Birds' sense of smell long overlooked
FAIRBANKS - After reading a recent column about whales’ ability to smell, a few people wanted to know more about the same sense in birds.
“Every bird that’s been studied has a sense of smell,” said Julie Hagelin, a biologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who has pondered that overlooked ability in birds for years.
Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Birds sense of smell long overlooked
Birdlike dinos wore basic black with glossy touch
Even dinosaurs can look sharp in basic black, and downright iridescent. An unusual crowlike dinosaur — which really doesn't look like a dinosaur at all — had glossy black feathers that were probably used to call attention to itself and find a mate, scientists say in Thursday's journal Science.
Tropical Birds Affected By Climate Change
Climate change spells trouble for many tropical birds – especially those living in mountains, coastal forests and relatively small areas – and the damage will be compounded by other threats like habitat loss, disease and competition among species.
Has the mystery behind Alfred Hitchcock's thriller The Birds finally been solved? Movie based on attacks by 'poisoned sea birds'
The bizarre event which inspired Alfred Hitchcock's cinematic masterpiece The Birds has finally been explained.
The director was said to have based the 1963 film on a creepy incident in California, where flocks of frenzied, dying birds flew into the windows of homes in Monterey Bay.
Scientists have come up with an answer for the freak of nature - that the birds had been poisoned by toxic plankton.
Breeding hope for rare Russian birds
CONSERVATIONISTS have brought one of the world's most endangered species of bird from a remote breeding ground in Russia to Gloucestershire.
The 13 spoon-billed sandpipers have now completed the final stage of an epic 8,000km journey and are settling in at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve in Slimbridge.
Why some birds of prey become transvestites
Birds of prey may be thought of as fierce foes, but scientists find that some males disguise themselves as peaceful females.
These males belong to a species of raptor known as the marsh harrier. Using plastic decoys, French researchers learned that the transvestites among these predators are less aggressive than other males.
Bird brains wired for duets
Duet-singing birds in South America's Andes mountains are helping scientists understand how the brain co-ordinates itself to co-operate with other individuals.
The plain-tailed wren, a small brown and grey bird that lives in bamboo thickets in cloud forests mainly in Ecuador, has impressed scientists ever since they realized that the bird's rapid-fire tweeting song is actually a duet, where the male and female alternate notes.
Bird-safe buildings, windows catching on
"Great views and lots of glass."
That's what first attracted Bill Lutz to his home overlooking a tranquil pond in Victoria, Minn. But soon after he and his wife, Julie Brophy, moved in, they heard a loud thunk.
A bird, a white-breasted nuthatch, had crashed into a window and fallen dead on their deck. It was spring, which is migration season, and soon the thunks became an everyday occurrence.
Are birds getting bigger because of global climate change?
Birds in central California are significantly larger than they were 25 to 40 years ago, and researchers believe it may be because they are bulking up in body weight to ride out severe storms related to global climate change.
Birds may identify their kin by smell
The research by the University of Chicago and the Chicago Zoological Society, which manages Brookfield Zoo, shows how related birds are able to recognize each other. The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, could help conservationists design programs to help preserve endangered species.
Old fossils solve mystery of earliest bird extinction
Many early bird species suffered from the same catastrophic extinction as the dinosaurs, new research has shown.
The meteorite impact that coincided with the disappearance of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, also saw a rapid decline in primitive bird species.
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Visitors flock to learn about birds at Oahkham fair
CHILDREN and adults were able to learn about birds during a fair in Oakham.
Officers from the RSPB centre at Top Lodge in Fineshade Woods were in Cutts Close last week to educate people about birdlife.
136 exotic birds rescued in Portland, woman charged
PORTLAND — Months-old feces covered the floors of an exotic bird breeding facility officials uncovered on Wednesday.
Storms at sea too much for the birds
Wild weather hammering the lower North Island has been blowing seabirds inland to areas where they are normally not seen, and many are dying.
Massey University's Wildlife Veterinary Centre, which has specialised seabird facilities, is treating 120 birds for exhaustion.
West Seattle wildlife: Birdwatchers’ double sightings
It’s fledgling time and we’ve been seeing lots of bird families at the feeders, but it was a special treat to see our pileated woodpecker bring her chick to the yard (near Schmitz Park).
