats Birds Midflight. A Renaissance Painter May Have Known About It Hundreds of Years Ago

Last fall, scientists reported the first known recordings of greater noctule bats hunting and feasting on songbirds during night flights. But a 17th-century artwork by Jan Brueghel the Elder seems to depict the species flying with feathered prey in its mouth

Two dolphins swim up to the camera. The recognized images from this year's Ocean Conservancy Photo Contest all feature animals.

These 11 Wildlife Images From the Ocean Conservancy’s Photography Contest Showcase the Wonder of Earth’s Waters

Seals, penguins and fish are featured in the nonprofit’s annual competition to inspire care for the world’s oceans

An artist's rendition of the new species, Jian changmaensis, on the left attacking the early bird Gansus yumenensis

This Strange, Feathered Dinosaur May Have Glided Between Trees Like a Flying Squirrel to Hunt Birds 120 Million Years Ago

A fossil of the creature provides the first evidence that microraptors lived in what is now northwestern China. Its discovery might also solve an ancient murder mystery

Two fossils of juvenile embolomeres—crocodile-like creatures, illustrated here—suggest that they did not undergo metamorphosis to become adults and that the ancestors of today’s birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians might not have had a tadpole life phase.

A Vietnam Veteran Collected Fossils for 66 Years. One, Mislabeled ‘Baby Lamprey,’ Made Paleontologists Reconsider How Vertebrates Moved From Water to Land

The fossil turned out to be a hatchling of a crocodile-like creature, and it suggests, according to a new study, that early animals did not use metamorphosis to evolve to dwell on land

A city-dwelling male bowerbird near the structure that it built to woo mates, called a bower.

Male Bowerbirds in Australian Cities Are Turning Human Trash Into Treasure to Impress Potential Mates

Even rural birds prefer human-made objects, such as colored glass and wire, when given the choice between them and natural decorations, like leaves and shells, according to a new study

The blue-fronted lorikeet was first described based on seven specimens collected in the 1920s.

Cool Finds

This Colorful Parrot Had Been Seen Only Once Over the Past Century. Birders Just Rediscovered It in an Unexplored Indonesian Forest

First described in the 1920s from seven specimens, the blue-fronted lorikeet hadn’t been spotted since 2014. Bird-watchers on a recent trek snapped photos of the rare bird and captured the first known audio recordings of its calls

A swan swims on the Scharmützelsee at sunrise on July 2, 2025, when temperatures in the nearby German cities of Berlin and Brandenberg were expected to hit 102 degrees Fahrenheit.

‘Stupid Hot’: Heat Waves Muddle the Minds of Animals and Humans as Confusion and Aggression Seem to Rise With the Temperature

Wide-ranging research suggests that as temperatures increase, some creatures pick fights while others struggle to learn. The findings hint at consequences that may ripple through ecosystems

Pigeons that had been injected with a drug to deplete their special liver cells did not find their way home until the sun came out.

How Do Pigeons Find Their Way Home? New Research Suggests That the Birds’ Remarkable Navigational Skills Come From Their Livers

The birds might use the organs’ iron-rich immune cells as internal compasses on overcast days, when they must rely on Earth’s magnetic field, instead of the sun’s light cues, for navigation

A sihek, or Guam kingfisher, chick born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Four Rare Guam Kingfisher Chicks Hatch at Virginia Facility, Making an ‘Incredibly Valuable’ Addition to the Small Population of Extinct-in-the-Wild Birds

The species, also known as the sihek, was wiped out from its native Guam and kept alive in captivity. Conservationists released some birds on Palmyra Atoll in 2024, and they have been thriving so far

Partial view of Eurasian blackbird, Missy Dunaway, acrylic ink on paper

Shakespeare Referenced Dozens of Bird Species in His Work. This Artist Has Made It Her Mission to Paint Them All

Missy Dunaway’s colorful illustrations combine natural history, folklore and literature to depict the Bard’s birds

A limestone pigeon sculpture from Cyprus, dated between 600 and 480 B.C.E.

Pigeon Bones Found at an Ancient Cyprus Settlement Reveal That Our Relationship With These Birds Began Earlier Than We Thought

Before common pigeons were considered urban pests, people domesticated them and relied on them for meat, fertilizer, messages and more. A new study suggests humans have lived alongside the winged creatures for at least 3,400 years

Gentoo penguins have been considered a rare beneficiary of climate change due to their population growth on the Antarctic Peninsula. Splitting the birds into four species brings to light regional threats and declines.

Gentoo Penguins Are Actually Four Different Species, Scientists Say, Revealing They’re Not Quite ‘Winners’ of Climate Change After All

A new study indicates that the adaptable birds evolved into distinct lineages as isolated populations shifted to match their environmental conditions over time. The work has implications for how conservationists assess threats to gentoos

A chick hatches around 18 days after embryo transfer to the artificial egg, according to the company.

‘De-Extinction’ Company Says It Hatched Chicks From Artificial Eggs, Paving the Way for Resurrecting Dodos and Other Bygone Birds

Colossal Biosciences announced that 26 live baby chickens have emerged from 3D-printed honeycomb structures. But the company does not plan to detail the system in a paper, and its mission has faced criticism

This Socorro dove recently hatched at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Conservationists have been undertaking a decades-long effort to breed the extinct-in-the-wild species and one day reintroduce it to its native Socorro Island in Mexico.

New, Rare Dove Hatchlings Are a ‘Source of Hope’ for the Extinct-in-the-Wild Birds and a Step Forward in the Ambitious Project to Save Them

The Socorro dove has not been recorded in the wild since 1972, but that could change within only a few years, conservationists say, thanks to a long-term reintroduction effort

Sue Schubel hand-paints around 500 a year from her workshop in a converted barn steps from the ocean in Bremen, Maine, a tiny town in the lower third of the state’s craggy coast.

How ‘Seabird Sue’ Blends Art and Science to Attract Birds Back to Lost Habitat

For the past decade, Sue Schubel has been making detailed decoys of terns, puffins and other seabirds to entice real ones to restored or new homes

Two Alpine ibexes butt heads, slamming their horns together in a powerful battle that can be heard from far away. They wandered up the slope together afterward.

See 15 Stunning Images That Won the German Society for Nature Photography’s Annual Contest

From a lunging frog to the majestic movements of penguins, the honored photographs capture the wonder of wildlife and beauty of natural landscapes

Researchers studied social learning in the birds by introducing a novel food item: colorfully dyed almonds.

Wild Cockatoos Learn Which Snacks Are Safe to Eat by Copying Their Friends, New Research Suggests

Munching on the wrong items can lead to illness, but social learning might help the birds avoid making a potentially deadly mistake. The phenomenon could help explain why certain cockatoos have fared so well in urban environments

About 50 organisms have been named for David Attenborough or elements of his legacy, from an orchid to a marine worm to one of the earliest known predators.

David Attenborough Has Inspired Countless Scientists. To Mark His 100th Birthday, Here Are Ten Living Things They’ve Named After Him

Researchers around the planet grew up watching documentaries hosted by the English broadcaster and naturalist, which sparked their love of the natural world. Now, their discoveries become tributes to his legacy

The European green woodpecker was one of the most skittish birds observed.

Urban Birds Seem to Be More Fearful of Women Than of Men—and Scientists Don’t Know Why

The study examined 37 bird species in cities across five European countries. The animals allowed men to get about three feet closer than women, on average, before flying away

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