436 results
- Animals
Volcanic sulfur may make barn owls grow redder feathers
Barn owls on volcanic islands tend to have redder plumage than those on nonvolcanic islands, possibly due to an influx of sulfur in the environment.
- Animals
A new book explores the transformative power of bird-watching
In Birding to Change the World, environmental scientist Trish O’Kane shows how birds and humans can help one another heal.
- Life
These bats buzz like wasps and bees. The sound may deter hungry owls
Researchers have identified what may be the first known case of a mammal mimicking an insect.
- Life
Air pollution monitoring may accidentally help scientists track biodiversity
Filters in air monitoring facilities inadvertently capture environmental DNA, which could give scientists a new tool to track local plants and animals.
- Life
How a mound-building bird shapes its Australian ecosystem
In Australia’s mallee woodlands, malleefowl dutifully construct mounds to incubate their eggs, redistributing nutrients across the landscape.
- Paleontology
Fossils reveal that pterosaurs puked pellets
Fish scale–filled pellets found by two pterosaurs are the first fossil evidence the flying reptiles regurgitated undigestible food, like some modern birds.
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New discoveries are bringing the world of pterosaurs to life
The latest clues hint at where pterosaurs — the first vertebrates to fly — came from, how they evolved, what they ate and more.
- Animals
‘Wandering’ salamanders glide like skydivers from the world’s tallest trees
Using their legs and tail, these amphibians have impressive control over their daring dives from coast redwood canopies.
- Math
An elusive equation describing bird eggs of all shapes has been found at last
A new mathematical equation describes bird eggs of all shapes found in nature, and it could have applications in food and agricultural research.
- Animals
Climate change may rob male dragonfly wings of their dark spots
Less colorful, cooler wings may be advantageous to dragonflies in a warmer world. But the change could mess with the insects’ mating.
- Animals
Barn owlets share food with their younger siblings in exchange for grooming
Scientists weren’t sure why elder barn owlets would give away meals to their younger kin, a rare example of sibling cooperation in birds.
- Animals
A toxin behind mysterious eagle die-offs may have finally been found
A 20-year study of water weeds and cyanobacteria in the southern United States pinpoints a bird-killing toxin, and it's not your usual suspect.
