birds

1. Navaornis in hand CREDIT STEPHANIE ABRAMOWICZ.png

Small fossil has big implications for bird brain evolution

11:07am November 13, 2024

Birds descended from the dinosaurs, but researchers have known relatively little about how the bird's brain took shape over millions of years. A new fossil sheds light on that mystery.

When birds build nests, they're also building a culture

2:00pm August 29, 2024

Nest-building isn’t just instinct. Birds can learn from others, letting groups within one species develop their own distinctive nest-building traditions.

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Crows can count out loud like human toddlers — when they aren't cheating the test

5:00am July 18, 2024

by Ari Daniel

A study finds that carrion crows can be taught to count and make vocalizations that indicate the number counted, much in the same way that human toddlers do.

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Yellow-shafted Flicker, Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus

Science

'Chimney caps, vent pipes, gutters': Why some woodpeckers are major metal heads

5:30pm May 31, 2024

by Sacha Pfeiffer

When an NPR reporter heard a startling loud metallic noise in her house, she was about to get an interesting lesson in animal behavior.

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Lauren Hill, a graduate student at Cal State LA, holds a bird at the bird banding site at Bear Divide in the San Gabriel Mountains.

On this unassuming trail near LA, bird watchers see something spectacular

5:01am May 13, 2024

by Kai McNamee

At Bear Divide, just outside Los Angeles, you can see a rare spectacle of nature. This is one of the only places in the western United States where you can see bird migration during daylight hours.

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Foul-mouthed parrots at an animal park in England have become an attraction in their own right — but staff still do their best to shield young visitors from the birds' profanities.

World News

Sweary parrots become unlikely stars at a British zoo ($#@%!)

3:50pm January 25, 2024

by Bill Chappell

The profane parrots please patrons, despite the staff's fears that visitors might be scandalized from hearing so much salty language from the birds.

New research suggests that zebra finches must sing a lot to maintain top-tier singing performances.

These songbirds sing for hours a day to keep their vocal muscles in shape

9:00am December 13, 2023

by Ari Daniel

Zebra finches who did not sing every day quickly lose their vocal prowess, a new study finds. The results could potentially shed light on vocal rehabilitation for humans, too.

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Ndileka Mandela, the eldest of Nelson Mandela's grandchildren, during her Zoom interview with NPR. A climate activist, she had spoken at COP28 earlier in the week, the climate summit, and returned home to Johannesburg to mark the 10th anniversary of her grandfather's passing.

Health & Safety

Ndelika Mandela on 'climate apartheid,' how to stay hopeful and her granddad's legacy

2:30pm December 08, 2023

by Ari Daniel

The eldest grandchild of Nelson Mandela had a busy week — speaking at the climate summit COP28 about the need to aid the Global South and throwing a party to mark the 10th anniversary of his passing.

Pūteketeke are pictured in Lake Alexandrina on South Island, New Zealand, in this undated handout photo.

With a boost from John Oliver, pūteketeke soars to first in New Zealand bird contest

2:27pm November 15, 2023

by Joe Hernandez

The water bird was named a conservation organization's Bird of the Century after the Last Week Tonight host took out billboard ads across the globe and hyped the threatened species on his show.

These American birds and dozens more will be renamed, to remove human monikers

10:33am November 01, 2023

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

The official naming organization for birds in the U. S. is making a bold move, after concerns were raised about birds being named after people with questionable histories.