birdmodo

Gif: Brucks and von Bayern (Cur Bio 2020

Watch Parrots Help Each Other Without Expecting Anything in Return

African grey parrots will help out their friends, even if they won’t personally benefit, an adorable new lab experiment shows. Selflessly helping peers isn’t a common trait in the animal world—scientists have seen only a few mammal species behaving this way. After all, altruism doesn’t benefit an individual in a species unless it’s part of…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jan 9

Puffins Seen Using Tools for the First Time

Researchers watched puffins use sticks to scratch their backs and chests—a behavior previously unknown to scientists. There’s already mounting evidence that certain birds possess advanced intelligence. New Caledonian crows fashion advanced tools, cockatoos dance to music, and chickadees can remember where they hid thousands of cached food items. But there are still a lot of…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jan 3

North American Birds Are Migrating Earlier Because of Climate Change

Every autumn as temperatures drop and insect populations decline, billions of birds migrate across the U.S. in search of warmer nesting temperatures and more food availability—both extremely good answers to seasonal depression. In the spring, the birds fly back to mate. This annual migration serves an important role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, because the traveling…

Conservation Dharna Noor Dec 16

Image: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

OSIRIS-REx Team Will Boop This Spot on Asteroid Bennu

The OSIRIS-REx team has decided on a location to collect a sample from the asteroid Bennu. It’s a 460-foot-wide crater that they’ve dubbed “Nightingale.” This announcement follows a months-long selection process between four bird-named candidates: Sandpiper (specifically a western sandpiper), Osprey, Kingfisher (specifically a common kingfisher), and Nightingale, all of which seemed to be fairly…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum Dec 13

Scientists Sequence the Genome of America’s Famous Extinct Parakeet

Researchers have produced the first whole genome of the Carolina parakeet, a recently extinct parrot native to the United States. The bird’s DNA reveals that humans (and probably humans alone) brought about its abrupt extinction. The Carolina parakeet was one of only two parrots native to the U.S., but it went extinct in 1918, when…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Dec 12

New NYC Law Would Require New Buildings to Have Bird-Friendly Windows

Today, the New York City Council passed one of the country’s most comprehensive bird-safe glass laws yet. The law, Proposed Initiative 1482B, requires any new construction and certain renovations to use bird-safe materials designed to prevent bird-strike deaths. Advocates for the bill hope it will lead the way for similar laws in other communities. “New…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Dec 10

Invasive Mice Seen Attacking Adult Albatrosses on Breeding Colony for the First Time

The United Kingdom’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has recorded the first known instance of invasive mice preying on the adult albatrosses, according to a press release. Past research has documented Gough Island’s invasive mice preying on albatross chicks. But this is is the first times on record that mice have been…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Dec 6

NORAD Will Neither Confirm nor Deny a Flock of Birds Caused White House Lockdown

On Tuesday, the White House was placed under lockdown after it appeared that an aircraft was flying in restricted air space over Washington DC. But was it really an aircraft… or was it birds? The North American Aerospace Defense Command first reported an object entering capitol airspace this morning, which prompted a response from National…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum Nov 26

Humans Alone Were Responsible for This Big Atlantic Seabird’s Extinction, New Evidence Shows

One of the northern hemisphere’s most famous extinct birds could have disappeared at the hands of humans and humans alone. A nearly 3-foot-tall flightless bird called the great auk was once abundant in the north Atlantic Ocean, from the U.S. Atlantic Coast north to Greenland and Iceland and throughout European waters. It looked like a…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Nov 26

Reconsider the Vulture

The vulture is often depicted as death’s maligned servant, circling ominously in the clouds in search of decay. We’ve come to associate these creatures with disgust—but I don’t think the stigma is warranted. It’s the spookiest time of the year, so as I did last year, I’d like to introduce you to one of nature’s…

Conservation Ryan F. Mandelbaum Nov 1

Tagged Russian Eagles Rack up Enormous Cell Phone Bill From Visits to Iran

A Russian research group ran out of money after the eagles they tagged flew out of range of cell service and then to Iran, resulting in tons of expensive text messages, according to a post on the Russian social media service VK. The trackers sent text messages back to the researchers, allowing them to determine…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Oct 25

World’s Loudest Bird Shrieks Directly Into Potential Mates’ Faces

This candidate for the loudest bird in the world screams from the treetops with chainsaw volume, directly into the ear of a potential mate. Meet the white bellbird, a member of the cotinga family that is famous for species with strange courtship displays. A pair of researchers measured the white bellbird’s songs and found that…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Oct 21

Report Finds Nearly Two-Thirds of America’s Birds Vulnerable to Extinction From Climate Change

A new report has found that nearly two-thirds of America’s breeding bird species were moderately to highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Earth is warming, storms are getting stronger, native habitats are disappearing, and it’s mostly the work of humans. We already know that the country has lost nearly 30 percent of its…

