Tag

Birds

All articles tagged with #birds

science11 days ago•6 min saved

Why Dinosaurs Never Got Tiny: Ecology, Not Biology, Shaped Their Size

New research argues that the scarcity of tiny non‑avian dinosaurs results from ecological competition with small mammals rather than physiology; energy-based models fail to predict the dinosaur size distribution, implying an ecological size floor. The study also notes that birds—dinosaurs that evolved flight—could become much smaller by exploiting new niches, suggesting a symmetrical dynamic: mammals kept dinosaurs from shrinking while flight unlocked tiny bird sizes.

via SciTechDaily|

#birds #dinosaurs #ecology

science11 days ago•11 min saved

Crocodiles may have been warm-blooded, reshaping the crocodile–bird saga

New research suggests both crocodile and dinosaur–bird lineages began warm-blooded; modern crocodiles retain a warm-blooded‑like heart but low blood flow, implying their ancestors were warm-blooded. The crocodile lineage then reverted to cold-blooded metabolism around 66 million years ago to enable long breath-holds as aquatic ambush predators, while birds remained warm-blooded and flight-capable—rewriting the deep evolutionary story of archosaurs.

via The Conversation|

#birds #crocodiles #evolution

dc-md-and-va1 month ago•23 min saved

DC teen’s rare hawk sighting turns into a high-flying urban spectacle

Fifteen-year-old Sam Talley spotted a Mississippi kite in Northeast Washington, D.C.—a hawk rarely seen so far north. The birds’ 50-foot-high nest drew a crowd of observers, highlighting unusual urban wildlife in the capital, where Mississippi kites are more commonly found in Texas and Oklahoma.

via The Washington Post|

#birds #dc-md-and-va #local-news

science1 month ago•11 min saved

Birds as Modern Dinosaurs: A Living Theropod Lineage Surviving the Mass Extinction

Birds are a living branch of theropod dinosaurs that survived the asteroid impact, with four lineages giving rise to 11,131 species, a count now unified by AviList; the article emphasizes that birds are inside the dinosaur group, not descended from them and later outside it, and discusses how forest collapse after the extinction event helped some lineages endure.

via Space Daily|

#birds #cladistics #dinosaurs

science1 month ago•5 min saved

Old master painting hints at bats preying on birds in flight

Researchers analyzing Jan Brueghel the Elder’s painting Air argue it depicts a noctule bat catching a bird midflight, aligning with recent evidence that larger bats eat birds. The study links modern tracking with historical art and suggests more natural-history knowledge may be hiding in paintings, though it remains unclear whether Brueghel observed the event or drew on symbolic or secondhand observations.

via CBC|

#art-history #bats #birds

science2 months ago•4 min saved

Million-Year Time Capsule in NZ Reveals Lost Birds Before Humans

A Waitomo cave in New Zealand yielded a million-year fossil cache—including 12 bird species, four frog species, and an ancient parrot related to the kākāpō—trapped between two volcanic ash layers dated at about 1.55 and 1.0 million years ago. This makes the site the oldest known North Island cave and offers a pre-human avifauna markedly different from later communities, illustrating how volcanic eruptions and rapid climate shifts reshaped ecosystems long before humans arrived (with estimates that 33–50% of species disappeared in that interval). The find fills a major gap in New Zealand’s fossil record and reshapes understanding of the islands’ natural history.

via ScienceDaily|

#birds #fossils #new-zealand

local2 months ago•23 min saved

Three dead ducks prompt necropsies after Reflecting Pool restoration

After the Reflecting Pool’s renovation, a dead duck was spotted there and two more were found nearby; the two ducks recovered from Constitution Gardens will undergo necropsies to determine their cause of death as wildlife investigators assess impacts of the restoration on the local population.

via The Washington Post|

#animal-health #birds #district-of-columbia

life-and-arts2 months ago•6 min saved

Wings from Dinosaurs: The Evolutionary Tale of Birds

FT’s Dylan Neri reviews Steve Brusatte’s The Story of Birds, arguing that birds are dinosaurs and tracing how a coelurosaur lineage led to modern birds via feathers, flight, and endothermy, anchored by Archaeopteryx; the book offers an accessible, evidence-packed narrative that makes a compelling case for evolution, even if occasionally the prose leans toward familiar authorial flair.

