January 2010

Feathers first arose for colour display and only later they become useful for flight and insulation. ScienceDaily (See original Nature paper here) Ancestors of the African ostrich and the Australasian emu among others became flightless independently, in close association with the extinction of the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago ScienceDaily 'Microraptors' Shed Light on Ancient Origin of Bird Flight ScienceDaily Identifying minimum patch sizes for breeding success in birds Conservation Maven Moonlight Makes Owls More Chatty PLoS ONE Pacific dunlins lose weight and fly more as a response to increased threat of predation by falcons. ScienceDaily How 40 Endangered Sea Eagles Bring in $3 Million a Year to Small Scottish Island treehugger The airflow through alligators' lungs is strikingly bird-like, suggesting that one-way airflow evolved in an ancestor of dinosaurs. New Scientist Big Plant-Eating Birds That Dwell With Others on Islands Live Longest ScienceDaily Possible New Species Found in Borneo A DC Birding Blog Doing It For the Kids: The Evolution of Migration Living the Scientific Live Blog (see original Science paper here) A new study using motion sensitive video cameras has revealed how New Caledonian crows use tools in the wild. ScienceDaily What Makes Birds Cooperate Against Predators? A DC Birding Blog (see original paper here) Gray Squirrels Not Causing Bird Declines in the Brithis Isles A DC Birding Blog 'World's Least Known Bird' Discovered Breeding in Afghanistan ScienceDaily Where do puffins go in the winter? EurekAlert! As in Humans, Sleep Solidifies a Bird's Memories ScienceDaily Artic terns migrate as far as thought LiveScience Grit can reduce the poisonous effects of ingested lead shot on waterbirds Estación Biológica de Doñana (see original paper here) Global versus Local Bird Conservation Focus A DC Birding Blog (read original online-free PLoS ONE paper here) Birds Fight Alien Parasites: Darwin's Finches Develop Antibodies to Flies, Pox Virus ScienceDaily (original online-free PLoS ONE paper here) Eight New Species Proposed as Endangered A DC Birding Blog When do you throw in the towel and concede that a rare species has gone extinct? Conservation Maven (see original Biological Conservation paper here)