Category Archives: Birds

Mystery syndrome killing rainbow lorikeets and flying foxes leaves scientists baffled

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‘The animals that don’t die need total nursing care,’ wildlife rescuer says, ahead of a potential spike in cases in coming weeks

Thousands of rainbow lorikeets and hundreds of flying foxes have been hospitalised in Queensland in the past year with a mysterious paralysis that can affect the animals’ ability to fly, swallow and even breathe.

Lorikeet paralysis syndrome has struck birds in Queensland and New South Wales since at least 2012, and a similar syndrome was identified in flying foxes five years ago.

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Phew! Turtle doves shoot ban triggers bird species recovery

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Western European population has risen 25% with ban and some UK sites have seen promising increases

There are signs of hope for the turtle dove, one of the most endangered birds that has been plummeting towards extinction in Britain.

After a temporary ban on the annual shoot of the migratory birds as they pass through France, Spain and Portugal, which began in 2021, there has been a remarkable 25% increase in its western European population, which includes the 2,000 individuals clinging on in England.

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Police seize 6,000 illegal wild birds’ eggs as raids net largest haul in UK history

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Part of an international initiative to combat organised wildlife crime, similar seizures in Australia and Norway have recovered more than 50,000 eggs

More than 6,000 eggs have been seized in the biggest haul of its kind in UK history, after police carried out raids in Scotland, South Yorkshire, Essex, Wales and Gloucester. Thousands of eggs were found secreted in attics, offices and drawers.

The UK raids took place in November as part of Operation Pulka, an international effort to tackle organised wildlife crime – specifically the taking, possessing and trading of wild birds’ eggs. The raids began in June 2023 in Norway, and resulted in 16 arrests and the seizure of 50,000 eggs. In Australia, an estimated 3,500 eggs have been seized, worth up to A$500,000 (£250,000).

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Western Australia’s endangered cockatoo among world’s longest-living birds

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Oldest Carnaby’s cockatoo in wild lived to 35, with eight recorded living beyond 21, researchers find

Western Australia’s endangered Carnaby’s cockatoos can live up to 35 years in the wild, making them one of the longest-lived bird species, according to a study that began in 1969.

Eight Carnaby’s cockatoos aged between 21 and 35 years have been recorded, according to research published in Pacific Conservation Biology.

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Molly the magpie’s owners have licence for Instagram star revoked by Queensland supreme court

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Wildlife group claims win as environment department says granting licence for bird was ‘an error’

A magpie made famous on social media may again be separated from his canine friends after a special carers’ licence was revoked.

The supreme court overturned the licence just months after it was granted to Molly the magpie’s Gold Coast rescue family that includes his best mates, dogs Peggy and Ruby.

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‘You have to disguise your human form’: how sea eagles are being returned to Severn estuary after 150 years

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Use of bird hand-puppets to rear young among innovative methods unveiled as part of project to restore species

Sea eagles were last seen soaring over the shimmering mud flats and brackish tidal waters of the Severn estuary more than 150 years ago. Now wildlife charities have unveiled innovative plans to bring the raptor back to the estuary, which flows into the Bristol Channel between south-west England and south Wales, by 2026.

“Sea eagles used to be common in these regions. But they were wiped out through human persecution,” says Sophie-lee Williams, the founder of Eagle Reintroduction Wales, which is leading the project. “We strongly believe we have a moral duty to restore this lost native species to these landscapes.”

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High-flying life of Australia’s birds revealed in new detail – thanks to weather radars

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Researchers gain deeper understanding of bird migration in study that could have ‘profound’ implications for windfarms

The yearly travel plans of birds up and down Australia’s east coast have been revealed for the first time, using the same tool that tracks the weather – a development experts say could have “profound” implications for conservation as more windfarms are built.

Scientists have used weather radars to show that bird migration across eastern Australia occurs in structured patterns. While many Australian bird species are known to be seasonally migratory, scientists previously did not know to what extent a distinct system existed.

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Cockatoo rescued after ‘living on brioche’ for four weeks inside Sydney supermarket

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NSW environment minister hopes ‘Mickey will be flying free by tomorrow’ after successful capture by wildlife services

A sulphur-crested cockatoo called Mickey that had been “living on brioche” inside a Sydney supermarket for four weeks has been captured by wildlife services and is expected to be set free soon.

The New South Wales environment minister, Penny Sharpe, announced on Tuesday evening that the bird had “been safely captured by wildlife rescuers after spending way too long in Macarthur Square”.

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‘I felt like a bird god’: why comedian Geraldine Hickey is excited for this year’s Aussie Bird Count

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The keen birdwatcher encourages others to take 20 minutes out of their day, describing the experience as ‘meditative’

In early October the comedian Geraldine Hickey went looking for tawny frogmouths, a charismatic bird with a frog-like beak and mottled feathers.

“They’re a good-looking bird,” Hickey says, though it hasn’t yet appeared in her annual bird calendar, a project she started as a “lockdown thing” that has gained its own dedicated audience.

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Missing emu Irwin found dead in Wiltshire river after weeklong search

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Malmesbury sanctuary pays tribute to ‘jolly’ bird, which is thought to have drowned after falling into swollen river at night

The tale of Irwin the missing emu has ended sadly, with the “jolly” big bird’s body found in a river close to the sanctuary where he was last seen alive a week ago.

