birds

Stories 161 - 180 | << Prev   Next >>

Mission Plays Mating Call to Woo Swallows

Cliff swallows have disappeared from San Juan Capistrano

(Newser) - Reminders of cliff swallows are everywhere on the grounds of the 236-year-old Mission San Juan Capistrano, where the birds have migrated each spring for centuries. Trouble is, the swallows themselves have gone missing in recent years . So the California mission is putting all its eggs in the basket of a...

Kill Geese to Protect Jets: Sen. Gillibrand

Birds involved in pair of air emergencies this week

(Newser) - Jets' collisions with birds have caused two emergency landings in New York in the past week , and geese in the engine prompted the near-disaster before the miracle landing on the Hudson in 2009 . Now, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says it's time to let wildlife officials cull the goose population near...

Birds Again Ground NY Plane
 Birds Again Ground NY Plane 
Apr 25, 2012 5:07 AM CDT

Birds Again Ground NY Plane

JetBlue flight forced to return to Westchester immediately after takeoff

(Newser) - It's a bird, it's a plane ... it's a collision. Or so went an aborted JetBlue flight taking off from New York's Westchester airport last night, reports the New York Post . Two geese plowed into the windshield of the cockpit of the West Palm Beach-bound flight, forcing...

Why Woodpeckers' Brains Don't Burst

Scientists found a spongy plate that protects the birds' brains

(Newser) - After jackhammering their heads into trees all day, how is it that woodpeckers don't head home with the mother of all headaches, much less brain injury? The key is an astonishingly strong skull, say researchers in Beijing. Scientists discovered that the birds' skulls are insulated with a remarkably thick,...

City Sparrows Sing Louder to Trump Cars

 City Sparrows 
 Sing Louder 
 to Trump Cars 
study says
Apr 10, 2012 2:38 PM CDT

City Sparrows Sing Louder to Trump Cars

Pitches are higher today than decades ago: Study

(Newser) - Sparrows who live in the big city have learned to speak up in order to be heard: Researchers examined the songs of those that live around the Golden Gate Bridge and found that the calls are in a higher pitch now than they were in 1965, according to an Animal ...

Who is the &#39;Bird Man&#39; of YouTube?
 So Who Is the 'Bird Man'?
Mar 22, 2012 1:31 AM CDT

So Who Is the 'Bird Man'?

Apparent scamster has fake resume

(Newser) - Oh-oh. The credentials of the supposedly flying "Bird Man" of Holland have flown the coop. "Jarno Smeets," who posted a wildly popular YouTube video apparently showing him flapping giant wings to take flight , posted credentials on Facebook and LinkedIn that don't check out. Film experts at...

Can Birdsong Cut Crime?
 Can Birdsong 
 Cut Crime? 
Jan 17, 2012 3:30 PM CST

Can Birdsong Cut Crime?

California mayor says it already has

(Newser) - Crime has dropped in a California town, and residents should be thanking their fine feathered friends, says the mayor. Last year, he began piping recorded birdsong to 70 speakers on a highway. Minor crime dropped 15% from 2010 while serious crimes dropped 6%, the Wall Street Journal reports. It's...

Pigeons Ace Math Tests
 Pigeons Ace Math Tests 
study says
Dec 23, 2011 6:56 AM CST

Pigeons Ace Math Tests

Perform as well as monkeys at abstract number quiz

(Newser) - Don't let those blank stares fool you: Pigeons, it seems, are the math nerds of the bird world. Researchers found that the creatures can do more than count—they can handle numbers in the abstract sense, an ability never before seen outside primates, the New York Times reports. Pigeons...

1,500 Birds Crash, Die in Utah
 1,500 Birds Crash, Die in Utah 
Dec 15, 2011 2:23 PM CST

1,500 Birds Crash, Die in Utah

But 3,000 survive the crash

(Newser) - Storm clouds gathered over Utah on Monday, but what wound up raining down from the sky were birds. Thousands of eared grebes dived into roads and parking lots across Cedar City and St. George, apparently mistaking the flat surfaces for water, the LA Times reports. About 1,500 birds died...

