ScienceDaily

Biologists say they have found the strongest evidence yet of a 'migration gene' in birds.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/8-73dDVRCco View the full article

Bird-friendly coffee is shade-grown, meaning that it is grown and harvested under the canopy of mature trees, a process that parallels how coffee was historically grown. But with most farms in Central and South America and the Caribbean converting to full-sun operations, crucial bird habitats for migrating and resident bird species are being lost.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/MVVSc5U-Gy8 View the full article

When birds see a predator in their midst, one strategy is to call out loudly, attracting other birds to do the same. Sometimes individuals within this 'mobbing flock' will fly over the predator or attack it directly. Now, researchers have found that male superb lyrebirds do something rather unexpected: they imitate a mobbing flock in courtship and even in the act of mating with a female.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/dGJ8BGsXCA0 View the full article

Converting the ground under electrical transmission towers into spaces for wildlife can enable fragmented populations to connect with one another, increasing local biodiversity and providing animals around the globe an important tool for adapting to climate change, a new study found.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/7LEt5VyHOng View the full article

The fossil of a bird that lived alongside the dinosaurs was found with some sort of rocks in its stomach. Previously, researchers thought that these rocks were swallowed on purpose to help clean its stomach, like modern birds of prey do, giving a hint at its diet. But in a new study, scientists discovered that these rocks are quartz crystals that likely formed after the bird died -- its diet is still a mystery.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/hGWK2TlXFJM View the full article

A study recently completed in Europe and North America indicates that the composition of wintering and breeding bird communities changes in line with global warming. However, wintering bird communities are considerably faster at tracking the changing climate compared to breeding communities.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/mDNz4lWcg3k View the full article

A new study examines feathers across 249 species of Himalayan songbirds, finding that birds at higher elevations have more of fluffy down than lower elevation birds. Finding such a clear pattern across many species underscores how important feathers are to birds' ability to adapt to their environments. Furthermore, finding that birds from colder environments tend to have more down may one day help predict which birds are vulnerable to climate change simply by studying feathers.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/73xu5TwND2Q View the full article

Bird species that live in their natural habitats can help zoos learn how to manage those in captivity, according to a new review.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/dnMAyXryQ70 View the full article

In the Mojave Desert, small mammals are weathering the hotter conditions triggered by climate change much better than birds, finds a new study. Using computer models, the study team showed that small mammals' resilience is likely due to their ability to escape the sun in underground burrows and their tendency to be more active at night. This gives small mammals lower 'cooling costs' than birds, which have less capacity to escape the heat.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/EXnHMVlBHI0 View the full article

Muscle structure and body size predict the athletic performance of Olympic athletes, such as sprinters. The same, it appears, is true of wild seabirds that can commute hundreds of kilometers a day to find food, according to a recent article.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/VMEde1K7acI View the full article

Oahu's ecosystems have been so affected by species extinctions and invasions that most of the seeds dispersed on the island belong to nonnative plants, and most of them are dispersed by nonnative birds.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/birds/~4/6Jt9byVsDDc View the full article

Three studies uncovered the unusual sex chromosomes of platypus, emu and Pekin duck. Platypus have five pairs of sex chromosomes forming an unusual chain shape, while the sex chromosomes of emu and duck are not as different between sexes as those of human. View the full article

Bird diets provide a real treasure for research into the distribution and conservation of their prey, conclude scientists after studying the Eurasian Eagle Owl in southeastern Bulgaria. View the full article

Competition for mates leads to a deeper voice than expected based on size. View the full article

Animals can fall into an 'ecological trap' by altering their behavior in the 'wrong direction' in response to climate change, researchers say. View the full article