Birds living around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear accident have 5% smaller brains, an effect directly linked to lingering background radiation. The finding comes from a study of 550 birds belonging to 48 different species living in the region, published in the journal PLoS One. Brain size was significantly smaller in yearlings compared with […]
Category: science
It Takes a Village, but Only in Times of Plenty, Acorn Woodpeckers Show
ScienceDaily (July 27, 2011) — Acorn woodpeckers are cooperative breeders, meaning adult birds often join breeding groups and help raise young that are not their own. Scientists have long thought that communal breeding may have evolved to help birds deal with food shortages and other difficult times. But a study by researchers from Cornell and […]
Toucans Wearing GPS Backpacks Help Smithsonian Scientists Study Seed Dispersal
ScienceDaily (July 28, 2011) — Nutmeg-loving toucans wearing GPS transmitters recently helped a team of scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama address an age-old problem in plant ecology: accurately estimating seed dispersal. The tracking data revealed what scientists have long suspected: toucans are excellent seed dispersers, particularly in the morning. Also, for […]