Feature Channels: Birds

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The first global census of the Adélie penguin, long considered a key indicator species to monitor and understand the effects of climate change and fishing in the Southern Ocean, has revealed its population (3.79 million breeding pairs) to be 53 percent larger than previously estimated. By using high-resolution satellite imagery, Stony Brook University ecologist Heather Lynch, PhD, and conservation biologist Michelle LaRue, PhD, of the University of Minnesota, have applied a new method that permits regular monitoring of Adélie penguins across their entire breeding range, and by extension the health of the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Their findings are published in The Auk, Orinthological Advances.

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A study of one of the world’s largest and most colorful bird families has dispelled a long-held notion, first proposed by Charles Darwin, that animals are limited in their options to evolve showiness

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Tufts Wildlife Clinic has established the Ruby Memorial Research Fund to monitor the health effects of rodenticides on birds of prey.

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Using computer vision and machine learning techniques, Columbia Engineering researchers have developed Birdsnap, a free new iPhone app that's an electronic field guide featuring 500 of the most common North American bird species. The app enables users to identify bird species through uploaded photos, + accompanies a comprehensive website.

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Birds come in astounding variety—from hummingbirds to emus—and behave in myriad ways: they soar the skies, swim the waters, and forage the forests. But this wasn’t always the case, according to research by scientists at the University of Chicago and the Field Museum.

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Industrial encroachment in North America’s 1.5 billion-acre boreal forest could endanger billions of birds and other species. A new report calls for saving half of boreal forest acreage to protect the habitat for more than 300 migratory bird species. The northern landscape is beset with oil, gas, mining and other industrial hazards destined for a vast, pristine woodland.

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In one of the greatest feats of endurance in the biological world, millions of tiny songbirds — many weighing less than an ounce — migrate thousands of miles to Central and South America each year. Now scientists are finding out how these featherweights do it: using elliptical routes that take advantage of prevailing wind patterns to save calories.

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When University of Utah biologists set out cotton balls treated with a mild pesticide, wild finches in the Galapagos used the cotton to help build their nests, killing parasitic fly maggots to protect baby birds. The self-fumigation method may help endangered birds and even some mammals.

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The backyard is far more than a place to install a pool, hold a barbecue, or toss a Frisbee. The sum of all North American yards and neighborhood green spaces equals major habitat for birds and other wildlife. Creating larger, connected patches of bird-friendly habitat is one goal of the new YardMap citizen-science project from the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology. The project has undergone extensive testing by 10,000 users who created more than 6,700 maps. YardMap is ready for everyone and is now inviting new participants to join.

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After setting a new North American record for the number of species identified in a 24-hour birding marathon in Texas last year (294), the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Team Sapsucker is taking on another big challenge. In early May, the team will head to the American Southwest following a new birding route they call “El Gigante.” Their goals are to focus attention on environmental pressures in this key region and to raise a record $400,000 for conservation work at the Cornell Lab.

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Blue-footed boobies are on the decline in the Galápagos because of a low sardine diet.

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Peruvian pelicans join the flock in the Russell B. Aitken sea bird colony at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo.

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A URI ornithologist has found that the capacity of a bird’s gut to change with environmental conditions is a primary limiting factor in their ability to adapt to the rapidly changing climate. And he believes that most other animals are also limited in a similar way.

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A new study from the Wildlife Conservation Society finds that several iconic Adirondack birds are in trouble, with declines driven by the size of their wetland habitats, how connected these wetlands are to one another, and how near they are to human infrastructure.

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When you throw a wild pitch or sing a flat note, it could be that your basal ganglia made you do it. This area in the middle of the brain is involved in motor control and learning. And one reason for that errant toss or off-key note may be that your brain prompted you to vary your behavior to help you learn, from trial-and-error, to perform better. But how does the brain do this, how does it cause you to vary your behavior?

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A group of international scientists have completed the first global inventory of flu strains in birds by reviewing more than 50 published studies and genetic data, providing new insight into the drivers of viral diversity and the emergence of disease that can ultimately impact human health and livelihoods.

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The zone of overlap between two popular, closely related backyard birds is moving northward at a rate that matches warming winter temperatures, according to a study by researchers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Villanova University, and Cornell University. The research was published online in Current Biology on Thursday, March 6, 2014.

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Paleontologists studying fossilized feathers propose that the shapes of certain microscopic structures inside the feathers can tell us the color of ancient birds. But new research shows that it is not yet possible to tell if these structures are what they seem.

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Macrosystems ecology is a new and emerging science using large amounts of information that are analyzed by faster and smarter computers to not only create greater understanding of how habitats interact, but also make better predictions about how these systems may react in the face of global climate change.

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Scientists at the University of Utah identified mutations in three key genes that determine feather color in domestic rock pigeons. The same genes control pigmentation of human skin and can be responsible for melanoma and albinism.

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Humans living in densely populated urban areas have a profound impact not only on their physical environment, but also on the health and fitness of native wildlife. For the first time, scientists have found a direct link between the degree of urbanization and the prevalence and severity of two distinct parasites in wild house finches.

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Research by Boise State University biologists shows that several raptor species appear to be responding to warmer winters by shortening their annual migration by as much as seven or eight kilometers (four to five miles) per year.