Top surgeon operates on 'lost' penguin 'Happy Feet' found on beach in New Zealand
One of New Zealand's top surgeons was enlisted Monday to operate on an ailing Emperor penguin found on a beach near Wellington, some 3,000 kilometres from its Antarctic home
Amazing abseil rescue of bird hanging by a thread
IT WAS a dramatic four-hour rescue hundreds of feet above the sea on the cliffs of Bempton.
But rescuers were determined not to leave this magnificent bird stranded and hanging by a thread
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge provides nesting, migratory areas for more than 250 species
Several cliff swallows shoot out from their nests, stuck to the wood siding of the building. As a bullfrog bellows below, a young pelican wades through the water.
Today's mystery bird for you to identify
This stunning photograph captures a beautiful Chinese mystery bird that is relatively unknown to most birders
Drought presents a genuine danger for birds
The devastating effects of the Texas drought on birds was evident during a hike deep in Sam Houston National Forest.
I was looking for nesting migratory songbirds such as Northern parulas, white-eyed vireos, Swainson's warblers and the handsome, golden-yellow plumed prothonotary warbler.
Robot designed to shoo birds attracts interest
NEW ORLEANS -- A Tennessee entrepreneur has licensed for commercial development the Scarebot, a small solar-powered boat developed by the LSU Agricultural Center and designed to chase cormorants, pelicans and other birds from farmers' catfish and crawfish ponds.
RSPB expresses anger at wild bird killings
Wildlife conservation group the RSPB has expressed concern over the high number of wild birds illegally killed in Tayside.
Rescuers untangle eaglet from line
Flyer, the eaglet that got its leg caught on a fishing line inside a nest, is free again after a dramatic rescue Thursday.
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Wounded eagle finds temporary home in Antigo
ANTIGO, Wis.— A thirty-five day old storm victim from Kentucky rests comfortably in Antigo at Raptor Education Group, Inc. under the care of Marge and Don Gibson, thanks to an incredible foster parent program.
$4.3 Million for Neotropical Migratory Birds and Habitat Conservation
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today more than $4.3 million in grants for 34 projects that will support neotropical migratory bird conservation throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Bird song variations illustrate evolution of language: NZ study
If music be the food of love, then some birds can go hungry if they sing the wrong song among their own species, new research from New Zealand showed.
The study by Massey University showed that the native North Island saddleback has developed such distinctive regional songs in the last 50 years that they can be incomprehensible to members of their own species.
Neb. quarantines 3 flocks of birds because of flu
LINCOLN, Neb. — State Agriculture officials plan to slaughter three quarantined flocks of birds in southeast Nebraska to prevent the spread of avian flu.
RSPB: Mild weather brings first eggs for peregrines and goshawks
Birds are nesting early, according to hidden cameras around the country that show show peregrines and goshawks already on eggs.
Leonardo da Vinci would love this robo-bird
Bird flight has fascinated mankind for centuries. German-based Festo now says it has deciphered it by building a robot seagull that flies like the real thing.
SmartBird is inspired by the herring gull and can take off by flapping its wings, and flying and landing autonomously. It moves by flapping and twisting its wings like a gull, and turns its head to steer--see the video below.
Roaming Cats Pose Big Threat to Bird Populations, Study Finds
It's an old adage that news happens when "man bites dog" and not when "dog bites man." But here's a pet-related fact that is generating news: cats kill birds -- a lot of them.
Many cat owners are familiar with the "presents" that feline friends leave on doorsteps after a night on the prowl -- a bird's head or a dead mouse. All those cats have a giant cumulative effect, killing anywhere from 500 million to a billion birds every year, according to estimates from the American Bird Conservancy.
Spring Alive 2011 ready to fly, with some bright and brand new feathers
BirdLife and its Partners have announced the start of Spring Alive 2011: a European-wide project that invites families with young children to communicate their first personal observations of migratory birds arriving near their home.
Participants are encouraged to add their observations to the Spring Alive 2011 website, where tens of thousands of sightings will contribute to an online map, allowing visitors to track the arrival of migratory birds across Europe as the season pans out.
Mass bird deaths rare, not apocalyptic: experts
Birds falling out of the sky in the United States and Sweden are freak examples of the kind of mass animal deaths, from beached whales to deluges of frogs, that have unusual but not apocalyptic causes, experts say
How to attract birds to your yard
It's Christmas day and a great time to enjoy family and friends.
With all the hustle and bustle, holidays can also be stressful. Take time to relax and enjoy the wonders of nature. After the recent freezes, our winter landscapes may appear bare and bleak to us, but they provide a perfect refuge for our feathered friends.
