birds

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 […]

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    Fewer Wild Birds Are Visiting Gardens in the UK, Survey Finds

    Fewer Wild Birds Are Visiting Gardens in the UK, Survey Finds

    An analysis of data from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has found that fewer wild birds are visiting gardens in the UK.  RSPB analyzed data from its annual Big Garden Birdwatch, which kicks off in late January each year since 1979. The Big Garden Birdwatch asks participants to spend at least […]

    Africa’s Birds of Prey Are Experiencing an Extinction Crisis

    Africa’s Birds of Prey Are Experiencing an Extinction Crisis

    Birds of prey in Africa are currently experiencing an extinction crisis, with more than two-thirds potentially threatened, according to a new study by an international research team led by The Peregrine Fund and researchers from the University of St. Andrews. Of the 42 species profiled in the report, 88 percent have declined over a 20- […]

    Birding 101: Everything You Need to Know

    Birding 101: Everything You Need to Know

    Quick Key Facts What Is ‘Birding’? Birding is the act of observing and identifying birds in the wild as a form of recreation. This can range from taking note of all the birds who visit a backyard feeder, or traveling across the country to try to see more U.S. bird species than anyone else in […]

    Light Pollution Linked to Shrinking Eye Size in Birds

    Light Pollution Linked to Shrinking Eye Size in Birds

    In a new study, researchers have linked light pollution in urban areas to smaller eye sizes found in two common songbird species. Researchers studied the northern cardinal and Carolina wren that live year-round in San Antonio, Texas, a city with an estimated population of about 1,472,900 people, and compared these birds to the same two […]