Feature Channels: Birds

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Released: 19-Aug-2021 1:40 PM EDT
Study Identifies Patterns In Bird-Plane Collisions
Cornell University

Scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and partners have been looking for patterns in bird strike data from three New York City area airports. Their model predicts that the risk for damaging strikes during periods with very high migration intensity increases by as much as 400% to 700%.

Released: 5-Aug-2021 10:05 AM EDT
Surprising Insights Into the Migration Pattern of World’s Farthest-Migrating Species
University of British Columbia

The Arctic tern—which has the world record for the longest annual migration—uses just a few select routes, a key finding that could help efforts to conserve the species, according to a new University of British Columbia study.

29-Jul-2021 9:50 AM EDT
Toxin Sponges May Protect Poisonous Frogs and Birds From Their Own Poisons, Study Suggests
The Rockefeller University Press

A team of researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Stanford University, and the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) has uncovered new clues as to how poisonous frogs and birds avoid intoxicating themselves.

Released: 4-Aug-2021 12:35 PM EDT
Harmful Algal Blooms Jeopardize Health of Reptiles, Songbirds
University of Toledo

Toxic algal blooms in the Great Lakes region cause mixed reactions in wildlife, from higher stress levels to weaker immune systems.

Released: 3-Aug-2021 12:20 PM EDT
New Study Finds Emperor Penguins Increasingly Threatened by Climate Change
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Woods Hole, MA (August 3, 2021) – A new study published today in Global Change Biology provides valuable new data that highlights how species extinction risk is accelerating due to rapid climate change and an increase in extreme climate events, such as glacial calving and sea ice loss. The study, led by Stephanie Jenouvrier, associate scientist, and seabird ecologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and co-authored by an international team of scientists, policy experts, ecologists, and climate scientists, provided pivotal research and projections tailored for use by the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS). Their work proposed that emperor penguins be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and this week, USFWS submitted that listing proposal.

Released: 3-Aug-2021 8:40 AM EDT
Integrate Disciplines to Conserve Biodiversity
University of Vienna

Innovation arises through the transfer of research results into practiceValuable research results threaten to gather dust in university libraries if they are not put into practice. While transdisciplinary research seems to become increasingly important in sciences, funding programs and media, there are still many misunderstandings to be clarified.

Released: 20-Jul-2021 5:25 PM EDT
Removal of Barred Owls Slows Decline of Iconic Spotted Owls in Pacific Northwest, Study Finds
Oregon State University

A 17-year study in Oregon, Washington and California found that removal of invasive barred owls arrested the population decline of the northern spotted owl, a native species threatened by invading barred owls and the loss of old-forest habitats.

Released: 20-Jul-2021 5:20 PM EDT
Rapidly Diversifying Birds in Southeast Asia Offer New Insights Into Evolution
Trinity College Dublin

New findings from zoologists working with birds in Southeast Asia are shining fresh light on the connections between animal behaviour, geology, and evolution - underlining that species can diversify surprisingly quickly under certain conditions.

Released: 20-Jul-2021 4:15 PM EDT
Step Inside the Danforth Center Prairie: Plants, Pollinators, and Birds
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Whether you are driving by or visiting the Danforth Center, one of the first things you’ll notice is the six acres of reconstructed Missouri tallgrass prairie in front of our building.

Released: 12-Jul-2021 4:35 PM EDT
Humans can learn from animals and insects about impact of climate change
Universiteit Stellenbosch

If we pay closer attention to how birds, rabbits and termites transform their local living spaces in response to varying climate conditions, we could become much better at predicting what impact climate change will have on them in future.

Released: 9-Jul-2021 1:15 PM EDT
Red Dead Redemption 2 teaches players about wildlife
University of Exeter

Players of the popular game Red Dead Redemption 2 learn how to identify real American wildlife, new research shows.

