Birds as a research topic encompass the study of Aves across diverse biological and ecological disciplines, including anatomy, physiology, behavior, evolution, and systematics. Research focuses on adaptations for flight (e.g., lightweight skeletal structure, high metabolic rates, specialized respiratory systems), sensory and cognitive capacities, communication via vocalizations, and complex social and mating systems. Ornithological studies also investigate avian roles in ecosystems as pollinators, seed dispersers, predators, and prey, as well as their biogeography and migration strategies. Birds serve as key model systems in evolutionary biology, speciation, bioacoustics, neurobiology, and conservation science, particularly in the context of habitat alteration and climate change.
As they build their nests, many birds are known to interweave dried grasses and other materials with green plants, such as fresh leaves, grass stems, herbs and aromatic leaves. While this behavior is well documented, why ...
Yesterday, I woke to a cold, damp Canberra morning—and silence. The trees around my home were empty of feathered silhouettes. Even the usual bright-eyed, warble-voiced magpies were absent.
Plants & Animals
19 hours ago
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Every year, about 50 million metric tons of plastic is dumped into the environment. This waste entangles, chokes and poisons wildlife worldwide, including sable shearwaters living on the remote Australian island of Lord Howe. ...
Plants & Animals
20 hours ago
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The closest living relatives of crocodiles and alligators are, perhaps surprisingly, birds. Both are archosauriforms, a group of species that originated about 250 million years ago near the beginning of the Triassic period.
Paleontology & Fossils
Aug 14, 2026
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The first bird to inhabit Earth used its robust hind legs to make two or three powerful leaps while flapping its way to flight, according to a study by the University of Southampton published in Developmental Biology.
Evolution
Aug 12, 2026
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Nearly 30 years ago, a simple question sent University of Washington researchers into the Puget Sound lowlands to look for birds. With Seattle's population swelling and housing developments pushing into once-forested suburbs, ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 11, 2026
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Jackie, the bald eagle who became an internet sensation and a symbol of the species' recovery in California, died Monday after being treated for an illness at a veterinary facility, her caretakers announced.
Ecology
Aug 11, 2026
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A new study out of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine suggests that West Nile virus (WNV) has had impacts on one in five Pennsylvania bird species, demonstrating how decades of community science ...
Ecology
Aug 10, 2026
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The Mauritian dodo—a global symbol of human-caused extinction and one of the world's largest pigeons—may not have deserved its reputation as a silly simpleton and may have been the only member of its group to live in the ...
Ecology
Aug 8, 2026
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An international team of researchers has uncovered a previously undetected structure in the birdsong of Bengalese finches that has the same statistical patterns found in human languages.
Plants & Animals
Aug 7, 2026
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