Dozens Flock To Central Park For Annual Bird Count
According to this year's tally, experts say 6,220 birds of 59 different species are making the trees of Central Park home.
Building your own bird feeder is often better
Each year at this time, I discuss the feeding of birds. It is worthwhile to provide some information on how to do it.
While there are many nice feeders available in stores, one of the feeders in your yard should have a large floor area and be open to the sky, like the one shown here. This will be visible to birds as they fly by and serves as a sort of advertisement that food is available.
Thought extinct in the 1940s, bird found on U.S. soil
A bird once thought extinct and then found only in two breeding sites in Japan has turned up on U.S. soil. Nests of the endangered Short-tailed Albatross have been discovered on two tiny islands in the northwestern Hawaiian islands. Previously the birds were only known to nest on Torishima and Senkaku islands in Japan.
Even birds have personalities
It is well known that animals have personalities, but it may come as a surprise to many to learn that birds also do.
For instance, individual birds vary in their levels of curiosity, with distinctions being made between 'fast' and 'slow' explorers.
A considerable body of research has examined the differences between fast and slow birds but the levels of stress hormones (glucocorticoids) have not previously been investigated, although these hormones are known to be important in a number of aspects of bird behaviour.
New Airplane Design Mimics a Seagull
An attempt to redesign the airplane resulted in a surprising craft, one that mimicked a familiar, if much smaller, flyer: a seagull.
In a bid to increase the energy efficiency of the familiar tube-with-wings architecture, Joachim Huyssen, of Northwest University in South Africa, began by thinking about the basic principles of aerodynamics, according to his collaborator, Geoffrey Spedding, of the University of Southern California.
Hong Kong diagnoses first human bird flu case in 7 years
The first human case of bird flu in seven years has been diagnosed in Hong Kong, health officials said Thursday, urging the public to take precautions.
A 59-year-old woman was hospitalized in serious condition after a trip to mainland China, the Hong Kong Department of Health said.
Dark clouds looming in nature
La RSPB è di avviso che ci sono nuvole nere che formano overhead questo autunno. Ma per fortuna piuttosto che significa qualcosa presentimento fanno parte di uno degli spettacoli del Regno Unito della fauna selvatica più incredibili.
Tweaked Beaks: How Bird Deformities Help Flag Undetected Toxins
Call it the deformed canary in the coalmine. Scientists have found that several species of wild birds in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska are growing deformed beaks at rates never before recorded. The birds, whose beaks are severely elongated, curved or even crossed, have developed what's called avian keratin disorder, and though the USGS biologists who released their findings this month have not pinpointed its cause, they believe it could signal a graver environmental problem.
Rescue group struggles to capture birds with beer cans stuck on necks
After a grueling and futile two days trying to capture a juvenile gull with a beer can around its neck, a Bay Area animal rescue group is seeking help to buy equipment that could have gotten the job done quickly and enabled the group to direct their efforts to other afflicted birds.
The world’s key sites for conservation – on one map
BirdLife has published a map showing the location of over 10,000 of the world’s most important sites for birds and biodiversity, and their protection status.
Scientists say oil still endangers birds
Oil and chemicals remaining in wetlands and on beaches still pose great risks to birds that breed or nest along hard-hit areas of the Louisiana coast, according to new National Audubon Society field surveys.
Audubon scientists headed to the coast in late September to observe and catalogue the spill’s effect on birds six months after the April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig, which triggered the nation’s worst-ever oil spill.
'World's first' ornithopter takes flight
Todd Reichert flew the craft by using a foot pump to flap its wings. Video courtesy of University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies
A Canadian student inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's sketches says he has made the first sustained flight in a human-powered, wing-flapping aircraft.
Condor population reaches 100 in California
For the first time in over 50 years, there are more than 100 wild, free-flying California condors in their name state, the result of a sustained breeding program by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to bring back the iconic species, which numbered just 22 in 1982. The news comes in a release from the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex in Ventura, Calif., where a major part of the recovery work is done.
Sacramento Valley: A haven for birds – and birders
Reporting from Sacramento — It was like a lottery-winning moment for birders. I looked up through the windshield, and there it was: brown and striped, gliding toward a tangle of reeds a few feet from our car — an American bittern.
