Australia is facing an ecological crisis as the H5N1 bird flu sweeps across the continent, killing native wildlife and threatening species found nowhere else on earth, according to official government data and wildlife experts. How Bird Flu Spreads Across Australia’s Coastlines Australia confirmed its first case of H5N1 in June in a migratory brown skua … Read more
Archaeopteryx may have achieved sustainable flight speed by using two or three powerful hind-leg leaps rather than a single jump, according to new research published on August 5, 2026, in Developmental Biology. Living about 150 million years ago, the reptile-like creature combined traits of non-avian dinosaurs and modern birds, presenting scientists with a century-old mystery … Read more
The Melbourne Royal Show has cancelled poultry competitions and exhibitions for 2026 in the wake of surging H5 bird flu cases around the country. Announced by Melbourne Royal Show executive general manager Hannah von Bibra, the precautionary measure aims to protect the Victorian poultry community while the virus spreads through wild populations. Melbourne Royal Show … Read more
A 66-year-old Clark County man has been charged with federal crimes after law enforcement officers found a dead bald eagle with two shotgun pellets in its brain near Brush Prairie, Washington, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington. Federal Charges Filed in Clark County Bald Eagle Shooting Benjamin G. Allen … Read more
A bald eagle, believed to be the raptor Jackie from the Big Bear Eagle Nest Cam, was rescued near Big Bear Lake, California, following an encounter with other eagles. The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation reported that the eagle is currently receiving care at a specialized rehabilitation facility after being stabilized by … Read more
The arrival of the H5 strain of avian influenza in Australia, first confirmed in a migratory bird on the Fleurieu Peninsula in June, has placed the Coorong National Park at the center of a potential ecological crisis. As the last continent to record the virus, Australia now faces a significant threat to its native bird … Read more
New research from New York University mathematicians indicates that schools of fish and flocks of birds move through environments by mimicking the behavior of soft crystalline materials. According to the study published in Physical Review Fluids, individual animals act as “atoms” in a lattice, maintaining orderly, repeating patterns that allow for rapid, collective responses to … Read more
A juvenile red-tailed hawk survived a 200-mile journey after becoming lodged in a vehicle’s front grille. The bird was struck near the I-5 and 505 interchange near Dunnigan and discovered by a driver at a Chevron gas station in Weed, California. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has since taken the bird to … Read more
A coalition of nine European Union nations, including the Czech Republic and Sweden, is lobbying for a reduction in the protected status of the great cormorant to allow for population culls. Proponents argue the birds’ fish consumption—estimated at 180kg per adult annually—outstrips sustainable levels for commercial fisheries, while conservationists like BirdLife International maintain that native … Read more
Masturbation in birds is a natural, healthy behavior rather than a sign of stress or pathological confinement, according to a study published in Ecology and Evolution. Researchers from the University of Lancashire found that the behavior is widespread across 120 bird species, refuting long-standing veterinary assumptions that masturbation in captive parrots and other avian species … Read more