Birds (class Aves) are a clade of endothermic, egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, a lightweight but strong skeleton with pneumatic bones, and forelimbs modified as wings. They possess a highly efficient respiratory system with air sacs and unidirectional airflow, a four-chambered heart, and high metabolic rates supporting sustained activity and, in most species, powered flight. Reproduction is oviparous with hard-shelled, calcium-rich eggs and extensive parental care. Birds exhibit diverse morphologies and ecological strategies, yet share key synapomorphies such as feathers and a furcula, reflecting their origin within theropod dinosaurs.
Woodpeckers are well known for striking tree trunks with remarkable force and precision. These birds deliver thousands of high-speed impacts per day, generating mechanical loads that would destabilize the skulls of most other ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 5, 2026
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105
Scientists at Duke-NUS Medical School have found that viruses circulating in live poultry markets can be detected more effectively by sampling the surrounding environment than by testing individual birds. The study, published ...
Veterinary medicine
Mar 5, 2026
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15
Scientists have discovered that a widely recognized Amazonian antbird is not one, but five distinct species—including two completely new to science. This revelation of hidden biodiversity was achieved by integrating artificial ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 4, 2026
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11
Jackdaw chicks learn about predators by listening to adults, new research shows. Scientists played recordings of predator calls to chicks in their nests—and paired the sounds with either adult jackdaw "alarm" calls or "contact" ...
Evolution
Mar 3, 2026
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30
Scientists have long focused on rising temperatures to understand how climate change is reshaping the natural world. But there's a critical blind spot in that picture: rain. A new global study reveals precipitation has been ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 3, 2026
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25
This Journal of Raptor Research issue focuses on movement ecology—how and why raptors move. This can include classic movements like migration, as well as nomadism.
Plants & Animals
Mar 3, 2026
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305
Currently, Australia is the only continent in the world still free from the highly contagious H5 bird flu. But that status faces an ongoing threat.
Veterinary medicine
Mar 2, 2026
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20
February 2026 has seen thousands of dead seabirds washing up along the coastlines of the UK, France, Spain and Portugal. There's evidence that these "wrecks" (where large numbers of seabirds are found along beaches) are becoming ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2026
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27
Scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) and the Taronga Conservation Society Australia have successfully restored the lost traditional song of one of Australia's most endangered birds, offering new hope for ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 2, 2026
0
58
For over 20 million years, the landscape of Europe has been a tree-rich mosaic of grasslands, scrubs and more or less open woodlands with an abundance of wildflowers. This is the conclusion of a new and comprehensive study ...
Ecology
Mar 2, 2026
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