Bird Science

A Common Myna stands on a railing with its beak open, vocalizing.
Sleepy Birds Are Lousy Singers, Study Finds
August 21, 2025 — Just like people, songbirds are groggy and quiet after a rough night’s sleep—a sign that urban noise and light may leave them less fit for reproduction and survival.
A Streaked Shearwater pooping while flying.
Poop-Cam Footage Shows These Seabirds Fertilize the Ocean With Their Body Weight Per Day in Guano
August 18, 2025 — Recording Streaked Shearwaters gave scientists a new window into the role seabirds play in fueling marine food webs—and possibly spreading avian flu—far from land.
A light gray seabird hovers on a wave with its beak open at the surface.
How Do Seabirds Drink Salt Water?
August 07, 2025 — Albatrosses, petrels, and other ocean-dwellers can stay hydrated without fresh water. The key? Little glands above their eyes.
Bird Questions and Facts
A collage of two taxidermied bird specimens, a cloacascope, a book, and two documents on a black background.
‘Feather Detective’ Roxie Laybourne’s Career in Six Objects
July 22, 2025 — From a gynandromorphic grosbeak to feathers collected at a murder investigation in Florida, biographer Chris Sweeney shares six unusual artifacts he found while researching his new book about the world’s first forensic ornithologist.
Books
A gull walking on pavement holding a piece of green baked good in its beak.
This Researcher Wants Your Photos of ‘Gulls Eating Stuff’
July 21, 2025 — A community science project examines how gull diets are shifting amid population declines.
A female mallard is harnessed with a tracking device.
To Solve the Mallard's Mysterious Decline, Researchers Turn to Hi-Tech Trackers
June 20, 2025 — Biologists are using the devices to better understand the bird's behavior and, ultimately, what might be driving our most common duck's population drop.
A male Anna's Hummingbird perches on a red hummingbird feeder.
This Hummingbird Rapidly Evolved a Longer Beak to Slurp More Nectar from Feeders, New Study Finds
May 29, 2025 — The 20th century expansion of nectar feeders drove Anna’s Hummingbirds to spread across California—and transformed the birds along the way.
Clear liquid trickles out of a hummingbird hovering in midair.
Do Birds Pee? Hummingbirds Do—a Lot
April 23, 2025 — Unlike most other avians, hummers urinate in a stream much like mammals, releasing liquid waste often and out of necessity.
Bird Questions and Facts
Three bird-of-paradise specimens appearing to glow green under UV light on a black background.
Birds-of-Paradise Feathers Are More Than Flashy—They Glow
March 07, 2025 — Researchers recently discovered that dozens of species in the flamboyant family are biofluorescent, emitting a gleaming light that could enhance their mating displays.
Milagra, Condor 1221, perches on a rocky cliffside overlooking a valley during sunset.
Witness the Inspiring Release of Milagra, the Condor Rescued as an Egg After Bird Flu Killed Her Mother
October 09, 2024 — Hatched and raised in captivity, the young bird has defied the odds, returning more than a year later to a wild flock still reeling from disease and lead poisoning.
Conservation News