A new study in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution suggests that birds have two alternative strategies for coping with the difficulties of humanity's increasingly chaotic cities—either by having large brains or through more ...
Evolution
Mar 25, 2020
2
702
Complex learning processes like speaking or singing follow similar patterns. Using the example of zebra finches, researchers at UZH and ETH Zurich have investigated how young birds imitate the courtship songs of their fathers ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 15, 2020
0
49
The generation of species-specific singing in songbirds is associated with species-specific patterns of gene activity in brain regions called song nuclei, according to a study published November 12 in the open-access journal ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 12, 2019
0
21
Big brains can help an animal mount quick, flexible behavioral responses to frequent or unexpected environmental changes. But some birds just don't need 'em.
Evolution
Aug 23, 2019
0
121
When a male or female white-browed sparrow-weaver begins its song, its partner joins in at a certain time. They duet with each other by singing in turn and precisely in tune. A team led by researchers from the Max Planck ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 12, 2019
0
325
A team of researchers from Sweden, Canada and Spain has found evidence suggesting that birds that live on islands tend to have bigger brains than their mainland cousins. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, ...
University of Alberta neuroscientists have identified the neural circuit that may underlie intelligence in birds, according to a new study. The discovery is an example of convergent evolution between the brains of birds and ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 3, 2018
13
1954
Neuronal cell types in the brains of birds linked to goal-directed behaviors and cognition are similar to cells in the mammalian neocortex, the large, layered structure on the outer surface of the brain where most higher-order ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 15, 2018
0
152
With woodpeckers, the answer's in the question—true to their name, they peck wood. And when they do, they peck hard—with each peck, the bird undergoes a force of 1,200 to 1,400 g's. By comparison, a measly force of 60-100 ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 2, 2018
0
395
Pigeons are capable of switching between two tasks as quickly as humans – and even more quickly in certain situations. These are the findings of biopsychologists who had performed the same behavioural experiments to test ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 26, 2017
0
1113
