Tag

Birds

All articles tagged with #birds

science10 days ago•42 min saved

New fossil Norellraptor barsboldi suggests flight evolved independently in birds and feathered dinosaurs

Researchers describe a new 57-centimeter microraptorine dinosaur, Norellraptor barsboldi, from the Lower Cretaceous of China. The fossil exhibits flight-related adaptations similar to birds but evolved them independently. Analysis of bone histology and phylogenetic data indicates that flight adaptations in microraptorines and birds arose through different developmental and evolutionary pathways, rather than being inherited from a common ancestor.

via Nature|

#birds #dinosaurs #evolution

lifestyle19 days ago•22 min saved

Pelican’s door-knock rescue: Florida scientists save an injured bird outside a NOAA lab

A brown pelican visited a NOAA Fisheries lab in Panama City, Florida, tapping at the back door and was found to be injured by fishing line and cactus spines; biologists treated the bird, and researchers say the encounter may reflect the pelican’s instinct to seek help or food, before it flew away—an uplifting, one-of-a-kind moment for the scientists.

via The Washington Post|

#animal-rescue #birds #lifestyle

science23 days ago•13 min saved

Feather in Dino Poop Hints at Birds' Survival After the Dinosaur Era

A remarkably preserved bird feather was found inside fossilized dinosaur dung from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana. Described as the best-preserved feather of its kind and the only known non-flattened dinosaur-era feather in rock, the specimen, analyzed by Jingmai O’Connor of the Field Museum and reported in Current Biology, offers new clues about how some bird lineages may have survived the mass extinction at the end of the dinosaur era.

via The New York Times|

#birds #dinosaur #extinction

science25 days ago•209 min saved

Feathers in dinosaur poop unlock why birds survived the mass extinction

Researchers analyzing a coprolite (fossilized dinosaur dung) from Montana’s Hell Creek Formation found a tiny feather and other remains that suggest a small diving bird related to hesperornithiforms may have struggled to survive the asteroid-driven “impact winter.” The study proposes that modern birds (Neornithes) persisted because their feather traits differed enough to withstand the post‑impact cooling, while the primitive feather types did not insulate as well. Scientists say confirming this would require a pre‑asteroid Neornithes fossil preserved with enough detail, but the coprolite work shows how such fossils can illuminate why some lineages survived mass extinctions.

via CNN|

#birds #coprolite #extinction

science25 days ago•41 min saved

Feather in Dino Dung Offers Clues to Birds’ Survival After the Mass Extinction

Researchers analyzed a 66-million-year-old feather preserved in dinosaur dung and suggest that differences in feather insulation helped Neornithes—the modern birds—survive the asteroid-triggered winter, potentially explaining why this lineage endured while others did not; the dung also yielded hesperornithiform remains, illustrating an evolutionary bridge in feather type. Published in Current Biology, the study advocates CT-scanning more fossil dung to uncover additional clues about avian survival.

via Good News Network|

#birds #dinosaurs #extinction

environment29 days ago•4 min saved

One in Nine Migratory Birds Threatened, Sparking Billions for Flyway Protection

A BirdLife International report finds about one in nine migratory birds are threatened with extinction and 45% are in decline, driven by farming intensification, hunting, pollution, invasive species and climate change, with seven species extinct or suspected extinct in the last 150 years. The Nairobi Flyways Declaration mobilizes billions in funding from development banks to protect key habitats and restore migratory routes, building on prior conservation successes such as Australia’s Macquarie Island seabird recovery and China’s coastal mudflat restorations, demonstrating that coordinated action can reverse declines.

via The Guardian|

#biodiversity #birds #climate-change

science-tech1 month ago•14 min saved

Tiny backpacks uncover epic, circuitous migrations of small songbirds

Researchers used ultralight multisensor geolocator backpacks on Alaska-bred Myrtle warblers to map their migrations, revealing a 6,800‑mile round trip that travels east across Canada before veering south to the Gulf Coast—longer and more circuitous than expected. Barometric data, paired with light data and weather modeling (GeoPressureR), yields more precise locations and flight altitudes, helping identify key stopover and wintering sites and informing conservation and collision-risk assessments. The findings echo glacial-era range expansion and may be genetically encoded, with future work planned to tag birds on California wintering grounds to pin down breeding origins.

via The Conversation|

#atmospheric-pressure #birds #conservation

science1 month ago•8 min saved

Tiny Backpacks, Big Clues: Tracking Warbler Migrations Across North America

Using ultra-light multi-sensor geolocator backpacks on Myrtle warblers, researchers tracked a 6,800-mile round trip that shows Anchorage-breeding birds migrate east across Canada’s boreal forest before heading south to the Gulf Coast — a longer, more circuitous route than expected. The light-level and barometric tags store data for recapture, providing timing and elevation insights that improve understanding of small-bird migrations and help conservation by identifying key stopovers and flight altitudes.

via The Washington Post|

#birds #conservation #geolocators

space1 month ago•3 min saved

Silent Skies: How Animals Respond to a Total Solar Eclipse

APOD explains how animals react to a total solar eclipse, using a Polish stork roost as an example: birds fall quiet during totality, crickets and frogs are less audible, and as sunlight returns the dawn chorus resumes; the post also notes APOD’s site migration to science.nasa.gov.

via NASA Science (.gov)|

#animal-behavior #astronomy #birds

science1 month ago•1 min saved

When Day Turns to Night: Animals Respond to a Solar Eclipse

APOD's Sept 3, 2026 image shows a stork in Poland during a total solar eclipse, illustrating how animals react to the event: crickets and frogs chirp during totality, most birds go quiet, waterfowl may sleep on one leg with their heads tucked, and songbirds resume their dawn songs as sunlight returns; NASA notes APOD's site migration to science.nasa.gov/apod and teases tomorrow's picture, 'aloha'.

via NASA (.gov)|

#animals #birds #eclipse

sports1 month ago•3 min saved

Birds on the net stall Medvedev in wild US Open rally

Daniil Medvedev was frustrated when two birds perched on the net paused his US Open second-round match with Sebastian Gorzny, prompting a quick point replay before he went on to a 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 win. Medvedev joked the incident ranks among the tournament’s quirkiest moments after cruising to the third round with 14 aces, a contrast to his past on-court meltdowns.

via New York Post|

#birds #daniil-medvedev #rally-interruption

environment1 month ago•3 min saved

Record Kakapo Chick Boom Lifts New Zealand Population to 325

New Zealand's critically endangered kakapo parrot has reached a record 325 birds after a record 90 chicks were added this season. The Kakapo Recovery Programme, started in 1995 to tackle genetic and fertility challenges, relies on predator-free offshore islands, radio tracking, and adjusted management as it works toward more natural breeding, with some chicks to be named on hatch-day anniversaries and expectations of a shorter gap between seasons.

via NBC News|

#birds #breeding #conservation

science1 month 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

science1 month 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-va2 months 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