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  1. Many animal species bury their eggs, for a number of different reasons. While it is firmly established that Eurasian penduline tits bury them because of sexual conflict, their Chinese counterparts seem to have an entirely different reason. Experimental manipulations show that for these birds burial prevents the eggs from falling out of the nest in strong winds.

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  2. One of the most contentious questions in evolutionary biology is, how did the Amazon become so rich in species? A new study focused on birds examines how the movements of rivers in the Amazon have contributed to that area's exceptional biological diversity. The researchers found that as small river systems change over time, they spur the evolution of new species. The findings also reveal previously unknown bird species in the Amazon that are only found in small areas next to these dynamic river systems, putting them at high risk.

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  3. A groundbreaking study reveals that without birds and bees working together, some traveling thousands of miles, coffee farmers would see a whopping 25% drop in crop yields. Coffee is bigger and more plentiful when birds and bees team up to protect and pollinate coffee plants. The study is also the first to show, with real-world experiments, that the contributions of nature -- ie. from bees and birds -- are larger combined than their individual contributions. This suggests researchers may be underestimating how much the environment benefits society.

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  4. Male zebra finches learn their song by imitating conspecifics. To stand out in the crowd, each male develops its own unique song. Because of this individual-specific song, it was long assumed that dialects do not exist in zebra finches. However, with the help of an artificial intelligence technique, researchers have now been able to show that the songs of four different zebra finch populations differ systematically. They also discovered that these 'cryptic dialects' are decisive for the females' choice of mate. Thus, female zebra finches pay more attention to a cultural trait than to male appearance.

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  5. Sex roles in birds describe sex differences in courtship, mate competition, social pair-bonds, and parental care. Different explanations have been put forward to explain these differences but none are based on a comprehensive study. Therefore, an international team of experts set out to analyse data on 1,800 of the approximately 9,000 different species of birds as their study organisms.

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  6. New research uncovers the negative link between flight-worthiness and fight-worthiness in birds. Evolutionary pressure demanded that birds could either fly or arm themselves -- but not both. Furthermore, the new research suggests that developing wings and not bony spurs involved both sexual and natural selection. This insight helps us better understand how the enormous diversity of life and earth came to be.

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  7. With a surface larger than all the continents together, the Pacific Ocean is the most extreme environment a migratory bird can encounter. Yet there are several bird species that conquer this enormous body of water almost routinely. Migratory bird researchers now provide a synthesis of all the knowns, and especially the many unknowns about the extreme performances of migratory birds such as bar-tailed godwits, whimbrels and red knots, which fly over the Pacific Ocean.

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