Category Archives: Birds

Spot the punk rockers: hope for waxwing boost in annual UK bird count

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People encouraged to record sightings of mohican-sporting birds in RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend

The scale of this waxwing winter will be revealed this weekend when people are encouraged to spend an hour recording the birds they see in their gardens, balconies, parks and school grounds.

The spectacular migratory, mohican-sporting birds have been spotted across Britain during the colder weather and will be recorded alongside more familiar sparrows, blackbirds and robins in the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch.

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Birds of prey in Africa experiencing population collapse, study finds

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Several species have vanished across swathes of the continent – and scientists say their disappearance holds unknown risks for humans

Africa’s birds of prey have experienced a widespread population collapse that risks unforeseen consequences for humans, according to a new study.

Tropical raptor species including the martial eagle, the bateleur and the dark chanting goshawk have vanished from swathes of the African continent over the past 40 years, new analysis shows, as many wild areas were converted to farmland. Several African birds of prey are on track to become locally extinct in many countries this century.

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Tokyo taxi driver arrested, accused of running over pigeon

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Atsushi Ozawa accused of using car to kill common pigeon, which vets said died of traumatic shock

To some, they are another species of feathered friend; to others, they are rats with wings whose droppings deface historic buildings.

But in Japan, pigeons may have become the victims of crime, after police arrested a Tokyo taxi driver on suspicion of deliberately driving into a flock of the birds, killing one of them.

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‘Very sweet milestone’: wild-born kiwi chicks are Wellington’s first in a century

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New Zealand’s national icon is also one of its most vulnerable birds and conservationists believe it was absent from capital for generations

Two kiwi chicks have been born in the wild around Wellington for the first time in more than 100 years, one year after the national bird was reintroduced to New Zealand’s capital.

The fluffy and flightless kiwi is one of the most vulnerable birds in New Zealand and conservationists believe it has been absent from the capital for generations.

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‘A biodiversity catastrophe’: how the world could look in 2050 – unless we act now

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The climate crisis, invasive species, overexploitation of resources and pollution could break down crucial ecosystems. We asked experts to lay out the risks and offer some solutions

The continued destruction of nature across the planet will result in major shocks to food supplies and safe water, the disappearance of unique species and the loss of landscapes central to human culture and leisure by the middle of this century, experts have warned.

By 2050, if humanity does not follow through on commitments to tackle the five main drivers of nature loss critical natural systems could break down just as the human population is projected to peak.

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Illegal bird of prey killings fall to lowest level in decade, but ‘true figure may be far higher’

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RSPB says figures distorted by failure to examine raptors caught in avian flu outbreak for signs of shooting or poisoning

Confirmed incidents of the illegal persecution of birds of prey have fallen to their lowest levels for more than a decade, according to the latest RSPB Birdcrime report.

But the conservation charity warned that the reduction in incidents to 61 in 2022 is distorted by a failure to examine dead raptors caught in the avian flu outbreak for signs of illegal killing.

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More than half of UK and Ireland seabirds in decline, census finds

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Species populations falling, with some decreasing due to loss of habitat and less food availability

More than half the seabird species breeding on British and Irish coasts have declined over the last 20 years, according to the most comprehensive census to date.

Eleven of 21 nesting seabirds species have fallen, five species have remained stable and five have increased, some because of targeted conservation work, according to the Seabirds Count survey.

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‘Puking’ pūteketeke crowned New Zealand bird of the century after John Oliver campaign

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Annual competition inundated with a record number of votes after comedian took the Australasian crested grebe under his wing

New Zealand has crowned a bird that grunts, pukes and has a highly unusual repertoire of mating rituals as its bird of the century.

The threatened Australasian crested grebe, or pūteketeke, was thrown into the global spotlight by a powerful backer, British-American comedian and talkshow host John Oliver.

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Seagulls force Venice’s Marco Polo airport to close briefly

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A number of flights delayed or redirected after unusually large number of birds ‘invade’ the runway

Venice’s Marco Polo airport has been forced to close briefly after an unusually large number of seagulls “invaded” the runway, leading flights to be delayed or redirected.

Various tools were deployed to ward off the gulls on Friday morning, including a falconer and an acoustic deterrent, according to Save, the airport’s management company.

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At least 1,000 birds died from colliding with one Chicago building in one day

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McCormick Place, the largest convention center in North America, is largely covered with glass, making it a lethal obstacle for birds

At least 1,000 birds died from colliding into a single building in Chicago on Thursday, 5 October, as they migrated south to their wintering grounds. Volunteers are still recovering bird carcasses within 1.5 miles of McCormick Place, the largest convention center in North America, which is largely covered with glass.

“It’s the tip of an iceberg but it’s it’s a huge, huge amount of birds we found both dead and injured,” said Annette Prince, director of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, adding that this was the highest number of bird strikes that the group recorded from the grounds of one building in a single day.

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Australia’s emu war: John Cleese outrun in race to shoot movie of how flightless birds thwarted army’s machine guns

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An Australian take on how the emu won the 1932 battle premieres this month, before shooting on the UK comedian’s film has begun

A troupe of Australian comedians appears to have gazumped John Cleese to bring the bizarre story of the great emu war to the big screen.

