Cosmos
Cosmos is a quarterly science magazine. We aim to inspire curiosity in ‘The Science of Everything’ and make the world of science accessible to everyone.
By Cosmos
Spending your spare time watching lorikeets or rosellas? Here are some fascinating things we learned about parrots in 2024.
Parrots squawk with accents
A study has found that, like people, parrots have different dialects – and they’re shifting as their environment changes.
Kākāpō changed colour to escape largest ever eagles
Genetic analysis has revealed why New Zealand’s native flightless parrot, kākāpō, are just as likely to have green or olive-coloured feathers.
Night parrot’s full genome offers hope for the elusive species…
The mysterious night parrot was long thought extinct, but a handful of birds were found to be clinging on in the 2010s.
Now, Australian scientists have another way to help it: they’ve sequenced and annotated the night parrot’s genome.
…meanwhile largest known population of night parrots found
The known population of night parrots doubled this year, with the discovery of a new population in the Ngururrpa Indigenous Protected Area.