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  1. There are few sights more joyful than a dog bounding through the countryside. But for ground-nesting birds and other wildlife, the experience is quite different.View the full article
  2. With chatbots like ChatGPT making a splash, machine learning is playing an increasingly prominent role in our lives. For many of us, it's been a mixed bag. We rejoice when our Spotify For You playlist finds us a new jam, but groan as we scroll through a slew of targeted ads on our Instagram feeds.View the full article
  3. Large brains are a hallmark of human evolution. Brains allow us to make sense of the world and to successfully navigate through our lives.View the full article
  4. Montane forests, known as biodiversity hotspots, are among the ecosystems facing threats from climate change. To comprehend potential impacts of climate change on birds in these forests, researchers set up automatic recorders in Yushan National Park, Taiwan, and developed an AI tool for species identification using bird sounds. Their goal is to analyze status and trends in animal activity through acoustic data.View the full article
  5. Special cranial adaptations, including an asymmetrical 'wonky' skull and enlarged ears, may give the critically endangered ground-dwelling Night Parrot the edge it needs to make its way around the Outback in the dark— even with limited eyesight and a big "bluffy" head.View the full article
  6. Starting life in captivity can change the wing shape of birds, hindering their chances of surviving migratory flights when they are released into the wild, new research from The Australian National University (ANU) has shown.View the full article
  7. Populations of whooper swans grow 30 times faster inside nature reserves, new research shows.View the full article
  8. Many native animals that disperse plant seeds on the island of Mauritius have gone extinct during the past centuries. This includes iconic species such as the dodo and giant tortoises, now replaced by non-native fruit-eating animal species that have been introduced to Mauritius. However, the newly introduced species are not able to replace the extinct seed dispersers, according to a publication in the renowned scientific journal Nature Communications, to which UvA-IBED researcher W. Daniel Kissling contributed.View the full article
  9. The arrival of the new year is a prime time for Antarctic birds like the south polar skua, Antarctic petrel, and snow petrel to build nests and lay their eggs. However, from December 2021 to January 2022, researchers did not find a single skua nest on Svarthamaren, one of the regions where the birds go to raise their young. Similarly, the number of Antarctic petrel and snow petrel nests dropped to almost zero.View the full article
  10. Superb fairy wrens are more likely to take risks to help members of their close social circle, according to an international team of researchers including scientists from Monash University and The Australian National University (ANU). The findings have been published in Current Biology. View the full article
  11. Exercising too much and not getting enough rest is bad for your health. A new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that the same is true for migratory birds. They need to rest not only to renew their energy levels but also in order to boost their immune system.View the full article
  12. Macquarie Island, around 1,500km southeast of Tasmania, is more than just a remote rocky outcrop. In fact, it's the only piece of land on the planet formed completely from ocean floor, which rises above the waves to form peaks that teem with penguins and other bird species, some of them found nowhere else on Earth.View the full article
  13. A new study shows that sparrows with more opposite-sex friends contribute more to the gene pool, but 'average' friendliness wins out in the long term.View the full article
  14. Curtin researchers have uncovered new evidence of western pygmy possums interacting with native flowers, providing the first eDNA study to simultaneously detect mammal, insect and bird DNA on flowers.View the full article
  15. Much of the progress made in understanding the scope of bird deaths from building and window collisions has come as the result of citizen science, according to a newly published study. But the study also concludes that such grassroots efforts need more buy-in from government and industry, and better funding so they can keep a foot on the gas in their efforts to reduce bird-window collisions.View the full article
  16. With tens of millions of poultry culled every year to contain avian influenza, scientists are rushing to find new ways to protect flocks from infection and avert a human pandemic. Researchers are learning important lessons about how bird flu spreads and the characteristics of the virus in Europe.View the full article
  17. Australia has the world's worst mammal extinction record, with nearly 40 native mammal species lost since European colonization. By contrast, the United States has lost three.View the full article
  18. Madagascar's extinct elephant birds—the largest birds ever to have lived—have captured public interest for hundreds of years. Little is known about them due to large gaps in the skeletal fossil record.View the full article
  19. How did early humans first learn to build? It's quite possible that it was by observing animals that had already mastered the art. Indeed, when you look at the animal world many birds, insects and mammals are excellent architects and builders.View the full article
  20. A new disease has been described in seabirds, but it might just be the tip of the iceberg.View the full article
  21. Even birds value efficiency in communication.View the full article
  22. Scientists from Denmark and China have estimated germline mutation rates across vertebrates by sequencing and comparing genetic samples from 151 mother, father, and offspring trios from 68 species of mammals, fishes, birds and reptiles. A bioinformatics pipeline was designed to read, analyze and compare the genome mutations that occur yearly and between generations in each species.View the full article
  23. There are reasons to assume that not only humans but also some non-human species of animal have conscious perception. Which species have consciousness and how the subjective experience of various species could differ is being investigated by Professor Albert Newen and Ph.D. student Leonard Dung from the Institute for Philosophy II at Ruhr University Bochum.View the full article
  24. For a nervous horror fan, an evening watching HBO's hit post-apocalyptic television show The Last of Us might be followed by a restless night under the duvet. The silhouette of a coat slung over the back of a chair or even the screeching of a cat in the garden will cause a spike of adrenaline.View the full article
  25. Bald eagles are often touted as a massive conservation success story due to their rebound from near extinction in the 1960s.View the full article
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