Nearly 70,000 gulls, starling, geese and other birds have been slaughtered in the New York City area, mostly by shooting and trapping, since the 2009 accident in which a jetliner was forced to land in the Hudson river after birds were sucked into its engine. It is not clear whether those killings have made the […]
Author: Supertrooper
How the world’s smallest birds survive the winter
As the smallest birds on Earth, hummingbirds may seem frail—so it’s not surprising Donovan Nixon asked Weird Animal Question of the Week how they cope with winter. Turns out these airborne jewels are as tough as diamonds. In cold weather, hummingbird bodies enter into an “energy-conservation mode called torpor,” according to Oregon State ecologist Adam […]
VOTE for the Best Photo of the Week 21 Jan 2017
Welcome to the “Best Photo of the Week” competition showcasing and celebrating the biodiversity of Planet Earth. Voting is easy and lots of fun. First click an image and browse through the slideshow. Then select the three images you like best of all and click the VOTE button at the bottom of the page. […]
Bird species vanish from UK due to climate change and habitat loss
Climate change has already led to the vanishing of some bird species in parts of England, where intensively farmed land gives them no room to adapt to warming temperatures. The revelation, in a new scientific study, contradicts previous suggestions that birds are tracking global warming by shifting their ranges. The research found that birds that […]
POLL: Should the bee-harming pesticide ban be expanded?
Europe should expand a ban on bee-harming pesticides in light of a new report warning of widespread risks to agriculture and the environment, Greenpeace has said. The report by biologists at the University of Sussex and commissioned by Greenpeace, concluded that the threat posed to bees by neonicotinoid pesticides was greater than perceived in 2013 […]
This man has just broken the record for most bird species seen in a year
Interview: Arjan Dwarshuis has just broken the world record for the number of bird species spotted in a single year. And he is doing it to raise money for BirdLife. Despite birdwatching around the world almost non-stop since January 2016 for his “Biggest Year”, which is also being captured in a documentary film, Arjan has […]
POLL: Should the Hawksbill turtle trade be closed down?
The Critically Endangered Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is being hunted to extinction for its shell. Colored in hues of gold, amber, and brown, the animal’s striking shell is carved into jewelry, combs, guitar picks, and other trinkets, andthen sold in markets across Latin America and the Caribbean. This demand for turtleshell products is driving […]
Sandpipers go the extra 8,000 miles to have as much sex as possible
A bird smaller than a city pigeon has been recorded flying 13,000km (8,000 miles) in just one month to have sex with as many females as possible In behaviour never witnessed before, male pectoral sandpipers were observed travelling to as many as 24 different “breeding sites” in northern Alaska within a single season, a team […]