Bird Declines Could Signal Coming Mass Extinctions
"Every 20 minutes," the saying goes, "we lose an animal species." In reality, however, it is difficult to collect the data that details this trend—and motivates policy makers to take action.
Now, researchers believe they have found a way to estimate ecosystem-wide rates of loss based on one easily observed group of animals: birds.
Flamingos Help Fight Diabetes
Diabetes is a disease that strikes both adults and children. This month groups throughout West Texas are raising money in hopes of finding a cure for the disease.
One Midland group is enlisting some pink plastic friends for help.
"Congratulations you've been flocked," those are the words victims of the Masked Flamingo receive after finding a flock of plastic birds in their yard.
The flamingo's are migrating to West Texas in an effort to help fight diabetes.
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010)
Zack Snyder, director of “300,” “Watchmen” and the coming “Sucker Punch,” aims for younger males with the animated “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole,” and a mighty strange bird the movie is.
BO may pin a target on NZ natives
A Christchurch researcher is working on a theory that some New Zealand birds such as kiwi effectively have a target pinned on their backs because they never learned to suppress body odours.
Associate Professor Jim Briskie from the University of Canterbury has been awarded $607,702 over three years by the Marsden Fund to study whether odours are playing a role in the decline of native birds.
Shrike breeds again
Conservationists are celebrating the return of the rare Red-backed Shrike as an English breeding bird. A pair successfully raised young despite the attention of convicted egg collectors who visiting their breeding site.
The pair of shrikes nested at a secret location on Dartmoor, and were kept under close watch since May to guarantee their safety. RSPB staff and volunteers from the Dartmoor Study Group and Devon Bird Watching & Preservation Society spent more 2,600 hours working on site around the clock.
Eurasian eagle owl thrives as urban bird
Thirty-thousand fans filled the stadium with the bird's Finnish name.
Twenty minutes in, the 2007 soccer game had come to a halt when a bird with a 6-foot wingspan glided silent and low across the pitch, and settled "with astonishing grace and precision on the crossbar of the Belgian team's goal." Its feathered "horns" erect, its eyes a glaring orange, the huge Eurasian eagle owl ignored the uproar as fans cheered, police and officials watched helplessly, and "the 22 heroes of the game looked like lost boys in knee-length shorts." Only when a photographer ventured too close did the commanding bird take to the air. With a few flaps and a smooth grass-level glide, he scored again, now on the Finnish crossbar.
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Why bird flu didn’t become a pandemic
A new study has revealed that why irrespective of the 2005 outbreak of the H5N1 ‘bird flu’ virus in South East Asia, it didn’t’ turn into a pandemic.
Scientists have shown why the global spread of bird flu by direct migration of wildfowl is unlikely.
They have also provided a new framework for quantifying the risk of avian-borne diseases.
“The potential risks to humans led to extensive media coverage often focusing on migratory birds, which fuelled public concern and led to calls for the mass culling of wild birds,” said lead author Dr Nicolas Gaidet.
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Best bug control? Invite our feathered friends to dine
Feeding Wild Birds in the Fall
Bird watching is an ever-growing hobby in the United States; therefore, bird feeders are a popular topic when it comes to bird watching. Some people question keeping their feeders out through the autumn months due to fear that wild birds will not migrate or just think they will not use them as much. However, there are many benefits to leaving your feeders out through the autumn months for both wild birds and you.
Gulf Rescuers Find Lesson, Hope in Oiled Birds
More than 1,400 birds have been rescued throughout the Gulf region after exposure to spilled oil; about a third of these have been rehabilitated and released. About 3,900 dead birds, most covered in oil, have been brought in and processed as well.
Birdwatchers asked to monitor nests
The Gulf of Mexico may be more than 1,000 miles from Carroll County, but scientists are asking bird watchers nationwide to track backyard bird species for possible effects from the BP oil spill.
Laura Burkholder, project leader for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Nest Watch, said many North American bird species migrate throughout the year, either passing through or wintering in the Gulf area and reproducing each spring in the North.
Nest Watch is a program that asks bird watchers to adopt a nest, checking on it twice a week to observe how many eggs are laid, how many hatch and how many of the young survive to go out on their own. The bird watchers submit their observations online, and that data can help track large-scale changes and trends among species and large geographical areas, Burkholder said.
WWT begins breeding project to save endangered waders
WWT have begun work on a groundbreaking new project to perfect the process of breeding waders as part of our conservation breeding program.