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The piping plover, a threatened shorebird, is expected to capitalize on new habitat created by Hurricane Sandy on hard-hit Long Island, N.Y. The storm created wider sandy beaches, the plover’s preferred habitat.

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The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has released a free iPhone app to help people identify 285 birds in North America

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A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society, Idaho State University and the U.S. Geological Survey suggests that habitat fragmentation and the addition of makeshift perches such as transmission polls in sagebrush ecosystems are creating preferred habitat for common ravens that threaten sensitive native bird species, including greater sage grouse.

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Introducing testosterone in select areas of a male canary’s brain can affect its ability to successfully attract and mate with a female through birdsong. These findings could shed light on how testosterone acts in the human brain to regulate speech or help explain how anabolic steroids affect human behaviors.

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Woodpeckers find emerald ash borers a handy food source and may slow the spread of this noxious pest, even ultimately controlling it, suggest researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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Hummingbird metabolism is a marvel of evolutionary engineering. These tiny birds can power all of their energetic hovering flight by burning the sugar contained in the floral nectar of their diet.

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Some song sparrows are more effusive than others in defending territory. New University of Washington findings show consistent individual differences not only for how aggressive individual song sparrows are but also for how much they use signals to communicate aggressive intentions.

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A New Zealand bird that conspicuously displays its status on the top of its head can provide valuable insight into the social conventions of all creatures, including humans, scientists have found.

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A deadly menace stalks the loons, gulls and other water birds of the Great Lakes region: Type E botulism. Cases of the disease are on the rise, and to understand die-off origin and distribution, ocean engineers from Florida Atlantic University are using their expertise in experimental hydrodynamics. They have teamed with the U.S. Geological Survey to help develop a novel way of tracking waterfowl carcasses to determine the source of lethal outbreaks.

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Many owl species have developed specialized plumage to effectively eliminate the aerodynamic noise from their wings – allowing them to hunt and capture their prey in silence. A research group working to solve the mystery of exactly how owls achieve this acoustic stealth will present their findings at the APS’s Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting, work that may one day help bring “silent owl technology” to the design of aircraft, wind turbines, and submarines.

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A first-of-its-kind study by Boise State University researchers shows that the negative effects of roads on wildlife are largely because of traffic noise.

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Sandpipers exhibit different feeding behaviour depending on position in group

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University of Florida researchers use boomboxes in the forest to study how smaller birds avoid predators.

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In an article published on Wednesday, September 18, 2013, in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers at Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology report that in some environments, songbirds exhibit inconsistency in their songs which may be caused by non-lethal levels of contaminants that persist in the sediments of the Hudson River region.

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Fossil data show scaling of limbs altered as birds originated from dinosaurs

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Bird diseases can have a vast impact on humans, so understanding their immune systems can be a benefit for people. An important element in the immune system of many animals is the protein TTP, which plays an anti-inflammatory role, yet researchers have been unable to find it in birds. New research suggests birds are an anomaly.

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A new report by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Disease Ecology Laboratory of Instituto de Ciencias Veterinarias del Litoral, Argentina (ICIVET LITORAL, UNL-CONICET) shows that increases in precipitation and changes in vegetative structure in Argentine forests – factors driven by climate change and deforestation in the region – are leading to increased parasitism of young nesting birds by fly larvae (botflies) of the species Philornis torquans.

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Call it a bird’s eye view of migration. Scientists have created a new animal tracking system using a big data approach.

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A team of scientists with the Wildlife Conservation Society, BirdLife International, and other groups have discovered a new species of bird with distinct plumage and a loud call living not in some remote jungle, but in a capital city of 1.5 million people.

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On June 3rd, JoVE will publish a research technique that allows neural imaging of auditory stimuli in songbirds via MRI. The technique, developed by Dr. Annemie Van der Linden and her laboratory at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, will be one of the first published in JoVE Behavior, a new section of the video journal that focuses on observational and experimental techniques that seek to understand human and animal behavior through physiological, neurological, and genetic means.

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A novel disease in songbirds has rapidly evolved to become more harmful to its host on at least two separate occasions in just two decades, according to a new study. The research provides a real-life model to help understand how diseases that threaten humans can be expected to change in virulence as they emerge.

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The world premiere of the film "Ordinary Extraordinary Junco: Remarkable Biology From a Backyard Bird" -- a fascinating science documentary developed by biologists at Indiana University about one of North America's most beloved songbirds -- was a local success and a box office sell-out.

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A new study from scientists at Boise State University shows that even species considered “tolerant” of human activity may be adversely impacted by human disturbance; Kestrels nesting in close proximity to roads and developed areas had elevated stress hormones and high rates of nest abandonment.

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In a groundbreaking move that provides new insight into avian evolution, biology and conservation, researchers at Texas A&M University have successfully sequenced the complete genome of a Scarlet macaw for the first time.

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Scientists at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna have discovered iron balls in sensory neurons of birds' ears. These cells might be associated with the magnetic sense of birds.

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It’s hard not to catch sight of at least one black crow in the pursuit of our daily lives. For most of us, however, that is where the interaction ends. For Binghamton University Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Anne Clark, that single sighting is the open door to hours of observation.

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