Study of finches shows they form homosexual alliances

A new study by a team of researchers shows that for zebra finches, bonding trumps sex. Post-Doc fellow Julie Elie of the University of California and her team describe in the journal Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, ...

Attractive dads have more grandchildren

(PhysOrg.com) -- A study of zebra finches has shown that males' attractiveness influences the number and size of eggs their daughters produce – not genetically but through the effect of their attractiveness on their ...

MicroRNAs in the songbird brain respond to new songs (w/ video)

Whenever it hears an unfamiliar song from a bird of the same species, a zebra finch stops chirping, hopping and grooming. It listens attentively for minutes at a time, occasionally cocking its head but otherwise immobile. ...

Study shows genes may play a role in promiscuity

(PhysOrg.com) -- In a recent study, in what is likely to stir some controversy, researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Germany have shown that finches in the wild, normally a monogamous type of bird, tend to cheat on ...

Scientists crack code on tracking zebras

Field biologists following thousands of wild zebras in Africa used to joke about how nice it would be to have a bar code reader to help them identify and catalogue individual animals.

Study finds common fire retardant harmful to aquatic life

A new study by Baylor University environmental health researchers found that zebra fish exposed to several different technical mixtures of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) – a common fire retardant – during ...

Flight speed is affected by diet in early life

A good start in early life means everything, and not just for children cajoled into eating their vegetables. Zebra finches that grew up on a poor diet may catch up in weight and size, but become slower to escape predators ...

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