The project is currently focused on hatching and rearing two wader species - the ruff and the dunlin. Its goal is to research and test breeding methods on these birds so that, should the day come when conservation breeding is the only lifeline for an endangered wader species, WWT is prepared.
Brussels’ wild parakeet population soars
The birds adapted to our climate and by 1984 there were around 250 of them living in the wild, mainly in the northwest of Brussels.
Since then there population continued to rise steadily and by 2007 there were an estimated 7,000 birds living in parks and gardens all over Brussels and the adjacent municipalities in Flemish Brabant.
Since 2007, the rise in parakeet number has been nothing short of spectacular.
Olivier Beck of the Brussels Environment Agency told journalists that there are now around 10,000 of the birds living in the wild.
Birds flying right into oily morass of Gulf
The piping plovers already are flying toward peril. The endangered birds are among the first of millions that will migrate this fall to the Gulf of Mexico — and the oil leak that could kill them.
Some birds, including the common loon and lesser scaup, spend winters along the Gulf Coast. Others, such as the blue-winged teal, use the Gulf as a staging area where they stock up on food before flying to Latin America.
"There are millions of birds at risk," says Ken Rosenberg, conservation science director at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "It's safe to say thousands will die."
The 1st World Seabird Conference International
The 1st World Seabird Conference International Steering Committee, led by the Pacific Seabird Group and 25 other professional seabird and research organisations from around the world, is leading the development of this important, inaugural conference focused on seabirds. Through a strong conference program, the goal of this Conference is to put seabird management and conservation into a worldwide perspective. By bringing 800 - 900 participants from over 40 countries together, we will comprehensively address the global issues and data needs for these species, most of which inhabit multiple countries and waters within their own ranges.
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How birds hit by US oil spill disaster are getting a clean bill of health
It's the ultimate bird bath. Every day brown pelicans stricken by the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico are being tenderly cleaned of deadly oil.
And, amazingly, it's ordinary washing-up liquid which helps save them.
The huge birds arrive so covered in crude oil they can no longer fly and can barely move. They will die without help. So, in a desperate race against time, dedicated staff at the The Oiled Bird Rehabilitation Facility in Fort Jackson, Louisiana, get to work and are dealing with around 100 birds a day.
Most expensive feather ever fetches £4,000 at auction
The brown and white feather fetched NZ$8,000 (£3,800), far exceeding the NZ$500 that it had been estimated to reach. The feathers were traditionally used to adorn Maori chiefs. The huia bird is thought to be extinct and has not been seen since 1907.
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Rarest bird trio nests on Three Mile Island
Where is the only place in Pennsylvania where rare bald eagles, ospreys and peregrine falcons are nesting near one another?
Hint: It's on an island with a nuclear plant.
The 382-acre Three Mile Island, in Dauphin County, best known for its nuclear plant by the same name, has indeed scored a wildlife hat trick.
Read more: http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/260510#ixzz0rT9ovjWu
Prosecutors: Smuggler hid 13 birds in his pants
Inspector spots feathers peeking out from cuffs after Vietnam-L.A. flight
A man was charged Tuesday with smuggling songbirds into the United States by hiding more than a dozen of them in an elaborate, custom-tailored pair of leggings during a flight from Vietnam to Los Angeles.
Should We Clean Oiled Animals?
So far, the numbers have been small. As of June 6, rescue workers had collected 820 birds and 289 turtles from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the majority of them already dead. But the current spill promises to be the largest in U.S. history, and as cleanup efforts stretch across the summer, it's clear that more oiled birds will be found, stuck and suffering in black goo. And as they do with every oil spill, rescue workers will go to great lengths to capture and clean the survivors hoping to restore them to their natural habitat.
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Gulf oil spill: Breton Island's imperiled birds
Every spring, Breton Island fills with the sounds of 40,000 nesting birds. Pelicans, terns and skimmers arrive in April and stay through July, or until their eggs hatch and their offspring can fly. But this year is different, as millions of gallons of oil swirl offshore.
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The oil spill devastated the coast. Slaughter of birds
The huge dome of concrete and steel which had poured their hopes failed, but British Petroleum won and not give up said that it will install within 72 hours, a second, smaller dome above the hole by they exit 5 thousand barrels per day.
The new facility will be operational by the end of the week, announced today at a press conference in Houston, the CEO of BP, Tony Hayward. To justify the failure of a first positioning of the dome, Hayward said that protruded from the hole a lot of gas higher than expected.