Bird Expert Convicted in Cat Poison Bid

Researcher wrote on the feline menace to birds

(Newser) - A Smithsonian bird researcher has been convicted of animal cruelty after she tried to poison the local cat population. Nico Dauphine, 38, was caught on a security tape standing in front of a bowl of cat food outside a DC apartment building, the Los Angeles Times reports. She said she...

San Francisco Considers Bird-Safe Buildings

Board of Supervisors votes next week on plan to require safer windows

(Newser) - San Francisco lawmakers are looking out for the animals again . A Board of Supervisors committee has approved a plan to require new buildings to have treated glass or other measures to keep birds from banging into them, reports KCBS . The full board votes next week, with architects and developers complaining...

Film Captures Killer Chick Attacking Co-Nestlings

Vicious interloper dispatches foster siblings

(Newser) - Here's a true case of angry birds, but it's not funny. A hidden camera is revealing the vicious evolutionary survival skill of killer honeyguide chicks. African honeyguide moms lay their eggs in other birds' nest, and soon after their chicks hatch, they hack their foster siblings to death....

New Bird Found in US for First Time Since '70s, But...

Species might already be extinct

(Newser) - It's the ultimate in good news/bad news for a little Hawaiian seabird: Ornithologists have declared the discovery of a new bird species in the US for the first time since 1974, reports Scientific American . But the species—dubbed Bryan’s shearwater—might already be extinct. It seems the bird...

Snake-Free Hawaii Fears Slithery Invasion

Authorities see more illegal pets, worry about ecosystem

(Newser) - Leave it to a snake to ruin paradise. Hawaiian officials are worried that a steady increase in illegal snake ownership—a 9-foot boa and a 7-foot python were captured this month after escaping—will threaten the islands' fragile ecosystem and kill off birds and flowers, reports the Associated Press . Environmental...

In the Case of Thousands of Dead Birds, a Culprit?

Birds likely crashed after flying low to avoid fireworks, say investigators

(Newser) - Investigators probing the mysterious death of thousands of birds in a small Arkansas town believe New Year's Eve fireworks were likely the cause. Residents of Beebe say loud explosions were heard shortly before more than 3,000 blackbirds began falling from the sky, the BBC reports. The few that survived...

Thousands of Dead Birds Fall From Sky in Arkansas

Stumped officials speculate that weather, stress could be cause

(Newser) - The town of Beebe, Ark., is home to about 4,500 people—and about the same number of dead birds. State wildlife officials went door-to-door today to collect the creatures from rooftops, trees, and yards. Officials estimate that between 4,000 and 5,000 birds—mostly blackbirds—began tumbling from...

Audubon's Bird Bible Is World's Most Expensive Book

His 'Birds of America' sells for $10.3 million

(Newser) - John James Audubon's Birds of America—a rare blend of art, natural history, and craftsmanship—fetched more than $10 million at auction today, making it the world's most expensive published book. With its 435 hand-colored illustrations of birds drawn to size, the volume is one of the best preserved editions...

Beak Deformities on the Rise in Northwest

Abnormality at 10 times normal levels

(Newser) - Something is warping the beaks of thousands of birds in Alaska and the Northwest. A recent US Geological Survey found a shocking number of birds with “avian keratin disorder,” which causes the either the upper beak, lower beak, or both to grow abnormally long and curved, often crossing...

9/11 Tribute Traps Thousands of Dazzled Birds

Beams pull birds away from migratory path

(Newser) - This year's 9/11 memorial tribute ended up mesmerizing and trapping some 10,000 birds as they headed south for the winter. The Tribute of Light—beams of light projected where the Twin Towers once stood—was the brightest light in the area on that overcast night and birds relying on...

Hump-Backed Feathered Dino Discovered

Mystery dinosaur offers link to first birds

(Newser) - It had a mysterious hump over its pelvis and feather-attachment bumps on its forearms: Meet the newly discovered Concavenator corcovatus, a dinosaur scientists hope will offer clues about the emergence of the first birds. Paleontologists unearthed the dino, a member of the theropod family, in central Spain. And while its...

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