On a fence post at dusk, an owl dips, sways, and pauses – like it’s caught a rhythm only it can hear. What looks playful is actually precise, a life-or-death calculation unfolding in small, deliberate motions. Head-bobbing lets an owl solve a problem that humans barely notice: how to judge distance when your eyes barely ...
The Japanese quail has a résumé that is very strange for a bird. What started out as a songbird in 11th-century Japan has become a scientific wonder that produces foamy semen, struts around after mating, and even hatches in space. These small birds, no bigger than a human hand, have strange evolutionary traits that have ...
Billions of birds travel distances incomprehensible to humans annually. Some, like the Arctic tern, log sufficient miles in their lifetime to fly to the moon and back without ever consulting a map or GPS. Rather, they depend on an astonishing range of biological tools: celestial cues, magnetic fields, quantum mechanics, even their sense of smell. ...
