Each year, the arrival and departure of migratory birds herald the changing seasons and fill us with wonder for the natural world. Have you ever wondered about all the dangers they face en route ...

Like ourselves, birds need to sleep to rest, recover from their activities, and remove waste built up in the brain. The way they sleep is actually pretty similar to ourselves, although these ...

Have you ever pondered on whether the egg or the chicken came first? Well, perhaps it was the nest. A bird’s egg is a fragile life form. If incubated correctly, it takes anything from a few days to a ...

To keep up with the growing human population and the increasing requirements for housing and industry, large areas of countryside have been lost to development, and with it, significant areas of ...

The avian beak is a specialized structure that birds rely on for everything from feeding to nesting. The diversity of bill shapes and sizes also clearly demonstrates that a one-size-fits-all approach ...

Each year, billions of migratory birds switch between spring/summer breeding grounds and overwintering grounds, although their movements vary greatly between species and populations. Their journey may ...

Picture a bird perched on a branch as it observes the world around it. You may see it glancing around nervously, diligently preening its feathers, or even singing a cheerful melody, but you probably ...

Birds have evolved to extract the life-sustaining nutrients they need from a wide variety of foods, using a complex system of digestive organs. You probably know that our feathered friends don’t have ...

Maintaining a high metabolic rate and body temperature places an extreme demand on a bird’s respiratory system, especially during the intense physical exertion required for flight. Rapid oxygen ...

With such eye-catching plumage and an abundance of fascinating behaviors to observe, it’s not often that we get a good look at a bird’s feet. However, the avian hindlimb has evolved into an impressive ...

Flight is probably the first thing associated with birds, and rightly so. This amazing ability has allowed avians to live in diverse habitats worldwide, often traveling thousands of miles on migration ...

There’s a persistent misconception that birds have weak brains, but nothing could be further from the truth. These active creatures have impressive brains, capable of coordinating complex bodily ...