Tufted Titmouse / Photo by Bill Thompson (USFWS) |
- Fossil feathers found among fossilized ibis remains give a sense of how the birds lived and looked. Though the birds were flightless, their feathers show adaptations in common with relatives that are able to fly. Some feathers were dark brown or black while others were light brown or white, suggesting that the ancient ibis may have looked something like an immature White Ibis.
- The American Bird Conservancy is asking the Department of the Interior to develop regulations to govern how wind farms affect birds and other wildlife.
- Ostriches and emus are among the few birds that have a phallus; unlike mammals but like other birds, the erection mechanism is lymphatic fluid rather than blood.
- A British birdwatcher did not like the movie version of The Big Year.
- Sparrows exposed to the threat of predators produced fewer offspring than those that suffer less of a threat.
- Scientists have discovered new breeding sites for the rare Black-throated Robin in central China. The species is related to the European Robin but looks a lot like North America's Black-throated Blue Warbler.
- At least 1,500 Eared Grebes were killed when they got confused during a storm and collided with a parking lot. Most likely they mistook the dark asphalt for water.
- British police caught an egg collector with over 700 wild bird eggs in his home.
- Tinton Falls, New Jersey, is looking for a way to rid themselves of the large number of gulls that are attracted to a nearby landfill.
- A photo of King Penguins won the first Mongabay.com photo contest.
- Sierra Leone is trying to attract birdwatching tourism.
- NCSU Insect Museum: Lessons from Georeferencing Bumble Bees
- 10,000 Birds: Why is the Robin’s Breast Red?
- Not Exactly Rocket Science: The two twists that let hummingbirds fly like insects
- The Daily Wing: Mid-Priced Spotting Scopes
- The Dragonfly Woman: Photographing Insects with iPhone + PhotoJojo Macro Lens
- Beetles in the Bush: Swift Tiger Beetle: Species on the Brink
- Sphere: Diving Ducks and Oyster Beds
- Extinction Countdown: Sperm Bank and Reproductive Research Could Help Save Tasmanian Devils from Extinction
- A research team has found more than 1,000 new species in the Australian outback, and there may be thousands more waiting to be discovered there.
- Scientists found 208 new species in the Mekong Delta just in the past year.
- Two newly-discovered frogs from Papua New Guinea are the smallest known tetrapods. The frogs are 8-9 mm long.
- Here is a look back at some of the scientific research done at Antarctica since Amundsen reached the South Pole 100 years ago this week.
- A fossil squid had complex eyes with 16,000 lenses per eye.
- A newly-discovered species of tree frog has complex vocalizations that sound more like a bird than typical frogs.
- Scientists have found a new species of pit viper in Tanzania but are keeping the location secret because of the viper's rarity. A few vipers have been collected to start a captive breeding program.