Birds

A flock. A gaggle. A murder. A look inside the curious world of our avian friends—from their brains, songs, courtship rituals, and ancient evolutionary history.

Latest in Birds

An artistic life reconstruction of Genyornis newtoni, the last of the dromornithids, at the water’s edge
Environment

Giant 500-pound geese once honked around the Australian outback

By Laura Baisas

Carrion crow (Corvus corone) perched on wooden fence post and calling. (Photo by: Sven-Erik Arndt/Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Science

Crows can ‘count’ similarly to toddlers, according to new study

By Lauren Leffer

two adult green-rumped parrots with three nestlings behind them with their mouths open waiting for food
Environment

Why these parrots sometimes kill each other’s chicks

By Laura Baisas

wild green honeykeeper bilateral gynandromorphism
Science

These birds break the sex binary like it’s nothing

By Popular Science Team

an adult peregrine falcon feeds four chicks
Environment

Watch four Peregrine falcon chicks in a nest on Alcatraz Island

By Laura Baisas

a seagull stands on a post by a large and sparkling body of blue water
Environment

Bigger-brained gull species thrive in urban spaces

By Laura Baisas

These birds help humans hunt for honey—but it’s not as sweet as you might think
Science

These birds help humans hunt for honey—but it’s not as sweet as you might think

By Popular Science Team

a toucan with an orange beak and black and white plumage sits in a tree with its mouth open
Environment

How fruit-eating birds could help regrow tropical forests

By Laura Baisas

CT scan of California condor egg
Environment

CT scans look inside a California condor egg

By Andrew Paul

Close up of shark head
Technology

Shark skin and owl feathers could inspire quieter underwater sonar

By Andrew Paul

a flock of flamingoes standing
Science

We were very wrong about birds

By Laura Baisas

a small bird called a chickadee with black, white, and grey feathers stands on a stick
Environment

How these feathery ‘memory geniuses’ remember where they stashed their food

By Laura Baisas

A songbird called the Japanese tit (Parus minor) perching on a rock in Thailand.
Environment

These birds appear to be signaling ‘after you’

By Laura Baisas

A smart bird feeder on a plain background arranged in a pattern.
Gear

Save 52% off this solar-powered bird feeder camera during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

By Amanda Reed

Jackie and Shadow tending to the eggs as snow covers the region on March 7, 2024.
Environment

Sadly, these live-streamed bald eagle eggs likely won’t hatch

By Laura Baisas

Three eggs in a nest, while a bald eagle attends to it.
Environment

Watch: Three bald eagles could hatch any day now

By Laura Baisas

Why flamingo milk is pink
Environment

Why flamingo milk is pink

By Popular Science Team

‘Lost Bird’ not seen in 20 years photographed for the first time
Environment

‘Lost Bird’ not seen in 20 years photographed for the first time

By Laura Baisas

A colony of Emperor penguins in Antarctica. The larger black, white, and yellow adult penguins are standing behind the small and fuzzy black, white, and grey chicks.
Environment

Poop stains reveal four previously unknown Emperor penguin colonies

By Laura Baisas

A pink hummingbird sits on a perch inside of a tunnel. Green and black stripes are projected on the walls of the tunnel.
Environment

How hummingbirds switch gears at breakneck speeds

By Laura Baisas

A bird called a green honeycreeper stands on a tree branch. It has blue male plumage on its left side and green female plumage on its right.
Environment

Rare bird with half male and half female plumage photographed in Colombia

By Laura Baisas

Six African penguins standing on a rock. They have white plumage with black dots arranged in individual patterns on their chests.
Environment

African penguins may tell each other apart by the spots in their plumage

By Laura Baisas

Tracking bird migration with radio-based technology
Technology

Tracking bird migration with radio-based technology

By Sara Van Note / Undark

A blue Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeder filled with seed is mounted to a green post.
Gear

The best bird feeder camera is cheaper than ever at Amazon for Black Friday

By Stan Horaczek

A piping plover walks along L Street Beach in South Boston. The bird is small, with white and grey plummage.
Environment

Piping plovers are in trouble, but there’s some good news

By Laura Baisas

An Anna’s hummingbird with bright pink plumage flies near some leafy green trees.
Environment

Hummingbirds have two creative strategies for flying through tight spaces

By Laura Baisas

A kingfisher with blue and yellow feathers and outstretched wings dives through the air.
Environment

How kingfishers pull off breakneck dives without hurting their brains

By Laura Baisas

four of the best bird feeder cameras sliced together against a white background
Gear

The best bird feeder cameras in 2024

By Becki Robins

A blue Bird Buddy is mounted on a post in front of a house.
Gear

Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeder review: A camera that’s not just for the birds

By Abby Ferguson

A green monk parakeet standing in dirt. Parrots could have a unique tone of voice just like humans do.
Environment

No two parakeets sound exactly the same

By Laura Baisas

A gray tufted titmouse perches on a scientist's hand.
Science

What songbirds can teach us about being smart

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

two jackdaws (Corvus monedula) on a branch
Science

These crow relatives put food over friendship

By Sara Kiley Watson

A kākāpō sitting in its burrow. They can live up to 90 years and forage on the ground for food since they are flightless birds.
Environment

