Chickadee, nutchatch presence in conifers increases tree growth, says CU-Boulder study
Chickadees, nuthatches and warblers foraging their way through forests have been shown to spur the growth of pine trees in the West by as much as one-third, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study. The study showed birds removed various species of beetles, caterpi...Prey not hard-wired to fear predators
...grizzly bears were lost, migratory birds including warblers and hummingbirds were less abundant because moose over-browsed vegetation used by these migrants. It is not just changes in climate or disease may alter our big remote wild landscapes, but so do the actions of conservationists and public agencies by ...Fungal factories may save hemlock forests
...food but for the architecture of their world. Some warblers only nest in hemlocks and the mountain fish depend on the trees to keep streams cool. "See all this white growth?" Costa says in his UVM lab, tracing his finger above the soft flat needles. "That's mycelium and likely as not there are spores at the...Willow trees, riparian willow warblers and beaver dams once were bountiful in an area nea...e trace of beavers, and sparrows have replaced the warblers in what is now a grassland meadow. These profound changes were driven by the absence of the wolf, a...Study in Royal Society journal on holly as an indicator of climate change
...ia parasites in our study population of great reed warblers (a song bird). We found that birds with variable MHC genes were more likely to survive a malaria infection than birds with less variable MHC genes. Furthermore, we found that a variant of a specific MHC gene gave the same protection. Hence, genetic f...Migratory songbirds have a specialized night-vision brain area
...two species of night-migratory songbirds -- garden warblers and European robins -- with two non-migratory songbirds -- zebra finches and canaries. Using a transparent cylindrical cage in Mouritsen's laboratory, they first accustomed the birds to the illumination equivalent of moonlight. They waited until the ...UBC prof's research challenges prevailing theory of how new species evolve
...ten months between 1994 and 2002 studying greenish warblers in Asia. "Until now, no one has been able to show ...ed across distance. Two distinct forms of greenish warblers co-exist in central Siberia but do not interbreed there, making them distinct species in that region...Studies in Royal Society journals include stress in birds and depletion of medieval fish stocks
...fchaff feather shafts when bent repeatedly. Willow warblers may have to built strong, thick shafts out of weak material. This may lead to more damage build-up in the outer layers of the shaft when feathers are bent during flight. Contact: Dr Thomas Weber, Dep. of Animal Ecology, Lund University, Slvegatan, LU...Head movements by warblers could reveal basis for birds' geomagnetic sense
...scovered that caged migrants in this case, garden warblers use movements called head scans to detect the direction of the Earth's magnetic field. In the natural geomagnetic field, the birds move toward their migratory direction immediately after performing a head scan. When the Earth's magnetic field is exp...