It's not uncommon for young adults to pitch in and help out with the care of younger siblings. But it turns out that sometimes birds choose to become avian au pairs rather than raise their own brood. […]

When the Australian government relocated Martu hunter-gatherers from their Western Australia lands in the 1960s, no one could have predicted the massive impact their absence would have on the desert ecosystem. A new study led by Stefani Crabtree, a Santa Fe Institute Visiting Researcher (Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center), and co-authored by Rebecca Bliege Bird and Douglas W. Bird of the Pennsylvania State University, shows the critical role humans […]

Most of the birds you've ever seen—sparrows, finches, robins, crows—have one crucial thing in common: they're all what scientists refer to as perching birds, or "passerines." The passerines make up about 6,500 of the 10,000 bird species alive today. But while they're everywhere now, they were once rare, and scientists are still learning about their origins. In a new paper in Current Biology, researchers have announced the discovery of one of the earliest known passerine birds, from […]

Like master artisans selecting the finest raw materials for their showpiece designs, New Caledonian crows identify the best plants for fashioning hunting hooks from among myriad shrubs in the forest undergrowth, researchers said Wednesday. […]

In a paper recently published in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science, a team of researchers, animal care experts and veterinarians evaluate the balance between animal welfare and conservation needs for a number of rare species of native birds being raised in San Diego Zoo Global breeding centers in Hawaii. The paper shares the challenges and complexity of situations where the needs of an individual and the needs of a species are weighed, and how that balance is achieved. […]