Released: 9-Jul-2021 9:25 AM EDT
How Sweet It Is: Study Finds Songbirds CAN Taste Sugar
Cornell University

A team of international scientists finds that more than 4,000 species of songbirds can taste sugar--contrary to conventional thought.

Released: 8-Jul-2021 12:45 PM EDT
Wild birds learn to avoid distasteful prey by watching others
University of Helsinki

How do predators know to avoid brightly-coloured toxic prey? A collaboration of researchers has put social information theory to the test in a reliable real-world system to find the answer - by copying what others do, or do not, eat.

Released: 7-Jul-2021 3:50 PM EDT
Arctic seabirds are less heat tolerant, more vulnerable to climate change
McGill University

The Arctic is warming at approximately twice the global rate. A new study led by researchers from McGill University finds that cold-adapted Arctic species, like the thick-billed murre, are especially vulnerable to heat stress caused by climate change.

Released: 30-Jun-2021 1:05 PM EDT
Wildfire changes songbird plumage and testosterone
Washington State University

Fire can put a tropical songbird's sex life on ice.

25-Jun-2021 2:50 PM EDT
Air Pollution From Wildfires Impacts Ability to Observe Birds
University of Washington

Researchers from the University of Washington provide a first look at the probability of observing common birds as air pollution worsens during wildfire seasons. They found that smoke affected the ability to detect more than a third of the bird species studied in Washington state over a four-year period. Sometimes smoke made it harder to observe birds, while other species were actually easier to detect when smoke was present.

Released: 28-Jun-2021 12:45 PM EDT
Don't worry, birds won't become dependent on you feeding them, study suggests
Oregon State University

Oregon State University researchers have some good news for the well-meaning masses who place bird feeders in their yards: The small songbirds who visit the feeders seem unlikely to develop an unhealthy reliance on them.

Released: 23-Jun-2021 10:45 AM EDT
What Bird is Singing? Ask the Merlin Bird ID App for an Instant Answer
Cornell University

With a new feature in the free Merlin Bird ID app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, you can now ID a bird by its sound.

   
Released: 16-Jun-2021 12:05 PM EDT
What Factors Put Philippine Birds at Risk of Extinction?
University of Utah

A new study from University of Utah researchers suggests that, due to deforestation and habitat degradation, more bird species may be endangered that previously thought – including species that may not have been discovered yet.

Released: 14-Jun-2021 3:40 PM EDT
More Than a Bumpy Ride: Turbulence Offers Boost to Birds
Cornell University

By combining wind speed data with the measured accelerations of a golden eagle outfitted with GPS tracking instruments, researchers suggest that, rather than hindering flight, turbulence is a source of energy that birds may use to their advantage.

Released: 12-Jun-2021 1:35 AM EDT
Los Alamos Teams with International Group to Examine Spread of Infectious Disease by Migratory Birds
Los Alamos National Laboratory

A multinational effort is underway to understand and control the spread of disease among migratory birds.

Released: 7-Jun-2021 3:50 PM EDT
Darkened Windows Save Migrating Birds
Cornell University

Building lights are a deadly lure for the billions of birds that migrate at night, disrupting their natural navigation cues and leading to deadly collisions. But even if you can’t turn out all the lights in a building, darkening even some windows at night during bird migration periods could be a major lifesaver for birds.

Released: 6-Jun-2021 8:05 PM EDT
Conserving coastal seaweed: a must have for migrating sea birds
University of South Australia

As Australia officially enters winter, UniSA ecologists are urging coastal communities to embrace all that the season brings, including the sometimes-unwelcome deposits of brown seaweed that can accumulate on the southern shores.

Released: 4-Jun-2021 4:25 PM EDT
Songbirds can control single vocal muscle fibers when singing
University of Southern Denmark

The melodic and diverse songs of birds frequently inspire pop songs and poems, and have been for centuries, all the way back to Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" or "The Nightingale" by H.C. Andersen.

