Mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli), a North American bird in the tit family, store away food for later occasions. These birds are found at different elevations where varying winter conditions are experienced. Previous research showed that mountain chickadees living at harsher high elevations have bigger hippocampi, the part of the brain which plays an important role […]
Author: Supertrooper
Video: Great Egret Chicks
This was shot Feb. 23, 2015 at the Venice Rookery in Venice, Florida. The Great Egret nests all have eggs and this nest has hatchings. The one with the wet hairdo is just hours out of the shell. The movie was shot with a Canon 5D Mk3, Canon 500 lens, and stacked 2x and1.4 teleconverters. […]
A study of island birds reveals that biodiversity is everywhere
Charles Darwin was famously inspired by the differing beak shapes and lengths of Galápagos finches – so inspired he eventually thought up the idea of evolution by natural selection. Now, researchers working on Santa Cruz Island, a small rocky island jutting out from the Pacific Ocean a few miles from the California coast, have once […]
Storks could become poisoned by pesticides during their migration to Africa
Not all storks migrate to Africa. Many stay for the winter in the Iberian Peninsula, where landfills have become a permanent source of food. Scientists from Extremadura have analysed the presence of pollutants and pesticides (some prohibited in Spain) in the blood of nestlings from three colonies, two of which are close to landfill sites. […]
Amazonian bird chick mimics toxic caterpillar to avoid being eaten
In a study published in the January 2015 issue of The American Naturalist, Gustavo A. Londoño, Duván Garcia, and Manuel Sánchez Martínez report a novel nesting strategy observed in a tropical lowland bird that inhabits an area with very high losses to nest predators. How can tropical birds cope with the high rates of nest […]
Weasel photographed riding on a woodpecker’s back
Amateur photographer Martin Le-May, from Essex, has recorded the extraordinary image of a weasel riding on the back of a green woodpecker as it flies through the air. The photograph was taken at Hornchurch Country Park in east London on Monday afternoon. Speaking to BBC News, Mr Le-May said he had managed to capture the […]
Results of the Best Photo of the Week Ended 28 Feb 2015
We are delighted to announce the results of our latest photo competition. First Place is awarded to Mike Barth for his outstanding flight shot entitled “Clash of the Titans”. Glenn Perrigo wins Second Place for his brilliant composition “White Ibis Symmetry”. Third Place is shared by Nickolas Haramis with “Great Grey Owl Inflight” and Frank […]
Video: What to do when an octopus gives you an eight-armed face hug
It’s no secret that I’ve long been obsessed with giant Pacific octopuses. What’s not to love? They’re the world’s biggest octopus species (and I do mean big – the largest ever found measured 9.8 metres), and they’re so strong that just a few seconds of sucker-to-skin contact will leave you speckled with ‘octo-hickeys’. But biologist […]