Range Expansion Revisited: What Fuels the Caspian Gull’s Dutch Colonisation?
A new study shows how Caspian Gulls bypass marine competition by exploiting a freshwater niche largely ignored by other large gulls.
Instinct vs. Experience: Steppe Eagles Learn to Migrate Safely
A new study shows that young Steppe Eagles are drawn to human-altered landscapes during migration, while adults avoid them – revealing how instinct, experience, and learning shape survival strategies in an endangered raptor.
Gyorgy Szimuly
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 of land-based
The Ornithologist
Farewell to Solstice: The Last Stewart Island Kākāpō Passes Away
Solstice, the final female kākāpō originally from Stewart Island, passed away in Dunedin after several months of treatment for cloacitis – a recurring disease that has claimed several individuals in recent years. Her death has resonated deeply among conservationists who have followed her story for nearly three decades. First discovered in 1997, Solstice was found against all odds – years after her species had been declared locally extinct on Stewart Island. At that time, the last known kākāpō h
Gyorgy Szimuly
