Investing in love and affection pays off for species that mate for life
A new study by biologists explains how sexual cooperation and bonding evolves in bird species that form pair bonds.
Read moreBirds
The impact of human-caused noise pollution on birds
Anthropogenic noise pollution (ANP) is a globally invasive phenomenon impacting natural systems, but most research has occurred at local scales with few species. Researchers in this study investigated continental-scale breeding season associations with ANP for 322 bird species to test whether local-scale predictions are consistent at broad spatial extents for an extensive group of North American bird species in the continental United States.
Read moreDaddy daycare: Why some songbirds care for the 'wrong' kids
Interspecific feeding — when an adult of one species feeds the young of another — is rare among songbirds, and scientists could only speculate on why it occurs, but now, researchers have new insight into this behavior.
Read moreMob mentality rules jackdaw flocks
Jackdaws are more likely to join a mob to drive off predators if lots of their fellow birds are up for the fight, new research shows.
Read moreCollapse of desert bird populations likely due to heat stress from climate change
Last year, biologists discovered that bird populations in the Mojave Desert had crashed over the past 100 years. The biologists now have evidence that heat stress is a key cause. Simulations with a computerized 'virtual bird' suggest that with higher temperatures, birds need more water to keep cool. Larger insectivores or carnivores should be most affected, and small seed-eaters less so if drinking water is available: just as the biologists reported last year.
Read moreA closer look at monogamy and polygamy in brood parasitic birds
Researchers have discovered that cowbirds conform to Bateman's Principle, despite investing no energy into parental care. Surprisingly, 75% of the cowbirds in the system were monogamous. Future research will expand upon these findings and broaden the understanding of how cowbirds might select the nests they parasitize, what role the males could play to assist the females, and why monogamy could be such a benefit.
Read moreUnderwater manatee chatter may aid in their conservation
Scientists propose a new method for calculating populations of the Antillean manatee, a marine mammal in danger of extinction, through underwater recordings.
Read morePurple martin migration behavior perplexes researchers
Purple martins will soon migrate south for their usual wintertime retreat, but this time the birds will be wearing what look like little backpacks, so scientists can track their roosting sites along the way. The researchers recently discovered that purple martins are roosting in small forest patches as they migrate from North America to Brazil, an unexpected behavior.
Read moreHow neuronal recognition of songbird calls unfolds over time
A novel computational approach sheds new light on the response of neurons in the brain of a songbird when it hears and interprets the meaning of another bird's call.
Read moreT. rex used a stiff skull to eat its prey
A Tyrannosaurus rex could bite hard enough to shatter the bones of its prey. But how it accomplished this feat without breaking its own skull bones has baffled paleontologists. That's why scientists are arguing that the T. rex's skull was stiff much like the skulls of hyenas and crocodiles, and not flexible like snakes and birds as paleontologists previously thought.
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