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 […]
Tag: songbird
‘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 […]
POLL: Should the wild bird trade in Vietnam be stopped?
Thousands of birds, suspected to have been caught from the wild, are being sold openly in Vietnam, according to a new report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. Many of the species on sale are threatened with extinction, warns the report. In April 2016, researchers from TRAFFIC surveyed bird vendors — both shops and […]
POLL: Should the illegal slaughter of songbirds in Cyprus be stopped?
Only one road runs through the Cypriot village of Xylophagou, and the traffic rarely stops. There is a florist selling dusty ferns in pots, a hardware shop protected by a gaggle of surly-looking youths on mopeds, and a deserted fast-food outlet. The main parade ends at a cafe overlooking a roundabout that leads the way […]
25 million songbirds slaughtered each year in the Mediterranean
The Egyptians line their beaches with fine two-metre high nets that can stretch for miles across the Nile delta and will catch any bird coming close; the Maltese will cover whole trees in nylon; the Cypriots smear branches in glue to stop birds flying; the Italians will kill nearly anything that flies and the French […]