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Birds

Expansion packs featuring birds of every continent are currently in the works

This New Scientifically Accurate Board Game Is for the Birders

“Wingspan” features 170 unique species cards filled with real-world information, life-like illustrations

To find out what's going on outside, people love to search for it online.

Bird Migrations, Floral Blooms and Other Natural Phenomena Cause Seasonal Spikes in Wikipedia Searches

A new study has found that pageview trends for various plants and animal species correspond to real-world seasonal patterns

Budgie love triangles are more complex than you might think

When Choosing a Mate, These Female Birds Prefer Brains Over Beauty or Brawn

After observing initially scorned male budgies performing complex cognitive tasks, females shifted mating preferences

A sparkling violetear (Colibri coruscans) and a brown violetear (Colibri delphinae) display their neck side-feathers to dissuade each other from using their weaponized bills, which have strongly serrated edges and dagger-like tips.

Some Hummingbirds Evolved Bills That Make Them Better at Fighting—but Worse at Feeding

A new study adds complexity to the notion that hummingbirds are ‘all about drinking efficiently from flowers,’ as one researcher puts it

Ducklings that hatched in October were reared in lakeside pens, then transferred to the floating aviaries in early December.

One of the World’s Rarest Birds Has Been Reintroduced to the Wild in Madagascar

The 21 Madagascar pochards seem to be faring well in their new home

New Research

Cardinals in Different Regions Could Actually Be Distinct Species, Their Songs Suggest

Populations of the ubiquitous red bird have different calls and genetics in the American southwest

Cool Finds

Adelie Penguins Poop So Much, Their Feces Can Be Seen From Space

Satellite images of the Adelie penguin’s pink guano shows how their colony size and diet have changed over the last 4 decades

The blue-fronted Amazon parrot lives up to 66 years in the wild.

Parrot Genes Reveal Why the Birds Are So Clever, Long-Lived

Researchers say the avian creatures are as genetically distant from other birds as humans are from other primates

Wisdom and her egg on Midway Atoll in 2018.

This 68-Year-Old Bird Has Laid Yet Another Egg

Wisdom the Laysan albatross is believed to be around 68 years old, and she has raised as many as 35 chicks

Artist's rendition of Mirarce eatoni.

New Research

This Dino-Era Bird Was as Advanced as Modern Species. So Why Did It Disappear?

An enantiornithine fossil found in the western U.S. sat in storage for 25 years before it was officially described

Burket's warbler

New Research

This Rare Warbler Is Three Species in One

A warbler discovered in Pennsylvania is the offspring of a hybrid female and a male from a completely different genus

An Inaccessible Island rail

How a Flightless Bird Ended Up on an Island 1,550 Miles Away From Any Mainland

New genetic analysis suggests the bird did not walk to Inaccessible Island, as scientists in the past suggested

Assortment of bird eggs and a fossil theropod egg

Dinosaurs May Have Given Birds Their Colorful, Speckled Eggs

A new analysis of fossilized eggshells suggests diversely patterned eggs evolved much earlier than previously believed

In areas made up of less than 70 percent native plant biomass, Carolina chickadees will not produce enough young to sustain their populations. At 70 percent or higher, the birds can thrive.

Ecologists Have this Simple Request to Homeowners—Plant Native

A new study shows how quickly songbird populations fall off when gardens are planted with exotic trees and shrubs

A crow named Mango successfully assembled three- and four-part compound tools

New Research

Crafty New Caledonian Crows Can Assemble Tools

The brainy birds successfully navigated feat previously accomplished by just two other species: humans and chimps

Does the Same Goose Always Lead the Flying V and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Cool Finds

You Thought Modern Life Was Bad. This Neanderthal Child Was Eaten By a Giant Bird

It’s not known if the bird killed the child or scavenged its remains, but finger bones found in Poland show they went through a bird’s digestive tract

Species with a predilection for berries, like this bohemian waxwing, are susceptible to getting drunk on fermented fruits.

Birds Are Acting Erratically in Minnesota. Blame It on the Alcohol.

The birds have been feasting on fermented berries, leading to all manner of drunken antics and fowl play, including flying under the influence.

Sloths' slow-paced lifestyle is a survival strategy, not a sign of laziness

Sloths Don’t Just Live in Slow-Mo, They Can Put Their Metabolism On Pause

Unlike most mammals, sloths don’t use vast amounts of energy when it’s hot, instead opting to slow down and conserve power, more like birds or reptiles

Cool Finds

Moths Love Sipping the Salty Tears of Sleeping Birds

A researcher in the Amazon happened up on the rare sight in the dead of night while looking for reptiles and amphibians

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