
Extinct New Zealand bird hunted like an eagle and ate like a vulture
1 December 2021
The Haast’s eagle had a beak and talons suited for capturing live prey, but its skull was adapted for ripping out organs

1 December 2021
The Haast’s eagle had a beak and talons suited for capturing live prey, but its skull was adapted for ripping out organs

3 November 2021
For a songbird called the common waxbill, dominance isn't governed by body size, intelligence, or even temperament, but by the intensity of the colours in their chest feathers

31 August 2021
In Indonesia, Goffin’s cockatoos have been seen whittling tools such as wedges and scoops that help them break into the pits of sea mangoes

17 August 2021
Male acorn woodpeckers that share mates with their brothers live longer lives, have better quality homes and father more baby woodpeckers than those that choose a monogamous lifestyle

4 May 2021
Buoys fitted with cartoon-like eyes act a little like scarecrows, keeping seabirds safely away from areas of the sea where they might get caught in fishing nets

25 March 2021
Since the 1990s, hundreds of bald eagles have died across the south-eastern US – now we know it is because their prey were laced with bromide, but the source of the toxin is unclear

3 March 2021
Insects avoid being eaten by playing dead, because birds are easily distracted by other nearby insects that are still moving

3 February 2021
Analysis of museum specimens shows that the passenger pigeon and other North American birds weren't in genetic decline before they vanished, suggesting their sudden extinction was down to humans

27 January 2021
Individual house sparrows show distinct personality types, and they are healthier when they live in groups that reflect a diversity of sparrow personalities

2 December 2020
Some birds can detect the movement of hidden prey by plunging their beaks into soil or water – and the “sixth sense” may have begun to evolve in predatory dinosaurs