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Birdwatching in Estonia: Saaremaa island and National Park Matsalu
In every season, Estonia surprises us with its nature. Among the outstanding performances, the great migration that began in the spring with the melting of the ice and ends in April and May, when 50 million birds moving along the eastern migration route across the country. Estonia is home to some 340 bird species, 30 breeding birds, 30 migratory birds and approximately 70 visitors.
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Goldfinches flourish on new feed
Goldfinches are flourishing thanks to people leaving out a new kind of bird food in their gardens, according to a new survey.
The colourful little birds increased by 78 per cent last year compared to the average over the last decade.
Goldfinches are thought to be doing well thanks to a new kind of bird seed mix that includes food they would feed on in the wild like nyjer seeds.
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The Burmese Shrike is endangered
For centuries, the red-backed shrike, known as the 'ruthless murderer, the "greedy little disguised", it does not enjoy an excellent reputation because of the nicknames that have been allocated. Known in England as the "butcher bird" in France as "Flayer", in Germany as "the strangler", this common passerine is a "serial killer" to be protected. Even academia has not been lenient in assigning the scientific name: Lanius collurio. Lanius in Latin means "butcher" and collurio instead derives from the greek name that usually means the birds of prey, because these small birds, like birds of prey, predators are very capable and feature behavior typical of big, strong birds.
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Canaries keep Bob busy
WITH about 150 birds chirping away at his Seven Hills house, Bob Moore’s hobby makes for a noisy home life.
Mr Moore, president of the Blacktown and District Cage Bird Society, has been raising birds for about 30 years and keeps only border fancy canaries, which he enters in shows around the country.
“It’s a fantastic hobby, but it’s time consuming,” he said.
“There’s the maintenance and caring for them, and you have to spend a lot of time training them.”
He said he was introduced to the hobby by chance when he began caring for some unwanted pets.
“I had two boys at high school who had some birds, but they got a bit lazy and wouldn’t look after them.”
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800 genes to learn how to sing
The sequencing of the genome of a songbird sheds light on the molecular basis of voice communication, with implications for the study of disorders on language and hearing in humans.
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Risk of death of 23% of birds and 15% of mammals
Biodiversity loss is proceeding at an unprecedented rate. The number of species threatened with extinction in our country is increasing, considered the guardian of the more, in Europe, of species of animals. Almost halved in 25 years, 33 varieties of birds typical of farming. Among these, the Skylark, the House Martin, the Swallow. As is apparent from the second Yearbook for 2009 of the Higher Institute for Environmental Research and Protection, Ispra.
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Songbird to understand the connections of our brain
An international team of researchers has sequenced the genome of Zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). It is only the second time ever that scientists have succeeded in sequencing the genome of a bird (the first was that of chicken) and the first time that has been sequenced the genome of a songbird. The genome of zebra finch now offers us the unique opportunity to understand our genetics and the mechanisms that underlie particular traits of birds.
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The decline of migratory birds
Some say we should not worry that climate issues are under control and that, in spite of global warming, this winter was really cold. Some people say that, but, with studies and data, there is also those who argue that there are as many as 800 species of migratory birds at risk of extinction in the coming years. And do not say "talk show guests, but American researchers: the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Pennsylvania Department of the Interior of the United States of America.
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The EU refers to Greece for the mismanagement of protected areas and protection of birds
The European Commission has sent a new warning to Greece, which has not been adapted satisfactorily to the laws protecting birds in designated areas. To protect the birds there are the Birds Directive and Habitat Directive, which provide the creation of protected areas (SPA) in which species can repair and the creation of areas of conservation (SAC) which endangered species can survive.
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The World's Rarest Birds through the lens
A new international photo competition covering the world's 623 most threatened birds has just been launched. This is a follow-up to the photo competitions that led to the production of the highly acclaimed Rare Birds Yearbooks 2008 and 2009.
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Bird Houses
From April 14 in Milan during the "Salone del Mobile" fair, will be exhibited bird houses, 10 small artificial nests made exclusively of wood recovery, following the principles of "Laboratorio Alchemico", particularly sensitive to the topic ecological, environmental and recycled. Each of the homes for birds will be assigned to an artist who will paint, selecting ranges of colors that blend into the environment and will be comfortable for small birds.