Climate Change Ryan F. Mandelbaum Oct 10

North America Has Lost Almost 30 Percent of Its Birds Since 1970, Upsetting New Study Finds

There are almost 3 billion fewer North American birds in 2019 than there were in 1970, accounting for a 29 percent decline, according to a new study. It’s clear that humans have done a number on the environment, since the climate is warming and species are going extinct at an alarming rate. But birds in…

Conservation Ryan F. Mandelbaum Sep 19

Rooster Kills Australian Woman

A 76-year-old woman died after being pecked by a rooster in South Australia, a recent case study reports. The aggressive bird attacked the woman’s leg while she was collecting eggs from her chicken coop, causing her to bleed to death. “This case demonstrates that even relatively small domestic animals may be able to inflict lethal…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Sep 5

Crows Get Higher Cholesterol From Eating Our Cheeseburgers

City living is producing something new for you to worry about: high crow-lesterol (sorry, I’m sorry, I’m trying to delete it). Crows generally aren’t picky eaters, and primarily survive on plants, carrion, and food scavenged from human-produced sources like landfills and garbage cans. But the food we throw away might not be as healthy for these…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Aug 26

Bird Twitter Is My Oasis in Internet Hell

Browsing the internet generally feels exhausting for me. Mostly, it’s because everything is bad. The websites I once visited for “fun” are now saturated with reminders of society’s collapse, brands making painful jokes, lies, outrage, and actual Nazis. I only visit these websites out of habit and poor impulse control. But I’ve recently joined a…

Internet Ryan F. Mandelbaum Aug 22

Nah or Aww? Human-Size Penguins Once Waddled Across New Zealand

A fossil discovery has added another entry to the list of comically large New Zealand birds: a 5-foot-tall penguin. Just last week, we reported that researchers found fossil evidence of a child-size parrot in 16-million-year-old rock. Some of those same researchers have now announced the finding of a penguin that could have grown over 5…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Aug 14

How to Stop Gulls From Stealing Your Food or At Least Make Them Feel Guilty About It

It turns out you can ward off some thieving gulls by just staring them down, according to a new study. I say some gulls, because others are not deterred by glares from humans. Human-gull interactions can be the bane of beachgoers and make for popular online fodder, but are often bad for both the people and the…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Aug 7

Illustration: Brian Choo, Flinders University

Scientists Found a Seriously Giant Parrot Fossil in New Zealand

Scientists have uncovered evidence of an enormous parrot in New Zealand (of course). This Polly doesn’t want a cracker. This Polly wants a whole damn loaf of bread. Before humans arrived, islands were funhouses when it came to avian evolution, producing giant, often flightless birds. New Zealand may once have been home to a 15-pound,…

Biology Ryan F. Mandelbaum Aug 6

Watch Parrots Help Each Other Without Expecting Anything in Return

Puffins Seen Using Tools for the First Time

North American Birds Are Migrating Earlier Because of Climate Change

OSIRIS-REx Team Will Boop This Spot on Asteroid Bennu

Scientists Sequence the Genome of America’s Famous Extinct Parakeet

New NYC Law Would Require New Buildings to Have Bird-Friendly Windows

Invasive Mice Seen Attacking Adult Albatrosses on Breeding Colony for the First Time

NORAD Will Neither Confirm nor Deny a Flock of Birds Caused White House Lockdown

Humans Alone Were Responsible for This Big Atlantic Seabird’s Extinction, New Evidence Shows

Reconsider the Vulture

Tagged Russian Eagles Rack up Enormous Cell Phone Bill From Visits to Iran

World’s Loudest Bird Shrieks Directly Into Potential Mates’ Faces

Report Finds Nearly Two-Thirds of America’s Birds Vulnerable to Extinction From Climate Change

North America Has Lost Almost 30 Percent of Its Birds Since 1970, Upsetting New Study Finds

Rooster Kills Australian Woman

Crows Get Higher Cholesterol From Eating Our Cheeseburgers

Bird Twitter Is My Oasis in Internet Hell

Nah or Aww? Human-Size Penguins Once Waddled Across New Zealand

How to Stop Gulls From Stealing Your Food or At Least Make Them Feel Guilty About It

Scientists Found a Seriously Giant Parrot Fossil in New Zealand

‘The Punisher: One Last Kill’ Trailer Promises Many Kills, Actually

Forget Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch 8 (2025) Is Now Priced Lower on Amazon Than at Samsung’s Official Site

Artemis 2 Day 9: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

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This Portable Dual Foldable Monitor Hits Its Lowest Price on Amazon, Making Triple-Screen Setup More Affordable Than Ever

With Artemis 2 Flying Home, NASA Is Already Teasing Artemis 3

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Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

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Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

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