Staff at the Malmesbury animal sanctuary in Wiltshire believe Irwin slipped into the swollen river while playing with other emus and drowned.

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Good eggs: fans delighted as new peregrine falcon chicks hatch on Melbourne skyscraper

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Social media stars of 367 Collins Street welcome baby birds to the nest

Joy can be hatched in the most unexpected places. On Thursday, it was nestled into the ledge of a skyscraper in Melbourne’s CBD, where two peregrine falcon chicks entered the world for the first time.

The newest members of Melbourne’s favourite family hatched in the morning on top of 367 Collins Street, witnessed by more than 1,000 viewers on the building’s rolling live feed.

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Parrots overwhelm Argentinian town with screeching, poo and power outages

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Birds outnumber residents in Hilario Ascasubi, after deforestation leads them to seek food, shelter and water

The town of Hilario Ascasubi near Argentina’s eastern Atlantic coast has a parrot problem.

Thousands of the green, yellow and red birds have invaded, driven by deforestation in the surrounding hills, according to biologists. They bite on the town’s electric cables, causing outages, and are driving residents around the bend with their incessant screeching and deposits everywhere of parrot poo.

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Australia’s magpie swooping season is here – but they aren’t the only birds to watch out for

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Noisy miners, butcherbirds and masked lapwings will also go on the offensive to protect their eggs and young

Australia’s infamous magpies have started to attack – but they’re not the only birds you might fall victim to this swooping season.

Lesser known suspects including noisy miners, butcherbirds and masked lapwings also swoop to protect their eggs and young, typically between August and October.

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Suspected poisoning of 30 magpies in Cootamundra under investigation

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Local vet says nine birds have died and the rest are being treated, with many unable to stand or walk

The New South Wales environmental watchdog is investigating a suspected poisoning that has left nine magpies dead and more than a dozen others needing treatment.

Karlie Johnston, the practice manager at Cooper Street veterinary hospital in Cootamundra, said 30 magpies had been brought into the vet in recent days. Many were unable to stand or walk, and some had completely lost the use of their legs.

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Deadly avian flu strain could enter Australia via thieving migratory birds, scientists warn

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Birds practising kleptoparasitism – harassing each other until they drop their saliva-covered food – seen as ‘plausible pathway’ for arrival of H5N1

Scientists have identified a new way for an aggressive strain of bird flu to enter Australia, via the habit of some migratory birds of harassing other birds and stealing their food and potentially their viruses.

Australia is the only continent to have so far escaped a virulent H5N1 strain of avian flu – known as 2.3.4.4b and discovered in Europe in 2021– that has devastated bird populations in other parts of the world.

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Rare smelly penguin wins New Zealand bird of the year contest

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The hoiho, which means ‘noise shouter’, triumphed in a year free from the usual scandals surrounding the competition

One of the world’s rarest penguins has been crowned New Zealand’s bird of the year, in an unusually sedate year for the competition, free from the foreign interference and voting scandals of previous events.

The endangered yellow-eyed penguin, or hoiho, is the largest of New Zealand’s mainland penguin species and is distinctive for the pale yellow band of feathers linking the eyes.

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‘Miracle’ penguin found two weeks after escaping captivity in Japan

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Pen-chan defies expectations to be reunited with keeper safe and sound after swimming 30 miles in open sea

A fugitive penguin in Japan has been found safe and sound two weeks after escaping into the sea and paddling for miles in what her keeper called a miracle.

Pen-chan, a female Cape penguin born and raised in captivity, who had never swum in the open sea before or fended for herself, absconded from an event in the central Aichi region on 25 August.

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Golden eagle killed in Norway after attack on toddler in farmyard

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Young bird was believed to have attacked and injured at least four people in a week across wide area

A young golden eagle has been killed after reportedly attacking and wounding at least four people, including a 20-month-old toddler, in a large area of central and southern Norway.

The public broadcaster NRK said that in the most recent attack on Saturday the bird swooped on the girl, who was was playing in her family’s farmyard in the central Trøndelag region, despite being beaten away by her mother and a neighbour.

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Mr Greedy, the penguin progenitor of more than 200 chicks, dies aged 33

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The virile bird was euthanized by Maryland zoo due to health problems, and is survived by Mrs Greedy

A zoo in Baltimore is mourning the death of an African penguin that helped save his kind from extinction by leaving behind more than 200 descendants while living far longer than expected.

The remarkable creature in question is Mr Greedy, who was euthanized because of health problems related to his age: 33, or well past African penguins’ 18-year median life expectancy, said an announcement from his home, the Maryland zoo.

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Australia’s cities are losing their colourful and melodious birds. We need to bring back this natural joy | Andres Felipe Suarez-Castro and Rachel Oh for the Conversation

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Our study links urbanisation, particularly the increase in built infrastructure and the loss of green space, to a decline in the bird communities we find most attractive

The birds that fill our mornings with songs and our parks and gardens with colour are disappearing from our cities, our new study has found.

We examined 82 bird species across 42 landscape types in Brisbane. The range of landscapes encompassed parks, bushland reserves, and industrial and residential areas.

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