In 1932, soldiers armed with machine guns were deployed in Western Australia to battle huge flocks of the giant native birds. Their annual migration from the arid interior to the coast had increasingly met the rapidly expanding wheat belt, to the delight of the emus and the horror of the farmers.

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The 2023 Australian bird of the year is …

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… to be announced at 12.30pm AEDT. Follow our live blog from 11.30am for the red carpet, emotional speeches and all the reaction

The campaigns are over. The votes are in. The scrutineers are in the tally room.

The winner of the 2023 Guardian/BirdLife Australian bird of the year will be announced at 12.30pm AEDT on this website, after voters culled a field of 50 down to 10 for the final day of voting on Thursday.

Find all our bird of the year content

Guardian Australia has produced a glorious A3 poster of Australian birds that can be downloaded here as a high-resolution jpeg or pdf to be printed out. (The pdf is a large file so may take a while to load.)

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Bird of the year 2023: six underbirds that deserve your vote

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Some of Australia’s most recognised feathered denizens have been flying under the popularity radar for far too long

Is there anything more thrilling than seeing an underbird soar? Keep that in mind when casting your vote in this year’s Guardian/Birdlife Australia bird of the year poll.

Previous polls have revealed a shocking bias. Support for some of Australia’s most recognised birds has been consistently weak. Let’s ruffle some feathers and give these underbirds a chance.

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Galápagos Islands tightens biosecurity as avian flu threatens unique species

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Scientists confirm three birds have died from virus as park authorities redouble efforts to protect islands’ endemic birds

National park authorities on the Galápagos Islands have heightened biosecurity measures to protect the archipelago’s unique fauna from the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza after scientists confirmed that three birds had died from the virus.

“From preliminary tests of the five specimens, three of them have tested positive for H5N1 avian influenza,” Danny Rueda, director of the Galápagos national park told the Guardian. Two frigate birds and one red-footed booby were confirmed to have died from the virus on Tuesday, after samples were sent to Guayaquil on the Ecuadorian mainland for examination.

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Tanya Plibersek announced swift parrot plan without showing recovery team who helped develop it

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Conservation groups say plan contains no meaningful action to address bird’s key threat of native forest logging

The swift parrot recovery plan announced by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, to mark threatened species day was not actually finalised and had not been shared with the experts who helped to develop it.

Once they had seen it, conservation groups and scientists said the recovery plan released on Thursday contained no meaningful action to address the key threat to the survival of the species: the logging of native forests.

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Flamingos spotted as far north as Ohio after being blown off course by Idalia

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Sightings of birds, which appear to have come from Yucatán in Mexico, reported in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and the Carolinas

Flamingos have been spotted as far north in the US as Ohio and Pennsylvania in recent days, after they were blown off course by the powerful Hurricane Idalia that hit Florida late last month, experts say.

The distinctive birds have been reported in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, also in Texas and further north from their typical habitats, in Kentucky and even Ohio, Jerry Lorenz, the state director of Audubon Florida, told CNN. They were also seen in Franklin county in southern Pennsylvania on Thursday, NPR reported.

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Lords to debate mandating swift bricks in new UK homes

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Hollow bricks are ‘easy win’ to help several endangered species, say experts and Zac Goldsmith who is tabling amendment

An amendment to make swift bricks mandatory in new housing will be debated in the House of Lords this week in what campaigners call a “golden opportunity” for the government to halt wildlife decline.

The change to the controversial levelling up bill is being tabled by the Conservative peer Zac Goldsmith, who resigned from government over Rishi Sunak’s “apathy” towards environmental issues.

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India birds report identifies 178 species as being of high conservation concern

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Large-scale study indicates population declines after collation of data from country’s conservation organisations and birdwatchers

A report on India’s bird population has painted a grim picture for many of the country’s species.

The State of India’s Birds (SoIB) report – published on Friday – showed worrisome declines, with 178 species of wild birds identified as needing immediate priority for conservation.

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‘Senseless crime’: beloved peacock killed with bow and arrow in Las Vegas

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Authorities and neighbors seek culprit after pet bird Pete the peacock found impaled by arrow

A beloved Las Vegas neighborhood peacock has been killed with a hunter’s bow and arrow, and authorities are trying to find who was behind it.

Animal protection services officers are investigating the death of Pete the peacock, a pet that belonged to a resident in a gated neighborhood, the local news outlet KVVU reported on Thursday.

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Spot the difference: why drongos are likely to clock African cuckoo eggs 94% of the time

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Zambia study finds egg variability and random nest selection by cuckoos helps fork-tailed drongos rumble impostors

Cuckoos might be the ultimate avian con artists, laying lookalike eggs in the nests of other birds to avoid raising their own young, but researchers say at least one potential victim is remarkably good at rumbling the fraud.

Scientists studying the African cuckoo have revealed that while the birds are able to produce almost identical-looking eggs to those of the fork-tailed drongo, the latter is likely to reject an impostor egg about 94% of the time.

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