Released: 3-Jun-2021 12:10 PM EDT
Polar vortex, winter heat may change bird populations
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Researchers set out to learn how extreme winter cold and heat affected 41 common bird species in eastern North America. They found that individual bird species respond differently to these weather events, and extreme winter heat may lead to longer-term changes in bird populations.

Released: 1-Jun-2021 2:40 PM EDT
Duetting songbirds 'mute' the musical mind of their partner to stay in sync
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)

Art Garfunkel once described his legendary musical chemistry with Paul Simon, "We meet somewhere in the air through the vocal cords ... ." But a new study of duetting songbirds from Ecuador, the plain-tail wren (Pheugopedius euophrys), has offered another tune explaining the mysterious connection between successful performing duos.

Released: 27-May-2021 2:15 PM EDT
Seabirds face dire threats from climate change, human activity — especially in Northern Hemisphere
University of Washington

Many seabirds in the Northern Hemisphere are struggling to breed — and in the Southern Hemisphere, they may not be far behind. These are the conclusions of a study, published May 28 in Science, analyzing more than 50 years of breeding records for 67 seabird species worldwide.

Released: 24-May-2021 3:10 PM EDT
Experimental broadcast of whitewater river noise drives bats and birds away
Boise State University

While many might consider a walk in the woods to be a quiet, peaceful escape from their noisy urban life, we often don't consider just how incredibly noisy some natural environments can be.

Released: 19-May-2021 8:00 AM EDT
UNC Biological Education Doctoral Candidate Awarded $20,000 Award
University of Northern Colorado

Karina Sanchez, a Biological Education Ph.D. candidate at the University of Northern Colorado, has been awarded a $20,000 American Dissertation Fellowship award from the American Association of University Women (AAUW), an organization that promotes education and equity for women and girls. Her dissertation involves researching how noise and light pollution and landscape composition in urban settings affects American robins, specifically their bird song.

   
Released: 17-May-2021 2:25 PM EDT
URI students learn about animal behavior by training chickens to perform tasks
University of Rhode Island

Each of the 13 students in URI Assistant Professor Justin Richard’s class is assigned a chicken and is instructed to train it to do several required behaviors, as well as other behaviors the students choose themselves. All train the birds to understand that when they hear a clicker, a food reward will be delivered. They also train the birds to peck at a target. Some students are also training their chickens to get on a scale to be weighed, identify a particular color, or jump through a hoop.

Released: 17-May-2021 1:40 PM EDT
Bird data from Ethiopia fills in baseline data gaps
University of Utah

The study establishes baseline observations for tropical birds in East Africa, filling in an important data gap for monitoring biodiversity and tropical ecosystem health in a warming world.

Released: 12-May-2021 3:55 PM EDT
Iconic bird makes its home on campus
University of California, Irvine

With its tree-laden campus and adjacent protected natural reserves, UCI enjoys being home to a great variety of bird species. One particular raptor continues to capture the attention of the many avid birders in Orange County: the white-tailed kite. This iconic bird of Orange County – named for its ability to hover in the air while hunting –nearly went extinct throughout California in the early 1900s due to human-related threats.

7-May-2021 4:25 PM EDT
Tweet and re-tweet: songbird stuttering allows researchers to pinpoint causes in the brain
Tufts University

Biologists have identified specific neural firing patterns that can induce stuttering and stammering in songbirds. The discovery offers a model system that could enable researchers to uncover the origins of speech dysfunction in humans, and possible treatment to restore normal speech.

   
Released: 4-May-2021 4:05 PM EDT
Climate change impacts conservation sites across the Americas
Durham University

A continental-scale network of conservation sites is likely to remain effective under future climate change scenarios, despite a predicted shift in key species distributions.

Released: 30-Apr-2021 1:25 PM EDT
New View of Species Interactions Offers Clues to Preserve Threatened Ecosystems
University of California San Diego

Scientists from around the world have produced a new analysis—believed to be the most detailed study of specialized ecological data from global forests—that is furthering science’s understanding of species interactions and how diversity contributes to the preservation of ecosystem health.

