Coastal Birds "Feel" Their Prey Under The Sand
... are sensitive todifferences in pressure. When the bird sticks its sensitive beak into thesand at low tide, it produces a pressure wave because of the inertia of thewater in the interstices between the particles. The pattern thus createdbetrays the presence of objects which are larger than the grains of s...Model Polymers Reveal New Clues to Protein Folding
... an origami artist can fold a sheet of paper intoa bird or flower or pagoda or other intricate shape. In much less time a stringof amino acids can fold itself into a protein, the kind of molecule that comesin many thousands of complex shapes and does most of the work of life. Origamican be taught, but no ...Emu Meat Not A Popular Choice Among Consumers, Study Shows
...before trying the low-fat meat of emu,a flightless bird native to Australia. Emu is a healthy alte...beef has 8 grams offat. The second-largest bird in the world after the ostrich, the emu belongsto the ratite family of flightless birds. Raw emu has...Urban Ecology Study Watches Birds On The Web
...TER), has been supervising asystematic, continuing bird survey of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area as...CAP LTER scientists and teams of volunteer amateur bird watchers.The results have recently been put into an easily searchable database which ispublicly acce...Controlling Problem Snakes: Saipan Benefits From USGS Research
...nated all of Guam's native forest and sea birds:12 bird species, some found nowhere else, have disappeared and several othersare close to extinction. In addition to birds, brown tree snakes feed onlizards, small mammals, and domestic poultry, rabbits, and the occasionalhousehold pet. Because these snakes...Recent USGS Work In New England And Beyond
...s a large-scale roadsidesurvey to monitor breeding bird populations across North America. About 3000diffe...stribution, andpopulation trends of more than 400 bird species. The BBS is jointly coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) andthe Canadian Wildl...USGS Finds That Mysterious Arkansas Bald Eagle Disease Has Spread To Ducks In Eastern States
...cation in the nervoussystem is impaired, causing a bird to become uncoordinated or paralyzed." Thomasused an electron microscope to determine that the spaces are caused byseparation of the myelin layers that surround nerve fibers. Using the sametechniques, Dr. John Fisher, a SCWDS pathologist, confirmed ...First North Americans Had Chance To Be Avid Birders
...of this and other Eastern Beringian research. The bird and mammal material found at the site is particula...pport of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. The new bird evidence raises numerous questions both about both these flyers,and potentially, early humans in Eas...First Great American Bluebird Count
...e what we learn about one species ofcavity-nesting bird to better understand and protect all cavity-nesters." But, adds Dhondt, a nestbox is not a requirement for participating in theInternet count. Anyone who sees bluebirds, kestrels, or other cavity-nestingspecies is invited to visit the web site and ......ed that many browsers, such asthe large flightless bird Genyornis newtoni that was the focus of theirresearch, became extinct after human-set fires across the continent's interiorchanged the ecosystem's flora. The new paper strengthens the earlierspeculation by demonstrating for the first time that arid-...Fossilized Emu Eggshells Give Clues To 65,000 Years Of Vegetation And Climate Changes In Australia
...r a least one Australian megafauna, the flightless bird Genyornis newtoni at 50,000 years ago (Science, vol. 283, no. 5399, p. 182). Measurements since European colonization (about 150 years ago) indicate a further depletion of the C4 grasses. Instead of being related to climate, the shift is believed to ...Discovery of new bird species in China, oldest beak shows evolution complexity
...ird, a finding that offers new evidence that early bird evolution wasconsiderably more complex than previo... anunexpected but pleasant surprise. "This bird was more advanced than Archaeopteryx in that it had a beakbut was less advanced in that it had two s...A first: Endangered puaiohi birds fledge four chicks in the wild
A highly endangered native Hawaiian bird species has taken a small but significant ste...300 individuals of this small unique Hawaiian bird species survive in the wild. Biologists fear that at such low numbers, the population cannot s...Threatened marbled murrelet first to be hatched in captivity
...k, who wasincubating other birds, looked after the bird and after 28 days it hatched.We've been catching fish at Theodosia Inlet, where we do our work, and shippingthem here. It eats about 50 grams of sand lance fish a day," says Cooke. The day before the marbled murrelet fledges (takes flight) it plucks ...Presence of a fertile female in the next nest can lead a bird astray, UB research finds
...-- Male and female black-throated blue warblers, a bird speciescommon in the northeast U.S., have a reputa...vious studies have shown that otherwise monogamous bird speciesoften do have extra-pair young in their nests -- birds that are not fathered bythe companion ...Congress briefs: International congress on ecosystem health
...e predicted forthe next century will likely affect bird populations in North America. Heprojects that mos.... Price also will discuss how potential changes in bird distribution could affectlocal economies through forestry and tourism. Session: T19 -- Climate an...New screening method identifies areas susceptible to Selenium contamination in Western United States
...omirrigated lands, which has caused deformities of bird embryos in sixareas of the Western United States--three in California, one inColorado, one in Utah, and one in Wyoming. Preserving and protecting the legacy of the lands and resources in theWestern United States is a key priority of Interior Secretar...Worms will never taste the same: a new study examines how insecticides influence birds
... in these areas. "The long-term effects of CTA on bird populations could have widespreadimplications," says Nicolaus. "This study produced the first clear evidence thata single exposure to an organophosphate insecticide can produce a lasting changein behavior among free-ranging birds. Even if the toxin i...USGS releases assessment of nation's biological resources
...ral extraction. The result isthat native grassland bird species have shown more consistent, widespread andsteeper declines than any other group of North American birds." Likewise, he said, the report details how changes in the nation's waterways toaccommodate navigation, irrigation, hydroelectric power ge......eat along the way," said Evans,citing estimates of bird collisions with manmade objects at 4 million perye...sions stacks at six electricalgeneration stations, bird collisions decreased dramatically, Mesure said. -- In the United States, the FCC processes approxim...