Topic description and stories

Black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa), a waterbird with habitats ranging from the Russian far-east to Europe, Africa, and Australasia.

Political instability and weak governance lead to loss of species, study finds

20 Dec 2017

Big data study of global biodiversity shows ineffective national governance is a better indicator of species decline than any other measure of “...

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Birds learn from each other’s ‘disgust’, enabling insects to evolve bright colours

18 Dec 2017

A new study of TV-watching great tits reveals how they learn through observation. Social interactions within a predator species can have “...

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'Swifts' lithograph from Carry Akroyd's 'Found in the Fields' series (detail)

Poet, activist, bird watcher: exploring John Clare as nature writer

29 Aug 2017

At a symposium next month (15 September 2017) academics, artists and ornithologists will share their responses to the work of 19th-century poet John...

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A Painted Turtle

‘Red gene’ in birds and turtles suggests dinosaurs had bird-like colour vision

03 Aug 2016

A gene for red colour vision that originated in the reptile lineage around 250m years ago has resulted in the bright red bird feathers and ‘painted’...

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Gabon

Earth, wind and flyer: the moves of Disco Tony and friends

26 Jul 2016

Disco Tony has travelled over 5,000 miles. He is grey with a yellow ring around his eyes. He is a cuckoo, but not just any cuckoo. He is one of a...

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Yao honey-hunter Orlando Yassene holds a male greater honeyguide temporarily captured for research in the Niassa National Reserve, Mozambique.

How humans and wild birds collaborate to get precious resources of honey and wax

22 Jul 2016

By following honeyguides, a species of bird, people in Africa are able to locate bees’ nests to harvest honey. Research now reveals that humans use...

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Smarter than the average bird?

15 Jun 2016

Corina Logan's research investigates behavioural flexibility in the great-tailed grackle.

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Zebra Finch

Genes discovered that enable birds to produce the colour red

20 May 2016

Latest research suggests a new mechanism for how sexual displays of red beaks and plumage might be ‘honest signals’ of mate quality, as genes that...

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The African Golden Weaver, Zanzibar

Opinion: There’s a reason why Africa’s migratory songbirds sing out of season

09 May 2016

Claire Spottiswoode (Department of Zoology) and Marjorie Sorensen (Goethe University Frankfurt am Main) discuss why several species of migratory...

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A reed warbler feeds a cuckoo fledgling

The reed warbler and the cuckoo: an escalating game of trickery and defence

22 Feb 2016

Professor Nick Davies, who gives this week’s Darwin Lecture , has been studying reed warblers for more than 30 years – and has unlocked many of the...

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A cuckoo chick ejects a reed warbler egg from a nest

Neighbourhood watch and more: how reed warblers watch out when there’s a cuckoo about

22 Jan 2016

A study of reed warbler behaviour reveals for the first time that in assessing the risks posed by cuckoos the birds combine information from multiple...

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Small Owl from Ornithologia libri tres by Francis Willughby

The owl and the wind turbine: how stealth feathers could help reduce noise pollution

09 Sep 2015

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, O is for Owl...

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