Birds
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Citizen Science
Peckish pollys and townie turkeys
Help keep an eye on birds in the bush and the suburbs.
Each week Cosmos takes a look at the latest projects and news about Citizen Science in Australia. This week Ian Conne...
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Migrating birds adapt to changing seasons
Population declines likely due to human land use.
Birds that fly long distances across continents in spring are more flexible in adapting their migrations to a changin...
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Birds change their tunes after wildfires
Dialects reflect ecosystem processes, study shows.
Wildfires can change the tunes of birds in nearby forests, according to a new study published in The Auk: Ornithologi...
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For the evolution of smarts, parents matter
Songbird research shows cognitive and survival benefits.
Humans are not the only species that enjoy prolonged childhoods: elephants, whales, dolphins and some bats and birds ...
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Cassowaries shine in an interesting way
Study suggests its due to feather shape.
The cassowary achieves its luxuriously glossy plumage through modifications to feather shape similar to the hair stru...
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Feathers, digits and the Sonic hedgehog
Biologists suggest they are all linked.
Bird feathers and human digits share a remarkably similar developmental history, according to a new study. Grafts ...
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How birds evolved big brains
They once compared well with dinosaurs.
Birds and non-avian dinosaurs had similar relative brain sizes prior to the mass extinction at the end of the Cretace...
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The social lives of flamingos
It’s a complex world of groups and besties.
You could probably base a reality TV series on the lives of flamingos, such is the complexity of their social lives. ...
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For birds, innovation is survival
Study shows novel behaviours lower extinction risk.
If you’ve ever ventured beyond admiring the assorted dazzling plumages of birds or simply enjoying their symphony of ...
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Some birds with small brains aren’t that silly
They simply breed more to survive chaotic cities.
It’s not just big brains that can give birds a survival advantage in harsh urban environments. Some small-brained bir...
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‘Wonderchicken’ fossil from dinosaur age
Find sheds light on the origin of modern birds.
Palaeontologists have found the oldest fossil of a modern bird, originating from before the last mass extinction that...
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How do colourful birds protect themselves?
Researchers unravel the mystery with Australasian lorikeets.
The dazzling array of colours that birds display – some that humans can’t even see – are more than awe-inspiring eye ...