Birds perfume themselves with ants
Experiments on Japanese Thrushes show how ant secretions left on feathers can help keep some insects away.
Science & Discoveries 8
Archive
The shrike: a bird that executes its prey on thorns
A small bird turns thorns into tools for holding prey and storing food. How does it do it, and where can shrikes be seen in Arab countries?
Vultures talk before they hatch
Soft calls from inside the egg reveal the beginnings of a rich vocal world in Rüppell’s vultures—and could open a new avenue for conservation.
Neighbours in Poland, migration routes 3,750 kilometres apart
Five male European honey-buzzards breed close together in Poland, then take four migration corridors to Africa.
How cities reshape bird diversity, and why winter reveals the difference
A Nature Cities study drawing on around 17 million records across 452 North American cities shows how urban bird diversity varies with season and climate.
Study: common loons choose breeding lakes that resemble where they hatched
Data from northern Wisconsin link breeding-territory choice to shoreline development on natal lakes, while revealing a different nest response close to hatching.
A Jurassic bird that could not fly broadens the story of avian evolution
A peer-reviewed Nature fossil study identifies a striking early terrestrial branch of bird evolution.
Tracking turtle-doves from Azerbaijan to the Nile exposes a difficult migration route
GPS data reveal sea and desert crossings, critical stopovers and substantial gaps in knowledge.