Insects avoid being eaten by playing dead, because birds are easily distracted by other nearby insects that are still moving Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2269751-playing-dead-really-works-to-help-insects-avoid-being-eaten-by-birds/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Tag: birds
Male lyrebirds imitate a flock of birds to scare females into mating
Birds threatened by a predator often call out to encourage other birds to make noise and fly about, repelling the attacker as part of a “mobbing flock”. Now it seems male lyrebirds imitate this sound to scare females into mating Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2269303-male-lyrebirds-imitate-a-flock-of-birds-to-scare-females-into-mating/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
What is the Milky Way?
When someone says “Milky Way,” do you think of the starry pathway across our sky, or of the great pinwheel-shaped galaxy in space? Both are correct! Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/what-is-the-milky-way-galaxy…
Genetics leaves little doubt that humans wiped out passenger pigeons
Analysis of museum specimens shows the passenger pigeon and other North American birds were not in genetic decline before they vanished, suggesting their sudden extinction was down to humans Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2266486-genetics-leaves-little-doubt-that-humans-wiped-out-passenger-pigeons/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Top 12 brightest objects in the solar system
Can you name the top 12 brightest objects in the solar system? How many have you seen without the aid of binoculars or a telescope? Source: https://earthsky.org/space/what-are-the-brightest-objects-in-our-solar-system…
Opinion: Biden administration must act fast to save migratory birds
On Trump’s way out of the White House, his administration demolished a law that protects migratory birds, putting over 1,000 species at risk. The Biden administration can still salvage it, but only if they act swiftly. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/biden-administration-migratory-bird-treaty-act…
Scientists Observe Live Cells Responding To Magnetic Fields For First Time
An anonymous reader quotes a report from New Atlas: One of the most remarkable “sixth” senses in the animal kingdom is magnetoreception — the ability to detect magnetic fields — but exactly how it works remains a mystery. Now, researchers in Japan may have found a crucial piece of the puzzle, making the first observations of live, unaltered cells responding to…
Mass Die-Off of Birds in Southwest US ‘Probably Linked to Climate Crisis’
The Guardian reports: The mass die-off of thousands of songbirds in south-western U.S. was caused by long-term starvation, made worse by unseasonably cold weather probably linked to the climate crisis, scientists have said. Flycatchers, swallows and warblers were among the migratory birds “falling out of the sky” in September, with carcasses found in New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Arizona and Nebraska. A…
Discovery of ‘Cryptic Species’ Shows Earth is Even More Biologically Diverse
A growing number of “cryptic species” hiding in plain sight have been unmasked in the past year, driven in part by the rise of DNA barcoding, a technique that can identify and differentiate between animal and plant species using their genetic divergence. From a report: The discovery of new species of aloe, African leaf-nosed bats and chameleons that appear similar to…
New species are more likely to evolve in areas where few already exist
It has long been thought that new species are most likely to evolve in biodiversity hotspots like the Amazon rainforest, but a genetic analysis of birds suggests that extreme environments where few species exist help drive evolution Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2262570-new-species-are-more-likely-to-evolve-in-areas-where-few-already-exist/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…