Experiments involving dozens of European bird species — such as great tits, house sparrows and blackbirds — suggest the birds can distinguish human sex and react differently, but the reasons remain unclear. The western yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava), a small passerine bird in the family Motacillidae. Image credit: Sci.News. “When an animal faces a potential…
The Galápagos lava heron, a small heron that stalks the lava-strewn shores of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, may finally have secured its place as a distinct species. The Galápagos lava heron (Butorides sundevalli). Image credit: Casey Klebba / CC BY-SA 4.0. The Galápagos lava heron, a slate-gray to black heron endemic to the Galápagos Islands,…
In the cold, wave-battered channels off southern Chile, scientists have identified what they say is a new species of the steamer duck genus Tachyeres, a group of notoriously aggressive, often flightless waterfowl found only in South America. Detail of the color pattern of the bill in adult specimens of the Chiloe steamerduck (A) and the…
Genetic and acoustic evidence show that the rare Ijima’s leaf warbler (Phylloscopus ijimae) is actually two distinct bird species, including the newly-identified Tokara leaf warbler — both with small, vulnerable populations. The Tokara leaf warbler (Phylloscopus tokaraensis) on Nakanoshima, the Tokara Islands, in June 2017. Image credit: Per Alström / Uppsala University. The Ijima’s leaf…