Released: 23-Apr-2021 2:15 PM EDT
Climate change impacts conservation sites across the Americas
Durham University

A continental-scale network of conservation sites is likely to remain effective under future climate change scenarios, despite a predicted shift in key species distributions.

Released: 23-Apr-2021 10:15 AM EDT
Citizen science data tracks battle of birds vs. bacteria
Cornell University

House finches are locked in a deadly cycle of immunity and new strains of bacterial infection in battling an eye disease that halved their population when it first emerged 25 years ago, according to new research from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Released: 21-Apr-2021 2:30 PM EDT
The Math Behind How Pelicans Surf the Waves
University of California San Diego

It’s a common sight: pelicans gliding along the waves, right by the shore. These birds make this kind of surfing look effortless, but actually the physics involved that give them a big boost are not simple. Researchers at the University of California San Diego have recently developed a theoretical model that describes how the ocean, the wind and the birds in flight interact in a recent paper in Movement Ecology.

Released: 16-Apr-2021 2:30 PM EDT
Buffalo State Biology Professor Publishes Research on Avian Hybridization
SUNY Buffalo State University

Several biological factors and behavioral traits—like migrating habits and social bonds—play into whether certain species of birds are more likely to produce hybrid offspring than others

Released: 7-Apr-2021 1:20 PM EDT
Why lists of worldwide bird species disagree
University of Utah

Biologists set out to compare four main lists of bird species worldwide to find out how the lists differ—and why. They found that although the lists agree on most birds, disagreements in Southeast Asia and the Southern Ocean could mean that some species are missed by conservation ecologists.

Released: 26-Mar-2021 10:40 AM EDT
International investigation discovers bald eagles’ killer
University of Georgia

Eagle and waterfowl deaths occur in late fall and winter within reservoirs with excess invasive aquatic weeds, and birds can die within five days after arrival.

Released: 24-Mar-2021 1:50 PM EDT
Bald eagle count quadruples, thanks in part to eBird data boost
Cornell University

For the past 50 years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has been assembling counts of bald eagle nests to track the triumphant recovery of America’s national symbol. But in its new bald eagle population report – tabulated with the help of results using eBird data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology – the USFWS found many more eagles than previously thought to exist in the Lower 48 states.

Released: 23-Mar-2021 4:05 PM EDT
Penguin hemoglobin evolved to meet oxygen demands of diving
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Experiments on ancient proteins reveal evolution of better oxygen capture, release

Released: 12-Mar-2021 12:50 PM EST
Whooping cranes steer clear of wind turbines when selecting stopover sites
Ecological Society of America

As gatherings to observe whooping cranes join the ranks of online-only events this year, a new study offers insight into how the endangered bird is faring on a landscape increasingly dotted with wind turbines.

Released: 9-Mar-2021 5:10 PM EST
Warming climate slows tropical birds’ population growth rates
University of Utah

Monte Neate-Clegg and colleagues tracked the demographics of 21 bird species over 30 years of observations from a mountain forest in Tanzania. For at least six of the species, their population declined over 30 years could be most attributable to rising temperatures – an effect of a warming world. Smaller birds, as well as those that live at the lower part of their elevation range, were at higher risk for slowed population growth.

Released: 2-Mar-2021 10:25 AM EST
Backyard chickens risk pathogen spread
University of Georgia

Keeping backyard chickens was already on the rise, and the hobby has become even more popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a University of Georgia researcher cautions that the practice has risks not just for chickens, but for wildlife and people as well.

Released: 25-Feb-2021 12:05 PM EST
Male Lyrebirds Create an "Acoustic Illusion" to Snare Potential Mates
Cornell University

Famous for their uncanny ability to imitate other birds and even mechanical devices, researchers find that Australia’s Superb Lyrebird also uses that skill in a totally unexpected way. Lyrebirds imitate the panicked alarm calls of a mixed-species flock of birds while males are courting and even while mating with a female.



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