It’s happened to most beachgoers. You sit on a towel and unwrap your sandwich, prepared to savor a waterfront lunch with your feet in the sand. But then you look up, and you see them—seagulls everywhere, prowling closer and closer to your ham and cheese. If your gut reaction is to shout at them, new […]
Great Tits Sometimes Break Up, Bird Researchers Find
We’re talking about the birds. Great tits are small, yellowish songbirds common to the woodlands of Europe. Tit pairs are known to be monogamous during breeding season, splitting up after fully raising their offspring. But new research suggests that this “tit divorce” may be the product of complex social relationships formed during and after the […]
This Dinosaur Probably Chirped Like a Bird
Scientists have discovered a dinosaur that might have chirped like a bird, a finding that suggests the evolutionary origins of birdsong may be far more ancient than we previously thought. In a paper published last week in the journal PeerJ, an international team of researchers describes a 163-million-year-old fossil found in northeastern China’s Hebei Province. […]
This Hawk Figured Out Traffic Signals to Ambush Its Prey
Birds continue to be amazing. Crows can use tools and hold grudges against specific people. Magpies can recognize themselves in mirrors. And now, hawks are using traffic signals to hunt down prey, according to a study published today in the journal Frontiers in Ethology. The story starts with Vladimir Dinets, a zoologist at the University […]
Immaculate Feather Fossil Reveals the Unlikely Preserving Power of Volcanoes
Fossilized feathers discovered 136 years ago are still revealing new secrets. Researchers found that the volcanic rock preserving the feather holds microscopic details preserved within the fossil. The team’s research—published today in Geology—found that the feathers are preserved in zeolite, a mode of preservation that hasn’t been reported for soft tissues until now. “Fossil feathers […]
Plastic Triggered a New Geological Epoch—and the Evidence May Be in Bird Nests
Plastic may have started a new geological era on our planet, sometimes called the Anthropocene. Hundreds and even thousands of years from now, scientists may date sediment layers by finding bits of old plastic, similar to how today’s archaeologists date excavations by the art styles of ancient pottery. In fact, this has already begun: Researchers […]
Plastic Triggered a New Geological Epoch—and the Evidence May Be in Bird Nests
Plastic may have started a new geological era on our planet, sometimes called the Anthropocene. Hundreds and even thousands of years from now, scientists may date sediment layers by finding bits of old plastic, similar to how today’s archaeologists date excavations by the art styles of ancient pottery. In fact, this has already begun: Researchers […]
Hundreds of Ducks Found Dead of Suspected Bird Flu Around Chicago
Roughly 200-300 ducks have been found dead in Chicago and the northern suburbs around Lake Michigan in recent days, according to a new report from local news outlet NBC5. The red-breasted mergansers have died of suspected bird flu, according to local experts who spoke with NBC5, though it doesn’t appear tests have confirmed that suspicion […]