#merops

#merops

The article tackles the mystery of why birds were the only dinosaurs to survive the asteroid impact 66 million years ago, which drastically altered evolution. This question has intrigued paleontologists for years.

"It's the way they walk. That's what the main attraction is," said self-described amateur birder Sheeba Garg, who traveled to Bryant Park specifically to see the American woodcock during its migration.

A study by researchers at the University of California Berkeley has found that ethanol is surprisingly common in floral nectar, the sugary fuel that keeps pollinators alive. Yeast feeding on those sugars produces trace amounts of alcohol, and in this study, it showed up in 26 of the 29 plant species sampled.

The choices we make now will set Britain on a path either towards accelerating biodiversity loss or towards nature recovery.

A comprehensive analysis of Google search patterns related to birds explores what species people seek information about most frequently. The investigation spans six interconnected analyses examining bird variety, taxonomic classifications, information sharing behaviors, birder sighting correlations with search trends, regional popularity differences across states, and temporal patterns in search interest.

Around a third of UK gardeners use pesticides, and our studies found that house sparrow numbers, for example, were nearly 40% lower in gardens where the pesticide metaldehyde was used. By reducing pesticide use, you can actively encourage birds back into your outdoor spaces, as they rely on invertebrates such as slugs and snails as natural prey.

Cetti's warblers barely existed in Britain in my childhood, with just a handful of sightings. But since the first breeding record in 1972 they've made inroads. Nowadays, if I visit a watery reserve and don't hear one, I write a strongly worded letter of complaint to the relevant authorities.

On a quiet Montreal street of low-rise brick apartment buildings on one side and cement barrier wall on the other, a crowd has gathered, binoculars around their necks and cameras at the ready. A European robin has taken up residence in the neighbourhood, which is sandwiched between two industrial areas with warehouses and railway lines and, a few blocks away, port facilities on the St Lawrence River.

When Borkent stops working, biting midges risk becoming an orphan group, a term that taxonomists give for a branch of the web of life that is no longer being studied. It is a pattern playing out across the field, he says. I am one of the last few standing. It's crisis all around. As the taxonomic community ages, we are not being replaced.

When compared with places such as Norway and Sweden, the UK has relatively warm winters, and we get large numbers of migratory birds from all over Europe, which travel here seeking shelter, food and water. But numbers change every year depending on what the weather is like there and here with the recent cold spell you may see some surprise migratory visitors outside your window

Nearly half of the 261 species studied showed big enough losses in numbers to be statistically significant and more than half of those declining are seeing their losses accelerate since 1987, according to Thursday's journal Science. The study is the first to look at more than the total bird population by examining the trends in their decrease, where they are shrinking the most and what the declines are connected to.

Between 1940 and 2020, the average body mass of birds in 10 Indigenous and local communities on three continents declined by up to 72%. For the Indigenous communities who were interviewed, birds often hold immeasurable symbolic and ceremonial significance. Thus, ritual dances, songs, and place names are at risk of being lost in the face of this loss of biodiversity.