Animal behavior is the scientific study of the observable actions, interactions, and behavioral patterns of animals, typically investigated within ethology, behavioral ecology, and comparative psychology. It encompasses mechanisms (proximate causes such as neural, hormonal, and genetic control), development (ontogeny and learning), function (adaptive value in survival and reproductive success), and evolution (phylogenetic history and divergence among taxa). Research on animal behavior quantifies activities such as foraging, mating systems, parental care, communication, social organization, and antipredator strategies, often integrating experimental, observational, and modeling approaches to understand how behavior emerges from organism–environment interactions and contributes to fitness and ecological dynamics.
Bruce the kea is missing his entire upper beak. Yet he is the alpha bird of his circus (the apt collective noun for a group of New Zealand's famously playful alpine parrots).
Plants & Animals
Apr 21, 2026
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A study reported in Current Biology shows how physical disabilities in the animal world can be overcome through behavioral innovation. The report features an endangered kea parrot in captivity at New Zealand's Willowbank ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 20, 2026
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319
On contaminated land that is too dangerous for human life, the world's wildest horses roam free.
Ecology
Apr 19, 2026
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34
Along the stark and shimmering coastline of the Dead Sea, where desert cliffs meet one of the world's most extreme environments, a quiet drama is unfolding in the skies above. Fan-tailed ravens, intelligent, adaptable, and ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 18, 2026
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48
Like many animals, parrots make sounds that suggest they are talking with each other, maybe even calling out to a specific parrot. But do they truly have names in the same way people do? To find out, Lauryn Benedict, a biology ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 17, 2026
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Does a male bird with a long and complex courtship dance have superior cognitive abilities? Simply put, is a talented dancer a smarter bird? To answer the question, researchers at Université de Montréal studied the zebra ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 17, 2026
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25
High in the forests of Hawai'i, songbirds are stealing twigs and moss from one another's nests. UC Riverside researchers found this quiet canopy crime is surprisingly common and could threaten species already struggling to ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 15, 2026
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If you live with a pet, you might feel like you can almost read each other's minds.
Veterinary medicine
Apr 15, 2026
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25
Naked mole rats keep kingdoms underground. One queen bears all the children, while others maintain complex subterranean tunnels, forage for food, take care of newborns, and perform other necessary upkeep. This society hinges ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 15, 2026
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10
Animal communication can look wildly different—flashing lights, chirping calls, croaking songs and elaborate dances. But new research from Northwestern University suggests many of these signals share a surprising feature: ...
Ecology
Apr 15, 2026
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