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How do birds make decisions and which brain regions are particularly active when they solve tasks? Researchers from the Department of Biopsychology at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) are investigating these questions. So far, only anesthetized birds and therefore passive experiments could be examined using the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Thus, the examination of brain processes during active tasks was not possible. Now the cognitive neuroscientists at the Biopsychology lab have constructed an experimental set-up which allows them to carry out fMRI examinations on awake pigeons and thus also investigate cognitive processes for the first time. They published their results online in the journal Nature Communications on 18 September 2020. View the full article -
Maureen Murray, V03, director of Tufts Wildlife Clinic and clinical associate professor at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, has been studying rodenticide exposure in birds of prey for over a decade. Exposure to rodenticides occurs when people use these chemicals to kill unwanted pests. Mice and rats, or possibly other animals, eat the poison, and then the birds eat the poisoned prey. View the full article
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Veterinary surgeon Jose Coto's clinic at the El Salvadoran environment ministry has its hands full as it cares for a wide array of injured, neglected or abused wild animals in the Central American country. View the full article
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Entire wildlife areas have been destroyed and endangered populations of animals gravely depleted by wildfires burning in Eastern Washington. View the full article
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Long-distance animal migrations can trigger relapse of dormant infections, influencing when and where infection risk peaks, according to a new paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The findings demonstrate that relapse can increase or decrease infection levels in migratory species, depending how deadly the disease is, and where in the migratory range it can be transmitted. As migratory animals often carry diseases that can jump from animals to humans, understanding how migratory relapse can shape infection risk has implications for public health. View the full article
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Many of the characteristics related to auditory attention in birds match those of humans, according to a study from the University at Buffalo. View the full article
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Compared with other migratory birds, the common swift follows a very unusual pattern when it migrates from the breeding areas in Europe to its wintering locations south of the Sahara. This is what researchers have observed in a major eleven-year international study of the birds. View the full article
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Protected areas are considered the most important tool for curbing the ongoing biodiversity loss, but a lack of field data hampers efforts to measure how effective they are in practice. Scientists analyzed records collated by thousands of citizens and showed that protected areas are contributing significantly to the conservation of rare and threatened birds across tropical forests hotspots by preventing deforestation and forest degradation. View the full article
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A University of Central Florida researcher is co-author of a new paper that may help answer why some animals have a magnetic 'sixth' sense, such as sea turtles' ability to return to the beach where they were born. View the full article
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Americans often idealize scientists as unbiased, objective observers. But scientists are affected by conscious and unconscious biases, just as people in other fields are. Studies of birds' vocal behavior clearly show how research approaches can be affected by the people who do the work. View the full article
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New research in songbirds sheds more light on the decision-making process in the brain. In this study, researchers discovered that sensory input from the locus coeruleus—the area of the brainstem known primarily for mediating arousal and modulation of sensory processing—has a direct impact on motor action. In other words, these inputs mediate the switch between the highly variable exploratory skill birds produce when practicing their song alone compared to the low variability songs birds produce to impress their female counterpart. The findings were recently published in the Journal of Neurophysiology (JNP). The article has been chosen as an APSselect article for September. View the full article
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Global animal, bird and fish populations have plummeted more than two-thirds in less than 50 years due to rampant over-consumption, experts said Thursday in a stark warning to save nature in order to save ourselves. View the full article
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Conservation action has prevented the global extinction of at least 28 bird and mammal species since 1993, a study led by Newcastle University, UK and BirdLife International has shown. The species include Puerto Rican Amazon Amazona vittata, Przewalski's Horse Equus ferus, Alagoas Antwren Myrmotherula snowi, Iberian Lynx Lynx pardinus, and Black Stilt Himantopus novaezelandiae, among others. View the full article
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A team of researchers from the U.S. and South Africa has discovered that several species of hummingbirds living in the Andes drastically reduce their body temperatures during their nightly torpor. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the group describes their study of thermoregulation in mountain-based hummingbirds and what they learned about them. View the full article
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When acorn woodpeckers inhabiting high-quality territories die, nearby birds begin a battle royal to win the vacant spot. Researchers used radio tags to understand the immense effort woodpecker warriors expend traveling to and fighting in these dangerous battles. They also found spectator woodpeckers go to great lengths to collect social information, coming from kilometers around just to watch these chaotic power struggles. The work appears September 7 in the journal Current Biology. View the full article
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Herring gulls notice where approaching humans are looking, and flee sooner when they're being watched, a new study shows. View the full article
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Humans have long been inspired and transfixed by the Moon, and as we're discovering, moonlight can also change the behavior of Australian wildlife. View the full article
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Megafire does not deter Yosemite's spotted owls
PhysOrg posted a topic in Bird Research in the Media
In 2013 the Rim Fire—the largest fire on record in the Sierra Nevada—burned one third of the potential California Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) habitat in Yosemite National Park. The park provides prime habitat for this Spotted Owl subspecies, which is listed as a Species of Special Concern by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and concern grew regarding the fire's effect on Yosemite's owl populations. But recent research provides some good news regarding the park's owls, and it may be due to Yosemite's unique history and fire management strategy. View the full article -
Bird calls can be iconic, and to many Missourians, some have come to define landscapes. Waking up to the complex song of an eastern meadowlark in grassy fields at dawn, the gentle "coo" of mourning doves throughout the day, and rocking on the front porch to the playful song of the whip-poor-will on a warm summer's night. However, one iconic call has not been heard in Missouri's landscapes for some time: the "rubber ducky squeak" of the brown-headed nuthatch. View the full article
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House sparrows can be found on nearly every continent including North America, South America, Africa and Australia, where they are not native but an invasive species. New research into these highly social songbirds reveals that they can learn from each other and adapt their behavior. View the full article
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When you think of lyrebirds, what comes to mind may be the sound of camera clicks, chainsaws and the songs of other birds. While the mimicry of lyrebirds is remarkable, it is not the only striking feature of this species. View the full article
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So far, the majority of studies investigating brain functions and intelligence have been carried out either on humans or animals that are known to be most similar to humans, such as monkeys, apes, and other mammals. Nonetheless, some avian species, including corvids and parrots, also have sophisticated and surprising cognitive skills, which are sometimes comparable to those of large-brained mammals. View the full article
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The populations of common animals are just as likely to rise or fall in number in a time of accelerating global change as those of rare species, a study suggests. View the full article
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Newly published research, in Bird Study, carried out by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) in Scotland, shows that wintering waterbirds, such as ducks, geese, swans and wading birds can easily be scared into flight by drones. View the full article
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New international research led by Monash University scientists has changed our understanding of the evolutionary processes that can lead to the rapid emergence of new species. View the full article
