Articles tagged as Land Birds | Smithsonian Magazine

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

November 11, 2019

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

November 6, 2019

A steppe eagle with an SMS tracker attached.

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

October 28, 2019

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

October 23, 2019

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

October 11, 2019

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

September 19, 2019

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

September 13, 2019

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

September 5, 2019

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

August 8, 2019

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

July 23, 2019

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

June 26, 2019

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

June 13, 2019

Last year, archaeologists unearthed two unusual Bronze Age graves at Siberia's Ust-Tartas site

Cool Finds

Bronze Age ‘Birdman’ Had a Headdress Made of Dozens of Bird Beaks, Skulls

Researchers suspect that the unusual accessory served a protective ritual purpose

June 5, 2019

France outlawed ortolan hunting in 1999, but the ban was rarely enforced until 2007 and remains unevenly implemented

Ortolans, Songbirds Enjoyed as French Delicacy, Are Being Eaten Into Extinction

Hunters illegally catch some 30,000 of the 300,000 ortolans that pass through southwestern France every migration season

May 23, 2019

Tiger sharks appear to prey on migrating songbirds that fall into the ocean during autumnal storms

Baby Sharks Do (Do, Do, Do, Do, Do) Eat Songbirds

A survey of 105 tiger sharks’ stomach contents revealed the remains of 11 land-based bird species

May 22, 2019

All four chicks are growing quickly, quadrupling in size from around 8 centimeters tall at birth to more than 30 centimeters last week

Tower of London Welcomes Baby Ravens for the First Time in 30 Years

The four chicks eat at least once every two hours, feasting on a diet of quail, mice and rats

May 21, 2019

Starr, Valor I and Valor II are taking care of three eaglets seven years after their dramatic story began

April 17, 2019

Armando, the long distance pigeon racing champ, was recently bought by a Chinese buyer and put out to stud

March 22, 2019

An illustration of what Avimaia schweitzerae and its nest may have looked like.

Cool Finds

First-Ever Fossilized Mother Bird Found With Unlaid Egg

The rare 110-million-year-old bits of shell shine light on the reproduction during the age of dinosaurs

March 22, 2019

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

March 12, 2019