birds

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Beach Volleyballers Wreck Protected Birds' Nests

Players on island off Alabama moved eggs from least terns' nests, scared off adults

(Newser) - Beach volleyball players on a small island off Alabama probably killed hundreds of unhatched birds, moving eggs to make room for their court and scaring adult birds from nests, reports the AP . The day after the damage was found, the conservation group Birmingham Audubon put up ropes and signs to...

Prozac May Be Hurting Birds&#39; Libido
Prozac's Odd Side Effect:
Less Frisky Birds
new study
Aug 7, 2018 11:05 AM CDT

Prozac's Odd Side Effect: Less Frisky Birds

Females get trace amounts at sewage plants, become less desirable to mates

(Newser) - We humans consume a lot of antidepressants, and that means birds inadvertently do the same while feeding at sewage plants. Now researchers in the UK suggest that it's taking a toll on the birds' libidos, making them—or at least the females—less attractive to prospective mates. In their...

Burning Bird Torches 17 Acres of Land

It takes 50 firefighters to battle the blaze

(Newser) - Police say a burning bird falling from an overhead electric line set fire to a field in northern Germany that was parched by dry weather, torching some 17 acres of land, the AP reports. Police in the Baltic Sea port city of Rostock say witnesses reported that the bird caused...

Big Music Fest Hits Snag Over Small Bird's Nest

Protected killdeer threatens Ottawa's Bluesfest preparation

(Newser) - Who knew a bird had the power to stop 300,000 people? That's the case in Canada's capital, which is days away from hosting a music festival featuring the Foo Fighters, Shawn Mendes, and Hanson. As the Ottawa Citizen reports, preparation for the 24th annual Bluesfest to kick...

Drawings of a Cockatoo Reveal a Medieval Surprise
Drawings of a
Cockatoo Reveal
a Medieval Surprise
new study
Jun 26, 2018 8:49 AM CDT

Drawings of a Cockatoo Reveal a Medieval Surprise

They were found in a 13th-century manuscript tied to Frederick II

(Newser) - The 1496 European altarpiece Madonna della Vittoria contains an image of a non-native cockatoo, but that's no longer such a remarkable fact. Researchers now say they've found images of the bird in a manuscript penned by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II over a seven-year period beginning in 1241,...

Australia Fights Killer Cats With Massive Anti-Cat Fence

Just 50 or 60 felines can eat more than 70,000 native animals per year

(Newser) - It’s not a Guinness world record yet, but Australia has built what is reportedly the world’s longest cat-proof fence. Conservationists are hoping the 27.3-mile fence bordering the Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary in central Australia will help save endangered animals like the mala, a type of small wallaby, from...

Museum Shocked to Discover Giant Egg in Collection Is Real

It's one of fewer than 40 elephant bird eggs held by public institutions

(Newser) - The Buffalo Museum of Science has been sitting on a rare find. A collections manager with the museum discovered an elephant bird egg nestled away in a cabinet for more than half a century and erroneously labeled as a cast. The egg is 1 foot long, more than 2 feet...

Study of Famous Dodo Reveals Surprise Death

Oxford's specimen was shot in the back of the head, scan reveals

(Newser) - Scientists used the latest forensic scanning technology to look inside the world's most famous dodo specimen in the hope of learning more about the anatomy of the bird that went extinct on Mauritius 350 years ago. "In our wildest dreams we never expected to find what we did,...

Ban Lifted on Hotel Guest 17 Years After Poop 'Tornado'

Nick Burchill allowed back at BC's Fairmont Empress after a seagull fracas in his room

(Newser) - A Canadian man barred from a British Columbia hotel for 17 years has successfully reversed his lifetime ban with "a pound of Brothers TNT Pepperoni as a peace offering." To understand the significance of that gift, it's necessary to know the truly insane story of how Nick...