via Financial Times|

#archaeopteryx #birds #dinosaurs

science2 months ago•6 min saved

Bird Masturbation Across Species Points to Evolutionary Role

A study of 120 bird species finds masturbation is widespread in both wild and captive birds, more common in males and linked to a species’ mating system; wild birds showed higher rates than captive ones. The researchers suggest it may serve as a sexual outlet, help clear sperm, or reflect an evolutionary pattern across lineages, challenging the idea that captivity causes stress-related acts. The work, published in Ecology and Evolution, indicates masturbation has an evolutionary basis across birds.

via ScienceAlert|

#animal-behavior #birds #ecology

science2 months ago•4 min saved

Pigeons use liver macrophages as a magnetic compass

German researchers found iron-rich macrophages in pigeons’ liver detect Earth’s magnetic field and guide navigation; removing these cells disrupts the birds’ sense of direction in cloudy weather, while they can still use the sun on clear days, providing a physical basis for geomagnetic sensing and suggesting multiple cues may guide long-distance navigation.

via Financial Times|

#birds #ferritin #geomagnetism

biology3 months ago•12 min saved

Bird Retina Survives on Glucose, Not Oxygen

New research shows that the inner retina of birds can function without oxygen by relying on anaerobic glycolysis fueled by glucose supplied via the pecten oculi, while the outer retina uses oxygen. This arrangement supports the birds’ high-energy vision and reveals how the eye’s evolutionary tinkering may have evolved to maintain function during low-oxygen conditions, with potential implications for understanding tissue hypoxia in humans.

via Quanta Magazine|

#anaerobic-glycolysis #biology #birds

science3 months ago•2 min saved

Nest Heists Reveal Why Hawaii's Honeycreepers Steal Materials

Researchers tracked 216 Hawaiian honeycreeper nests and found 39 instances of stealing nest materials, showing that kleptoparasitism is a common strategy among these island birds to cope with harsh nesting conditions.

via The New York Times|

#birds #hawaii #honeycreepers

biology3 months ago•17 min saved

Bird Wings Aren’t Optimized for Maximum Flight, Study Finds

A Nature Communications study analyzed 1,139 images of bird wings with theoretical morphospace to test if wings are optimized for flight. Results show that for most birds, wing shapes are not tuned for maximum flight efficiency; hummingbirds and penguins come closest to the predicted optimal shapes, while flightless birds like ostriches are far from optimal. Albatross wings illustrate a constraint: their long, thin wings aid long-distance travel but hinder landing, a necessary trade‑off for breeding. The findings challenge the idea that natural selection always yields the most efficient flight and suggest wing shapes reflect diverse lifestyles and energetic demands, with potential bioinspired engineering implications.

via Gizmodo|

#biology #birds #evolution

environment3 months ago•10 min saved

Ivanpah Solar Plant Kills Thousands of Birds While Regulators Keep It Open

A Fox News Digital investigation finds regulators have allowed the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility to operate despite ongoing wildlife deaths—thousands of birds killed annually by the plant’s concentrated solar beams—under a monitoring-and-mitigation regime that avoids fines or shutdowns. The plant, funded as part of the Obama-era clean energy push, was approved with the expectation that wildlife impacts would be managed later; enforcement is shared among multiple agencies, and penalties for incidental bird deaths have been narrowed by legal reinterpretations, keeping the facility in compliance even as bird mortality continues.

via Fox News|

#birds #environment #ivanpah

environment3 months ago•7 min saved

Urban Birds Flee From Women Faster Than From Men

A European, multi-country study across 37 bird species found urban birds take flight sooner when approached by women than by men, with men able to stand closer by about a meter. The exact cues driving this sex difference—such as scent, gait, or body shape—remain unknown, and researchers call for follow-up experiments to identify the responsible signals. The 2,701 observations suggest urban birds are sensitive to subtle human cues, with implications for urban ecology and how scientists study animal behavior in cities.

via SciTechDaily|

#birds #environment #europe