The Ornithologist

The Ornithologist

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Rare coastal hailstorm kills or injures nearly 1,900 birds in Texas
Dead Brown Pelicans lie scattered across a Coastal Bend nesting site following the 1 November hailstorm, which caused one of the region’s most severe recorded bird mortality events. © Harte Research Institute

Rare coastal hailstorm kills or injures nearly 1,900 birds in Texas

A violent hailstorm that struck the Coastal Bend of Texas on 1 November delivered a rare and devastating blow to local bird populations. Updated assessments from the Harte Research Institute indicate that nearly 1,900 birds were killed or severely injured, with Brown Pelicans making up the vast majority of the casualties. Researchers recorded approximately 1,860 affected birds, including around 1,484 Brown Pelicans. While the storm primarily hit coastal waterbirds, smaller numbers o
News
The Ornithologist

The Ornithologist
The Sanctuary in the Sidewalk: Trees Rescue Birds in Mexico’s Cities
City trees offer shelter and song: House Finches are among the adaptable species thriving in Mexico’s urban nature pockets. © Braxton Landsman

The Sanctuary in the Sidewalk: Trees Rescue Birds in Mexico’s Cities

Even in the heart of a city, a tree can be a sanctuary for birds. A new study from Mexico reveals that urban trees do far more than provide shade – they offer critical nesting and foraging habitats for native species under pressure from habitat loss elsewhere.
Ecology and Behaviour
The Ornithologist

The Ornithologist
Engineering Elegance: The Paradise Riflebird As Nature’s Most Theatrical Engineer
A male Victoria’s Riflebird in full theatrical flair, arching his jet-black wings and iridescent breast shield as he engineers a multisensory courtship spectacle – each gesture finely tuned by evolution to captivate the discerning female. This species shares the same extraordinary display mechanics described in recent Paradise Riflebird research. © Paul Maury 

Engineering Elegance: The Paradise Riflebird As Nature’s Most Theatrical Engineer

With a wave of his wings and the snap of a feather, the Paradise Riflebird transforms the rainforest floor into a stage. Recent research reveals that this avian dancer doesn’t just display beauty – it performs biomechanics at its evolutionary peak.
Avian Biology
The Ornithologist

The Ornithologist
Wings of the Amazon: The Macaw Society’s Living Chronicle
This Red-and-green Macaw is part of a decades-long research effort to secure the future of macaws in Peru’s lowland rainforests. © Caio Brito

Wings of the Amazon: The Macaw Society’s Living Chronicle

In the treetops of Peru’s Amazon, The Macaw Society is documenting the fragile lives of Red-and-green and Scarlet Macaws—revealing how long-term research, community partnerships, and quiet persistence protect the rainforest’s most vivid sentinels.
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The Ornithologist

The Ornithologist