Every year in the Christmas season it becomes clear again that some people are amazingly skilled singers, like Mariah Carey and George Michael. Their singing can stir strong emotions. Singing involves probably the most complex and mostly hidden movements humans and animals can make. To become a good singer, you need to learn how to […]
Tag: songbird
Grow These Beautiful Plants In Your Yard And Watch The Songbird Magic Happen
Your landscape can bring all the birdies to the yard if you have the right plants. By providing songbirds with sustenance, you can attract them to your space for some backyard birding — a pastime we love because it doesn’t require travel, special equipment, or extra time. You get to enjoy the magic of these […]
Superior Vocal Learning in Birds Linked to Better Problem Solving and Bigger Brain Size
Originally introduced to North America in the 1800s, the European starling is a magnificent bird, tawny brown with white spots in winter, shining with iridescent purple and green feathers in summer. Not only are they dazzling, since starlings are also some of the most skilled vocal learners, with the ability to mimic the calls of […]
Songbird study shows one-hit wonder must change his tune to attract a mate
Male birds that are able to precisely repeat song notes stand the best chance of attracting a female mate, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. However, the males need to ensure they have a selection of different songs in their repertoire if they are to hold a female’s attention and prevent her […]
‘Finch-smuggling kingpin’ sentenced to prison for bird trafficking into US
A man who repeatedly admitted scheming to smuggle finches from Guyana into New York for birdsong competitions was sentenced on Thursday to a year and a day in prison. It was Insaf Ali’s second time being sentenced in a Brooklyn federal court for a crime related to bird trafficking, and he vowed it would be […]
Purple-crowned fairy wrens may be at even greater risk as a result of global warming
Purple-crowned fairy wrens, a small but attractive Australian songbird, may be at even greater risk as a result of global warming, according to a study that discovered that exposure to hot and dry circumstances affects the DNA of nestlings. Unlike the more visible effects of global warming on animals, such as increased bushfire danger, habitat […]
More caged birds than wild: Javan songbird crisis revealed
Thirty men squat on concrete outside a colourful urban café on the Indonesian island of Java. Their gaze is focused on a rainbow palate of cages dangling from a corrugated metal roof. They listen even more intently – for inside the structures, birds are competing to get their songs heard. The onlookers are just as […]
POLL: Should China impose strict regulations on bird poaching?
Bird poaching – for meat or for the pet trade – has become a silent epidemic across China, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of migratory birds each year. Gu Xuan, a young conservationist, is determined to break this cycle of death and destruction, and set the birds free. This video was first […]