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Land Birds

These scavenging bird could use a lesson or two in manners.

Vulture Poop Has Compromised a Customs and Border Protection Radio Tower in Texas

Officials are scrambling for a solution to the fecal fiasco

African grey parrots are highly social, and may benefit from establishing reputations for generosity.

Parrots Will Share Currency to Help Their Pals Purchase Food

Animals often share food, but these birds understand that metal rings can be exchanged for treats, and they share the rings with no promise of reward

The North Island brown kiwi is a flightless, nocturnal bird that lays the biggest egg relative to its body size.

What Bird Lays the Biggest Eggs Compared to Its Body Size? Where Does ‘Lame Duck’ Come From? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got question. We’ve got experts

A Carolina parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) specimen.

The Extinction of This U.S. Parrot Was Quick and Driven by Humans

A new study sequenced the genome of the Carolina parakeet, once the only parrot native to the eastern part of the country

Trending Today

See a Bald Eagle and Octopus Tangled in Epic Battle

The big cephalopod was winning until the humans intervened

Popular lore posits that Jimi Hendrix, or perhaps the crew of classic Hollywood film The African Queen, released the invasive species in the U.K., but a new study suggests otherwise.

Contrary to Popular Legend, Jimi Hendrix Did Not Introduce an Invasive Parakeet to the U.K.

A new study debunks several colorful theories about how ring-necked parakeets became the most abundant naturalized parrot across the pond

New York is the largest city to implement legislation requiring bird-friendly construction.

New York Is Poised to Require Bird-Friendly Glass on All New Buildings

Each year, up to a billion birds in the United States die from glass collisions

One scientist, Dave Willard, took the measurements of the 70,716 bird specimens in this study and recorded them by hand into ledgers like this. This photo shows one of Willard's ledgers, his measuring tools, and a Tennessee Warbler.

Climate Change May Be Causing Birds to Shrink—and Their Wings to Grow

The phenomenon was ‘shockingly’ consistent across a variety of bird species, according to the authors of a new study

New Research

Birds Sniff Each Other’s Bacteria to Help Choose a Mate

A new study finds the microbiome in a bird’s preen oil determines its scent, which can impact its reproductive success

New Research

These Beautiful Blue Turkey-Like Birds Have Tiny Brains and Huge Social Networks

A new study finds that vulturine guineafowl live in complex societies previously found in primates, elephants and dolphins

A steppe eagle with an SMS tracker attached.

Trending Today

Text Messages Sent by Roaming Eagles Bankrupt Scientific Study

A steppe eagle named Min spent months out of range before reappearing in Iran and sending hundreds of expensive SMS texts

A male white bellbird screaming its mating call.

Listen to the Shattering Call of the World’s Loudest Known Bird

The song of the white bellbird can reach 125 decibels, which rivals ‘the amplitude of a pile driver,’ says the author of a new study

Trending Today

North America’s Rarest Warbler Comes Off the Endangered List

Habitat restoration and invasive species trapping have helped Kirtland’s recover in its central Michigan home

Birds are considered an indicator species, representing the health of entire ecosystems.

North America Has Lost Nearly 3 Billion Birds Since 1970

The staggering population loss of 29 percent of North American birds could signal an ecological crisis

Birds given doses of a common pesticide lost significant body mass, fat stores

Common Pesticides Delay Songbird Migration, Trigger Significant Weight Loss

Within six hours of ingesting a high dose of pesticide, sparrows lost six percent of their body weight and 17 percent of their fat stores

Cock-a-doodle-doo, losers.

A Rooster Named Maurice Can Keep on Crowing, French Court Rules

‘Maurice has won a battle for the whole of France,” the bird’s owner said

New Research

The Scientists Who Stared at Gulls

A new study suggests that watching the birds as they approach will slow them down or scare them off

Members of the control group showed none of the behavioral and physiological changes seen among the experimental clutches

New Research

Unhatched Bird Embryos Communicate With Siblings by Vibrating Their Shells

Baby seabirds exposed to nestmates’ warnings exhibit behavioral and physiological adaptations designed to help avoid predators

An artist's interpretation of what life could have been like if ancient humans and ancient ostriches crossed paths.

Fossil of Ancient Bird Three Times Bigger Than an Ostrich Found in Europe

The fossil is about 1.8 million years old, meaning the bird may have arrived on the continent around the same time as Homo erectus

New Research

Pterosaurs May Have Flown as Soon as They Hatched

A new analysis of the flying reptile’s embryos indicates the bones needed for flight were highly developed in the egg

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