Birds

Palaeontologists in New Zealand have now uncovered the remains of Heracles inexpectatus, an extinct giant parrot that would have stood hip-high to most people and packed a beak powerful enough to crack open pretty much whatever it wanted to.

Many animals adjust to changes in climate by shifting behaviors such as hibernation, reproduction and migration in order to optimize the continuation of the species. Unfortunately, a recent meta analysis of over 10,000 studies suggests these adaptations simply aren't happening quickly enough.

2019 marks the 10th year of the Audubon Photography Awards, and the introduction of two new prizes – the Plants for Birds Prize and the Fisher Prize. From over 8,000 entries from all over North America, the judges were tasked with choosing just six winners and four honorable mentions.

We know baby birds communicate, often loudly, and mostly about food, but a new study suggests they can also communicate with each other while still in the egg. This method of communication influences the behavioral and physiological traits of newly-hatched chicks from the same clutch of eggs.

An expedition to the “Lost City of the Monkey God” in Honduras has revealed a trove of natural treasures. The pristine forests house an incredibly rich ecosystem, including species new to science, some unknown in the area, some that haven’t been seen in decades and others that were believed extinct.

Generally speaking, the animals alive today are mere shadows of their former selves, and birds were no exception. In a Crimean cave, palaeontologists have uncovered the bones of some of the most gigantic birds to have ever walked the Earth, that would have lived alongside early European humans.

Birds flying together in formation can save substantial amounts of energy. But what’s good for the goose isn’t necessarily good for the gander, with scientists finding that for pairs of homing pigeons this approach actually costs them energy instead.

The hummingbird's ability to hover and make sharp turns could teach drones a thing or two. Now researchers at Purdue University have managed to do just that, building a hummingbird-inspired drone and teaching it to fly using algorithms trained on the birds’ natural flight patterns.

Evolution helps life adapt to new environments – and now scientists have uncovered a rare occasion where it got a second chance. About 136,000 years ago, a flightless bird on an island in the Indian Ocean was wiped out, only to re-evolve itself back into existence tens of thousands of years later.

Like the Wright Brothers, evolution didn’t get flight exactly right the first time. It takes experimentation to find the best design, and now palaeontologists have found one of nature’s quirky side projects – a strange dinosaur that was covered in feathers but had leathery bat-like wings.

On the timeline of the evolution of flight in birds, gliding seems like a logical first step. But new research suggests that some species could have made the jump straight to flapping flight without a gliding phase in the meantime, which could force a rewrite of our understanding of avian evolution.

Resembling an oversized egg in a nest, the Tij (or Tide) is a bird observatory in the Netherlands designed by Dutch firm RAU Architects. The novel building is made from sustainably-sourced wood and can be disassembled and moved with relative ease if required.