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Intentional oil spill in the Po Delta
Hundreds of thousands of litres of oil are floating on the water of the Po river and are starting to enter the Po Delta, one of the most important European wetlands. The Po delta is classified as an Important Bird Area (IBA), as it is a key site for wintering waterbirds and for colony-breeding waterbirds. Important Bird Areas (IBAs) form a worldwide network of sites for the conservation of birds.
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The importance of being fat...
Fernando Spina and Andrea Ferri, National Institute for Protection and Environmental Research (Ispra) of Ozzano Emilia (Italy) and Leonida Fusani, Department of Biology and Evolution at the University of Ferrara, who, together with Wolfgang Goymann of the Max Planck-Institut für Ornithologie of Germany, published on Biology Letters the study "Body fat influences departure from stopover sites for migratory birds: evidence from whole-island telemetry" concluding that in Garden Warble fat reserves determine the duration of breaks during the migration.
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Experience teaches modifying the brain
A U.S. study has identified the changes that occur in the brain of finches learning to sing, proving the link between experience and learning.
Learning to sing changes the brain structure of birds, increasing and stabilizing the connections between neurons. This was revealed by a study at Duke University in Durham (USA) published in the journal Nature, showing the link between structural changes in the brain due to a sensory experience and learning.
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Swan, when even the birds divorce
The cliches about the nature fascinate us and are always difficult to disprove: except when things happen like we are about to tell you that has Saruna and Sarindi as protagonists, a pair of Bewick swans.
A survey conducted by WWF on the "love" habits in the animal world has shown that among birds the "loyalists" by nature but above all the geese are swans.
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Global warming, the bodies of animals change
Global warming also affects the size of the animals. Some animals are losing weight, while others are getting fatter. All because of the upheavals of terrestrial ecosystems, the disappearance of some species, and the proliferation of others, but also of rising temperatures and currents that change.
The changes are mostly at higher latitudes, where Prof. Yom Tov has discovered how the birds become progressively smaller as mammals become larger, or at least that is the case in most species examined.
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SPRING ALIVE project, migration and climate change
Spring Alive is a project that is based on birdwatching. With children of the schools and families across Europe and the Middle East, we track the arrival of spring in our continent each year, and we compare the years the dates of arrivals of migratory species. Joining is easy and really fun, you have to register here your first sighting of some kind every year.
In particular, we want your first sighting of swallows, swifts, cuckoo and storks.
Spring Alive is an international project of BirdsLife International, and it is in its 5th year of activity. Last year the campaign collected nearly 94,000 observations in 34 countries and this year, for the first time, Spring Alive will also collect the observations in Africa.
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With 'BirdCam' nests are now online
Internet now allows you to see the other side of the world in a few clicks. Without going so far, the Web can become a new way to discover what is closest, but often unknown.
It happens in the natural park of "Pineta di Tradate" and Appiano Gentile, where today you can see nesting and attendance at a manger by several species of birds, simply access the Internet.
The project "BirdCam" started in spring 2008: small cameras positioned at strategic points that have privileged observation, now available to anyone through the web.
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The siskin: an original long-term weather
For over twenty years my feeder for small birds in the historical center of Orvieto, is frequented by a bunch of siskins, small migratory birds, that come every winter to find the "restaurant" to five stars that I manage.
It is not just the most mild winter of 2007.
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China, discovered dinosaur: it is the oldest ancestor of birds
China has unearthed the fossil of a carnivorous bipedal dinosaur lived 160 million years ago in which researchers have identified the first member of the long evolutionary line that includes the birds.
The "Haplocheirus Sollers" had a long and narrow skull, many small teeth, arms and strong biceps that allowed him to hunt primitive lizards, small mammals and reptiles.
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New species
Today Birdlife International announced the discovery of a new species Phylloscopus calciatilis in Laos and Vietnam.
It is very similar to Phylloscopus cantator (Yellow-vented Warbler).
Read the news here
Irene, the woman whispers to the parrots
Dr. Pepperberg In Italy, the scholar who with his Alex has unveiled the secrets of intelligence in birds
http://www.corriere.it/animali/09_settembre_25/intervista-irene-pepperberg-pappagallo-alex_a8815f1e-a9ce-11de-93d1-00144f02aabc.shtml
The evolution of food for birds
It triggered a reproductive isolation between populations that migrate to Spain and those that migrate to the United Kingdom, who have developed thinner bills and rounded wings.
http://lescienze.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/titolo/1341242
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