Crab Is Seen Hunting a Bird in 'Gruesome' First

Coconut crabs were previously thought to be scavengers

(Newser) - Seabirds apparently have a surprising new predator to worry about. A researcher who worked on the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean in 2016 says he witnessed a large coconut crab attack a sleeping seabird, which then became dinner. Mark Laidre of Dartmouth College says he first spotted a crab...

How to Build a New Beak? 3D Print One

Karl the hornbill was born with half a bottom beak

(Newser) - For Karl the hornbill, the pickings were slim. With only half a bottom beak, the black-plumed bird at Washington's National Zoo couldn't eat anything smaller than a mouse. And to do that, he had to sort of scrape his beak along the ground while tilting his head at...

The Dodo May Be Dead, but We Just Learned More About Its Life

New study reveals life cycle of famously extinct bird

(Newser) - Big dodo news out of the science world this week. Yes, it's still extinct, but a study published Thursday in Scientific Reports finally sheds light on the life cycle of the famously dead bird. “We know so little about these birds that everything was basically a surprise,”...

Think Ducks Are Cute? This Might Change Your Mind

Mallards spotted eating birds in Romania

(Newser) - You probably thought ducks were cute waddlers who liked to eat your stale bread. Poof, your bubble has been burst. The BBC reports wild mallard ducks have been spotted eating other birds, swallowing one nearly whole, an "extraordinary" behavior that has never been observed before. Zoologist Silviu Petrovan of...

Knife-Stealing Crow Wreaking Havoc Again

This time Canuck attacked a mail carrier

(Newser) - It’s been awhile since Canuck stole a knife from a crime scene, so perhaps boredom had set in. Or perhaps the crow just has a taste for blood. Either way, the local celebrity in Vancouver, Canada, shut down mail service to several addresses in the city for more than...

Trump Admin Sets Sights on Protections for Sage Grouse

A conservation plan to protect the rare bird could be in jeopardy

(Newser) - The sage grouse, which is known for its unique mating dance and only found in North America, has lost up to 90% of its population over the past few decades, dwindling to between 200,000 and 500,000 birds. Now a plan to save the sage grouse that took years...

Miracle on the Hudson Legacy: 70K Dead Birds

NYC airports kill the birds that were blamed for crash, with little evidence skies are safer

(Newser) - Birds took the blame for bringing down the jetliner that "Sully" Sullenberger landed on the Hudson River eight years ago this weekend. They have been paying for it with their lives ever since. An AP analysis of bird-killing programs at the New York City area's three major airports...

The World's Oldest Known Seabird Is Expecting—Again

Wisdom is 60-something years old and has dozens of offspring

(Newser) - The world's oldest known seabird is expecting—again. Biologists spotted the Laysan albatross called Wisdom at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge earlier this month after she returned to the island to nest, the AP reports. She was incubating an egg at the same nest she uses each year with...

Smell of Plastic Makes Seabirds Think It's a Meal

Turns out, the scent is similar to krill

(Newser) - Scientists think they've figured out why so many seabirds feast on plastic floating in the ocean, often with deadly consequences. It turns out that the plastic smells an awful lot like the small crustaceans known as krill that are a staple of the birds' diet, reports New Scientist . The...

Tiny Bird Doesn&#39;t Land for 10 Months
Tiny Bird Doesn't
Land for 10 Months
Oct 28, 2016 12:58 PM CDT

Tiny Bird Doesn't Land for 10 Months

Common swift steals longest continuous flight for a bird

(Newser) - The common swift makes its cousin's six months in continuous flight look like nothing more than a hop, skip, and a jump. The tiny bird easily steals the record for longest continuous flight by spending 10 months in the air without landing once, reports NPR , by way of a...

Dozens of Birds Fall From Sky in Boston Neighborhood

And no one knows why

(Newser) - Dozens of birds fell from the sky—and at least one house cat died—Thursday afternoon on a street in Boston, and no one knows why. The Boston Globe reports a resident called animal services when she noticed her cat was seriously ill and there were birds littering the ground....

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