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.


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Why Wait to Grow Up? Shorebirds' Delayed Maturity Tied to Coastal Living
Often seen roosting or foraging near coastlines, Oriental Pratincoles (Glareola maldivarum) are among the species analysed in the study. Their life-history strategies reflect the behavioural demands of complex habitats — an important factor in the timing of maturity. © Arkajit Chakraborty

Why Wait to Grow Up? Shorebirds' Delayed Maturity Tied to Coastal Living

Shorebirds that winter along dynamic coastlines delay their first return to breed, a strategy linked not to body size, but to the behavioural demands of tidal habitats — revealing new insights into how environment shapes avian life-history timing.


Gyorgy Szimuly

Gyorgy Szimuly

Shorebirds, one year on: what we won, what we lost, and what must come next
Far Eastern Curlew, a flagship species of coastal wetlands, highlights both the conservation wins and urgent risks reviewed this World Shorebirds Day. © John J Harrison

Shorebirds, one year on: what we won, what we lost, and what must come next

A year of mixed signals for shorebirds: vital site protections and clever science on one side; drying wetlands, development pressure and rising extinction risk on the other. Here’s what moved the needle — and where we urgently need to act.


Gyorgy Szimuly

Gyorgy Szimuly