An Avian Ballet of 2,000 Illuminated Pigeons Streaks the New York City Sky

Artist and pigeon trainer Duke Riley recasts a reviled bird in a transformative light. The audience for the aerial pigeon show at the Brooklyn Navy Yard shuffled around the edge of the East River, balancing fish sandwiches and local beer, navigating stadium seating while facing a ship docked in Wallabout Bay. Two thousand Rock Pigeons […]

Strong Effects of Climate Change on Common Bird Populations

Scientists have shown for the first time that common bird populations are responding to climate change in a similar pronounced way in both Europe and the USA. An international team of researchers led by Durham University, UK, found that populations of bird species expected to do well due to climate change had substantially outperformed those […]

City Birds vs. Country Birds

Birds living in urban environments are smarter than birds from rural environments. But, why do city birds have the edge over their country friends? They adapted to their urban environments enabling them to exploit new resources more favorably then their rural counterparts, say a team of all-McGill University researchers. In a first-ever study to find […]

Bird Language

All language, human and otherwise, revolves around turning meaningless sounds into something more. It’s widely accepted that many non-human animals use what’s called referential communication — specific sounds mean specific things to the receiver. Beyond that, there are two kinds of syntax that make speech more complicated, but also more useful: phonological and compositional. Humans have […]

14,000 Abandoned Wind Turbines Litter the USA

The towering symbols of a fading religion, over 14,000 wind turbines, abandoned, rusting, slowly decaying. When it is time to clean up after a failed idea, no green environmentalists are to be found. Wind was free, natural, harnessing Earth’s bounty for the benefit of all mankind, sounded like a good idea. Wind turbines, like solar […]

Airports Have Wide Latitude to Kill Birds

The operator of New York City’s airports has the legal right to kill migratory birds when necessary to protect planes, a federal appeals court said Tuesday as it rejected a challenge from an animal advocacy group. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was within […]

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Making Changes for the Endangered Indiana Bat

Wind farms are popping up in rural areas of northern New York. Wind energy does not burn fossil fuels or emit greenhouse gases. Although wind farms may be a positive step for the environment, they also can kill birds and bats. Now, the company behind a wind farm in Copenhagen, N.Y., is working with the […]