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Land Birds

As of April 10, 105 kakapo eggs had hatched, and 95 chicks were still alive.

A Bountiful Berry Harvest Put These Chunky, Endangered Parrots in the Mood. Now, Scientists Are Celebrating a Breeding Bonanza

New Zealand’s kakapo have laid 256 eggs, and around 100 of them have hatched, providing a bright spot in a decades-long conservation effort. The official chick count won’t be confirmed until the youngest birds are about 5 months old

When male greater sage grouse attempt to attract a mate, they puff up their chest, droop their wings and fan their tail feathers into a starburst shape.

One of the American West’s Most Iconic Birds Is Attempting to Mate Near a Dangerous Airport. Could Robo-Birds Help Save Them?

Conservationists are deploying dancing animatronic birds to lure male greater sage grouse away from the Jackson Hole Airport, where dozens of the creatures have been struck and killed by planes

A regent honeyeater at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, which is one of the study sites where the critically endangered birds are being bred

This Critically Endangered Bird’s Song Was About to Disappear. Scientists Saved It by Recruiting Some Wild Vocal Tutors

Wild-born male regent honeyeaters passed their cultural knowledge to young captive-born birds

The feathers belonged to birds from four large parrot species, according to researchers.

Humans May Have Transported Live Parrots Over the Andes Mountains Along Sophisticated Trade Routes Before the Rise of the Inca Empire

Archaeologists were puzzled when they found parrot feathers in a pre-Inca burial in coastal Peru. A new study suggests that the birds were captured in the wild and kept alive over lengthy journeys

Even common backyard birds like house finches are disappearing.

North American Bird Losses Are Accelerating. New Research Suggests Fertilizers and Pesticides May Be to Blame

Scientists found the severest changes in decline rates in places that include hallmarks of high-intensity agriculture

One of the birds is known as A1, or ‘Hlow Hoo-let,’ which means “At last I (or we) fly!”

These California Condors Might Be Tending to the Species’ First Egg in the State’s Northern Region in More Than a Century

Experts haven’t confirmed the existence of an egg, but the nesting birds’ behaviors suggest one was laid in early February

European robins normally live in western Eurasia and parts of North Africa, but this one somehow ended up in Canada.

Bird-Watchers Flock to Montreal to Catch a Glimpse of Canada’s First Known European Robin

Experts don’t know how the little songbird traveled across the Atlantic Ocean

The bulbils of the black-bulb yam look like berries.

This Plant Produces Plump, Fake Berries to Trick Birds Into Spreading Its Offspring Far and Wide

The black-bulb yam excels at mimicry, producing small clones of itself that look like the dark, shiny berries of seed-growing plants

The introduced population of ostriches consists of five individuals, which conservationists hope will reproduce and flourish at the reserve.

Rare Red-Necked Ostriches Introduced in Saudi Arabia to Replace Birds That Went Extinct More Than 80 Years Ago

The released birds are the closest living relatives of the extinct Arabian ostrich. The flightless animals’ return is part of a broader “rewilding” effort at a huge nature reserve

A whooping crane in flight in Texas

Whooping Cranes Came Back From the Brink of Extinction. Now, New Threats Are Converging on Their Texas Wintering Grounds

Some residents along the Gulf Coast are creating habitat for the endangered birds on their properties, but development, saltwater intrusion and bird flu are putting pressure on the species’ recovery

The manumea is the national bird of Samoa, but it's on the brink of extinction.

Elusive, Critically Endangered Bird—and One of the Closest Living Relatives of Dodos—Was Spotted for the First Time in Five Years

Conservationists are racing to save the manumea, a chicken-sized bird that lives only on two Samoan islands, from extinction

Dark-eyed juncos are small sparrows found throughout North America.

These Urban Birds Evolved Longer Beaks During Covid-19 Lockdowns. Then, They Changed Back

Researchers suspect that dark-eyed juncos living in Los Angeles adapted based on the availability of food scraps tossed by humans

A female green hermit hummingbird

These Male Hummingbirds Evolved Straighter, Sharper Bills So They Could Better Joust for Mates

While female green hermit hummingbirds have curved bills, males’ straighter mouthparts are built for stabbing one another, a new study suggests

A similar situation unfolded in January 2023, when a burrowing owl (pictured here) was found aboard Royal Caribbean International’s Symphony of the Seas.

These Owls Took a Free Vacation on a Cruise Ship—but Soon They’ll Be Heading Home

A pair of burrowing owls made themselves at home aboard Royal Caribbean International’s Allure of the Seas in February, joining a trans-Atlantic sailing to Spain. They’ll return to the United States next month

Adult male magnificent riflebirds have ultrablack feathers covering most of their bodies.

Inspired by Bird Feathers, This New ‘Ultrablack’ Fabric Absorbs Nearly All the Light That Hits It

Researchers took inspiration from the magnificent riflebird while developing a textile that reflects only about 0.13 percent of visible light, making it the darkest fabric ever reported

The unfamiliar monk parakeets got to know each other slowly before moving on to behaviors like preening, pictured here.

Monk Parakeets Are Highly Social Birds, but They Slowly ‘Test the Waters’ When Making New Friends

The bright green parrots start with low-cost social behaviors—like sitting near each other without touching—when first interacting with unfamiliar birds within their species, possibly to avoid aggressive encounters, new research suggests

A male golden pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) with its vision-obscuring head feathers. 

For Some Male Pheasants, Love Really Is Blind. Their Elaborate Feathers That Impress Females Also Obstruct Their Vision

The adornments on the heads of male Lady Amherst’s and golden pheasants partially block their sight, according to new research, marking the first known sex-based differences in field of vision within bird species

Pigeons can sense magnetic fields via their inner ears, new research suggests.

Pigeons Rely on the Earth’s Magnetic Field to Navigate. Now, Researchers May Have Uncovered How They Do It

The vestibular system, a set of structures in the inner ears that helps with balance, may grant the birds their special ability

European starlings were the best at imitating R2-D2's multphonic sounds because they can control both sides of both sides of the syrinx independently, the researchers say.

Birds Are Beeping and Booping like R2-D2. Their Mimicked Sounds Are Helping Unlock the Secrets of Avian Communication

European starlings were better than parrots at imitating R2-D2’s high-pitched chattering, possibly because of their special control over a vocal organ

Common cuckoos are medium-size birds typically found in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Rare, Out-of-Place Cuckoo Sends Birders Flocking to Long Island in Hopes of a Once-in-a-Lifetime Sighting

The common cuckoo spends most of the year in Europe and Asia but migrates to Africa for the winter

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