The mute swan is a species of swan and a member of the family Anatidae within the waterfowl order. It is native to much of Europe and parts of Asia and the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home to the largest populations outside of its native range, with additional smaller introductions in Australasia and Southern Africa. The name "mute" derives from it being less vocal than other swan species. Typically measuring 140 to 160 cm in length, this large swan is wholly white in plumage, with an orange beak bordered with black. It is recognisable by its pronounced knob atop the beak, which is larger in males.
Male-like ornamentation in female hummingbirds results from social harassment rather than sexual selection
Female white-necked jacobin hummingbirds are polymorphic—some express ornamented plumage like adult males. Falk et al. find that all juvenile females have male-like plumage, which some maintain as adults. Rather than being favored by sexual selection, male-like plumage benefits females by reducing social harassment from this and other species.
Male-like ornamentation in female hummingbirds results from social harassment rather than sexual selection
Female white-necked jacobin hummingbirds are polymorphic—some express ornamented plumage like adult males. Falk et al. find that all juvenile females have male-like plumage, which some maintain as adults. Rather than being favored by sexual selection, male-like plumage benefits females by reducing social harassment from this and other species.
The sound of the trees
Early in the morning, before dawn has even fully broken over Berlin, a concert of a very special kind begins under Susie Ibarra’s window. The blackbird begins with a short melodic solo ending on a trill, its song accompanied by the rustling of the horse chestnut leaves on the branches outside Ibarra’s window. For the artist, this is much more than just an acoustic welcome to the day – it is a dialogue with nature and a chance to immerse herself in a musical realm full of rhythms and sounds.
Near-blind shark is world’s longest-lived vertebrate
Greenland shark found to be at least 272 years old.
MuteSky — Mute in Bulk on Bluesky
MuteSky helps you efficiently manage your Bluesky experience by providing powerful bulk muting capabilities. Filter your feed, manage content, and customize your experience with ease.
Crow Busters - Crow Recipes
Historically, crows, as well as other non-songbird species have been common fare. Remember "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie"? Our revulsion seems to center around the fact that the crow and it's close relatives are scavengers and therefore unfit to eat. Well, as far as pigs and chickens are concerned, you just wouldn't believe what these supermarket critters will stick in their mouths. Seafood? You honestly don't want to know what goes into a Blue Crab before it ends up on that expensive crab cake platter. I suppose the same goes for lobsters. The list goes on.
Glasswing Butterflies Want To Make Something Perfectly Clear | Deep Look
Time Stop: Megalopolis, A Swan Song for the Future
Megalopolis is a gesture, a broad brushstroke, an impassioned plea, an aria in which the belladonna collapses on stage.
Indigo une Bluesky e Mastodon no mesmo aplicativo
Tive a oportunidade de experimentar o Indigo antes do lançamento — no último dia 12 —, um aplicativo de rede social que unifica as linhas do tempo do Bluesky e Mastodon. A dupla de desenvolvedores…
TheThunderbird.ca
The Thunderbird is the student publication of the Graduate School of Journalism at University of British Columbia. Its mission is to showcase the work of students at the journalism school.
Jackdaw
Birds of a Feather Eat Plastic Together: High Levels of Plastic Ingestion in Great Shearwater Adults and Juveniles Across Their Annual Migratory Cycle
Limited work to date has examined plastic ingestion in highly migratory seabirds like Great Shearwaters (Ardenna gravis) across their entire migratory range. We examined 217 Great Shearwaters obtained from 2008–2019 at multiple locations spanning their yearly migration cycle across the Northwest and South Atlantic to assess accumulation of ingested plastic as well as trends over time and between locations. A total of 2328 plastic fragments were documented in the ventriculus portion of the gastrointestinal tract, with an average of 9 plastic fragments per bird. The mass, count, and frequency of plastic occurrence (FO) varied by location, with higher plastic burdens but lower FO in South Atlantic adults and chicks from the breeding colonies. No fragments of the same size or morphology were found in the primary forage fish prey, the Sand Lance (Ammodytes spp., n = 202) that supports Great Shearwaters in Massachusetts Bay, USA, suggesting the birds directly ingest the bulk of their plastic loads rather than accumulating via trophic transfer. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy indicated that low- and high-density polyethylene were the most common polymers ingested, within all years and locations. Individuals from the South Atlantic contained a higher proportion of larger plastic items and fragments compared to analogous life stages in the NW Atlantic, possibly due to increased use of remote, pelagic areas subject to reduced inputs of smaller, more diverse, and potentially less buoyant plastics found adjacent to coastal margins. Different signatures of polymer type, size, and category between similar life stages at different locations suggests rapid turnover of ingested plastics commensurate with migratory stage and location, though more empirical evidence is needed to ground truth this hypothesis. This work is the first to comprehensively measure the accumulation of ingested plastics by Great Shearwaters over the last decade and across multiple locations spanning their yearly trans-equatorial migration cycle and underscores their utility as sentinels of plastic pollution in Atlantic ecosystems.
Hummingbird hawk moths and ivy bees: The insects growing in number as temperatures rise
Hummingbird hawk moths - often mistaken for small birds - are being spotted in the West Midlands.
Siphonophore
Siphonophores are cnidarian animals of the hydrozoan order Siphonophorae. According to the World Register of Marine Species, the order contains 194 species described thus far.
