birds

Birds Form Long-Term Bonds With Non-Relatives Resembling Friendship: Study

Birds Form Long-Term Bonds With Non-Relatives Resembling Friendship: Study

Researchers have found that birds, like humans, form friendships with non-relatives over long periods of time. They discovered that, while starlings preferentially helped relatives, they also frequently and consistently aided specific non-relative birds, even in situations where there were relatives available to help. “The fact that humans who are not related by blood help each […]

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    Microplastics Found in Birds’ Lungs in New Study

    Microplastics Found in Birds’ Lungs in New Study

    While previous research has revealed the presence of microplastics in human lungs, a new study confirms that microplastics are making their way into birds’ lungs as well. The study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, is the first to confirm microplastic presence in birds’ lungs. The researchers focused on analyzing potential microplastics in birds, […]

    ‘Wild Concerto’ by Former Police Drummer Stewart Copeland Blends Nature Sounds With Music

    ‘Wild Concerto’ by Former Police Drummer Stewart Copeland Blends Nature Sounds With Music

    In a new collaboration between former Police drummer Stewart Copeland and British naturalist Martyn Stewart — titled Wild Concerto — the chirps of Arctic terns blend with other wildlife calls and orchestral music to create a multi-layered soundscape. The unique composition by Copeland, a seven-time Grammy award-winner, drew on Stewart’s field recordings, reported The Guardian. […]

    Chemicals in Pet Flea Treatments Are Leading to Songbird Deaths, Report Finds

    Chemicals in Pet Flea Treatments Are Leading to Songbird Deaths, Report Finds

    In a new study, scientists are raising concerns over the ways that flea treatment chemicals for pets can leach into the environment and harm local wildlife. In light of the study, experts are calling on veterinarians to minimize preventative flea treatments to protect songbirds and insects impacted by the chemicals in these treatments. Scientists from […]

    In Conservation Success Story, Massachusetts Piping Plovers Have Their Second Record Nesting Year in a Row

    In Conservation Success Story, Massachusetts Piping Plovers Have Their Second Record Nesting Year in a Row

    For the second year in a row, Massachusetts beaches have recorded more nesting Piping Plovers than anytime in the last four decades — 1,196 nesting pairs, a 1.5 percent increase over 2023 and a 500 percent jump since the program began, according to preliminary data gathered by MassWildlife’s Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program and […]

    ‘Divorce’ Rates of Seychelles Warblers Linked to Rainfall Fluctuations During Breeding Season

    ‘Divorce’ Rates of Seychelles Warblers Linked to Rainfall Fluctuations During Breeding Season

    The amount of rain that falls affects our environment in various ways, from river flow to the availability of freshwater, but it can also shape the diversity and distribution of ecosystems within different regions of the globe. A new long-term study of Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis) on Cousin Island has revealed that rainfall during the […]

    World’s Oldest Known Wild Bird Lays Egg at 74

    World’s Oldest Known Wild Bird Lays Egg at 74

    Wisdom, a 74-year-old Laysan albatross, is the oldest-known wild bird on the planet. First fitted with a band in 1956, the Hawaiian seabird has laid her first egg in four years, according to United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) officials. Wisdom returned to the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge to lay what could be […]