Birds

By observing a barn owl in flight as it contended with strong winds, scientists have discovered how its wings can act as a suspension system to absorb the forces in mid-air, lessons they hope to apply to the development of small-scale aircraft.

Debate is raging about whether ancient flying reptiles called pterosaurs had feathers or not. Years ago a study found fossil evidence of protofeathers, but now another team claims the evidence doesn’t stack up, and the creatures were instead bald.

A persistent scientific mystery over the past century has been exactly how some animals seemingly have the ability to sense the Earth’s magnetic field. A team of researchers are suggesting the magnetic-sensing bacteria could be symbiotically generating this novel sense.

The magnificent selection of winning images from the 2020 Bird Photographer of the Year offer a diverse assortment of shots, from an evocatively impressionistic grand-prize-winning photograph to incredible perspectives of birds in human environments.

If you saw a finch once, chances are you'd have great difficulty picking it out from a group of finches later on. A new AI-based system can do just that, though, potentially making life much easier for both biologists and the birds that they study.

An international team of scientists has turned to swifts for inspiration to produce a bird-inspired drone with flapping wings that can hover, dart, glide and dive, all while weighing the same as two tablespoons of flour.

New research, led by Professor Emily Shepard of Swansea University and Dr. Sergio Lambertucci of the Universidad Nacional del Comahue in Argentina, indicates that the Andean condor only flaps its wings one percent of the time it's in flight.

In its 11th year the National Audubon Society’s annual photo contest continues to deliver a world-class assortment of creative and technically stunning bird photographs. From more than 6,000 submissions here are the ten best from the 2020 competition.

Researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) College of Agricultural Sciences have found that a bird deterrent called a "flapper" could significantly reduce the number of our feathered friends being killed by colliding with power lines.

Climate change threatens to shake up the lifestyles of many animals around the world and a new study involving GPS-tagged birds has revealed that for the American robin these wheels are already very much in motion.

A tiny, 99-million-year-old skull found in a piece of Burmese amber in Myanmar may not only be the smallest known dinosaur of the Mesozoic era, but it could also provide new insights into the evolution of birds.

With their bright plumage, North American coot chicks really stick out. A new study by UC Santa Cruz indicates that such coloration not only serves to get more food out of the parents, but also maximizes the bird's reproductive strategy.