Unfortunately for caterpillars, munching on tree leaves that are healthy and tasty can dramatically boost their own risk of becoming food. Study results, published online this week in The American Naturalist, show that dining on the trees that are most nutritious for caterpillars — such as the black cherry — can increase by 90 percent […]
Category: sciencedaily
Climate Change Threatens Tropical Birds: Global Warming, Extreme Weather Aggravate Habitat Loss, Review Finds
Climate change spells trouble for many tropical birds — especially those living in mountains, coastal forests and relatively small areas — and the damage will be compounded by other threats like habitat loss, disease and competition among species. That is among the conclusions of a review of nearly 200 scientific studies relevant to the topic. […]
Chickadee, Nutchatch Presence In Conifers Increases Tree Growth, Says Study
Chickadees, nuthatches and warblers foraging their way through forests have been shown to spur the growth of pine trees in the West by as much as one-third, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study. The study showed birds removed various species of beetles, caterpillars, ants and aphids from tree branches, increasing the […]
Saving One of the World’s Most Endangered Birds
The Tuamotu Kingfisher is a multicolored, tropical bird with bright blue feathers, a dusty orange head, and a bright green back. The entire population of these birds — less than 125 — lives on one tiny island in the south Pacific, and without serious intervention, they will no longer exist. One University of Missouri researcher […]
Mariana Crow Will Go Extinct in 75 Years, Study Suggests
Researchers from the University of Washington say the Mariana crow, a forest crow living on Rota Island in the western Pacific Ocean, will go extinct in 75 years. The extinction could happen almost twice as soon as previously believed. The crow’s extinction can be prevented with a bird management program that focuses on helping fledgling […]
Disease Risks When Moving Wildlife To New Areas: Endangered Laysan Duck Cautionary Tale
Laysan ducks, one of the world’s most endangered waterfowl, are native to only the Hawaiian archipelago. For 150 years, Laysan ducks were restricted to an estimated 4 square kilometers of land on Laysan Island in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In 2004 and 2005, in an effort to rebuild the population, biologists released 42 Laysan ducks […]
Early Bird Doesnt Always Get The Worm, New Researcher Finds
Competing against older brothers and sisters can be tough work, as any youngest child will tell you. But new research from a biologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that when it comes to some birds, you should reserve any underdog sympathies for the first born — or rather, first laid […]
Rare North Island Brown Kiwi Hatches At Smithsonians National Zoo
Early Friday morning, March 7, one of the world’s most endangered species–a North Island brown kiwi–hatched at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo Bird House. Keepers had been incubating the egg for five weeks, following a month long incubation by the chick’s father, carefully monitoring it for signs of pipping: the process in which the chick starts […]
New Bird Species Discovered
The announcement of the discovery of a new bird comes with a twist: It?s a white-eye, but its eye isn?t white. Still, what this new bird lacks in literal qualities it makes up for as one of the surprises that nature still has tucked away in little-explored corners of the world. read more at sciencedaily
What Gets A Females Attention, At Least A Songbirds
Male songbirds produce a subtly different tune when they are courting a female than when they are singing on their own. Now, new research offers a window into the effect this has on females, showing they have an ear for detail. The finding provides insights not only into the intricacies of songbird attraction and devotion […]