#pigeon-polyamory

#pigeon-polyamory

"It was just amazing. It was so exciting to go to bed and shoot out of bed the next morning, exciting to see what was happening with the other chick," said Jenny Voisard with Friends of Big Bear Valley.

"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.

A board member of the Farallon Islands Foundation, Bob Lewis has taught birding classes in the Bay Area for over 25 years. In his Around the World in 80 Birds presentation, he shares ornithological photos from his travels to Madagascar, Borneo, Hawaii, Indonesia, New Guinea, New Zealand, and Cuba.

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.

Bay Area peregrine falcon numbers began plummeting after a massive, global outbreak of avian flu in 2020, the study documents, with only about a third of the nesting sites still in use as of 2025. The news, while dire, nevertheless helps scientists understand how the disease is impacting local populations, and what we can expect for their recovery.

Researchers found that the inclusion of cigarette butts in nests led to significantly elevated hemoglobin and red blood cell concentration, indicating improved physiological condition.

Researchers have found that humans and animals have remarkably similar tastes. The team, from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, wanted to know whether the features that make certain animal calls irresistible to females of the species would also be music to our human ears.

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.

Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum.

The study's authors researched 96 peer-reviewed studies documenting SSB to compile one of the most comprehensive datasets for primates to date. The study found that SSB are a "persistent and integral component of primate social [practices]." In fact, the prevalence of SSB across a variety of closely related primate species - and over several lines of descendants - "indicates a deep evolutionary root or multiple independent evolutionary origins," the study's authors wrote.

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.

The flock of 50 or so pigeons lifts from the barn roof as one. The loud clapping of wings makes the horses jump, even though this happens several times a day. I scan the sky for a peregrine but can't see signs of danger. They swirl once, then settle back on to the corrugated metal roof. These farmyard pigeons are a mix of feral and wood pigeons that hang out happily together.

Many people look up to admire the silhouette of raptors, some of the planet's largest birds, soaring through seemingly empty skies. But increasingly, research shows us that this fascination runs both ways. From high above, these birds are watching us too. Thanks to the development of tiny GPS tracking devices attached to their bodies, researchers are getting millions of data points on the day-to-day lives of these apex predators of the skies, giving us greater insight into where they hunt and rest.

February heralds skunk mating season, and our striped friends have romance on their minds. Over the next several weeks, skunks will be seeking mates, and this activity always results in an uptick in the amount of skunk spray in the air. Male skunks spray each other when they fight over females, and females spray males they don't want as mates.

Researchers have observed behaviour that resembles pretending in chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes) as well as bonobos ( Pan paniscus) and other great apes. A captive bonobo named Panbanisha was observed making a plucking motion to a picture of blueberries and then moving her fingers to her mouth, as if to eat the imaginary fruit. Researchers have also documented wild chimpanzees carrying logs like dolls, especially in young females.