The next frontier in saving the world’s heaviest parrots: genome sequencing

By Laura Baisas

Two Atlantic puffins stand on a white rock above the ocean, with another group of puffins in the background, Atlantic puffins are sometimes nicknamed “sea parrots,” and their chicks hatch in Maine in early July.
Environment

Maine’s puffins show another year of remarkable resiliency

By Laura Baisas

Two Emperor penguin chicks standing on sea ice in Antarctica.
Environment

Emperor penguins suffer ‘unprecedented’ breeding failure as sea ice disappears

By Laura Baisas

A male peacock displaying his signature blue and green plumage.
Environment

Miami suburb turns to vasectomies to solve its peacock problem

By Laura Baisas

best bird feeders
Gear

The best bird feeders of 2024

By Julian Vittorio

A woodpecker uses a bird feeder. Interest in bird feeding surged in 115 countries during early COVD-19 lockdowns.
Environment

People around the world got really into feeding birds during the pandemic

By Laura Baisas

Red7Marine kittiwake offshore wind farm habitat
Technology

Artificial nests could give endangered birds a home near new offshore wind farm

By Andrew Paul

Get up close to eagles, owls, hawks, and more with the best bird watching binoculars.
Gear

The best bird-watching binoculars in 2024

By Charlotte Nash

A kākāpō chick. The birds are are large flightless parrots from New Zealand who are masters of camouflage and known for a booming call.
Environment

A flightless parrot is returning to mainland New Zealand after a 40-year absence

By Laura Baisas

Bull elk in the wilderness
Environment

Like whales and bats, elk have regional dialects

By Kylie Mohr / High Country News

best solar birdbaths
Environment

The best solar birdbaths of 2024

By Stacey L. Nash

wall of taxidermy animals and skeletons
Environment

Humans are dangerous predators because we love collecting weird animals

By Emily Harwitz / Hakai Magazine

falcon perches on handler's glove, jersey shore attractions in background
Environment

The birds of summer patrolling Ocean City’s boardwalk

By Laura Baisas, Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet

A greater honeyguide feeding on beeswax with an open mouth in Niassa Special Reserve in Mozambique.
Environment

Badgers and birds may be teaming up to steal honey

By Laura Baisas

A Northern Hawk Owl looks directly into the camera as it perches at the tip of a frost-covered tree. Dark pine cones on the bare branches stand out against a white background, mirroring the pattern of the owl’s dark breast feathers.
Environment

Owls, puffins, and even city pigeons glam it up in winning bird photos

By Maddi Langweil

emperor penguin and chicks
Environment

Many bird species are struggling—but data can help us save them from extinction

By Emily Sohn/Knowable Magazine

These species were discovered in museum collections. They might already be extinct.
Science

These species were discovered in museum collections. They might already be extinct.

By Katarina Zimmer / Undark

A male and a female mallard duck in some green grass by some bushes.
DIY

Don’t feed ducks bread. Here’s what to give them instead.

By Natalie Wallington

A newly hatched California condor.
Environment

Thriving baby California condor is a ray of hope for the unique species

By Laura Baisas

The oldest chili pepper specimen may be from present-day Colorado
Science

The oldest chili pepper specimen may be from present-day Colorado

By Sara Kiley Watson

Giving drones inflatable suits could help them survive crash landings
Technology

Giving drones inflatable suits could help them survive crash landings

By Sara Kiley Watson

White Moluccan cockatoo on a branch turning toward a person's hand. Reddish flames are behind the bird to symbolize past trauma. Illustrated.
Environment

Parrots are deeply intelligent. But do we understand their emotions?

By Brandon Keim

Luna moth resting on a tree.
Science

The alluring tail of the Luna moth is surprisingly useless for finding a mate

By Jamie Dickman

A bird called an American Redstart sits on the branch of a tree.
Environment

Delaying departure may help birds migrate around climate change

By Laura Baisas

Dog’s are a human’s best friend—and a shorebird’s worst enemy
Environment

Dog’s are a human’s best friend—and a shorebird’s worst enemy

By Ben Goldfarb/Hakai Magazine

An ostrich inspects eggs in a nest.
Environment

Troodons laid eggs in communal nests just like modern ostriches

By Laura Baisas

A baby song thrush bird looks up from the forest floor.
Environment

Postmortem poop can teach us a lot about the avian gut microbiome

By Laura Baisas

A Canada goose opening its mouth and spreading its wings to protect its nest and its mate behind it at the edge of a marshy area.
DIY

Read this if you’re too scared to walk past a goose

By Alisha McDarris

Birds sometimes hitch rides on ships—and it’s changing the way they migrate
Environment

Birds sometimes hitch rides on ships—and it’s changing the way they migrate

By Ute Eberle/Hakai Magazine

A Wedge-tailed Eagle, a large vulture native to Australia.
Environment

An extinct 10-foot-long eagle could pick up kangaroos with its terrifying talons

By Laura Baisas

Moonlight will help inspire a Danish church’s wildlife-friendly design
Environment

Moonlight will help inspire a Danish church’s wildlife-friendly design

By Theo Nicitopoulos / Hakai Magazine

The partner of one Caribbean flamingo helps it out in an argument with another pair.
Environment

Flamingoes have big personalities—and their friendships prove it

By Laura Baisas