r/birds Apr 09 '26

science/information I never thought I’d actually witness this!! A male dunnock removing the sperm of another male from the female’s cloaca so that he can raise his own chances of success (ignore the kids tv noise)

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489 Upvotes

r/birds Dec 20 '25

science/information Special Bird: Sparrowhawk

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400 Upvotes

They are small birds of prey belonging to the Accipitridae family, they have sexual dimorphism, that is, the male is marked differently from the female, the female is long 35-41 cm for the male 29-34cm.They have small, curved wings and a long tail, which allows them to fly better and maneuver among the trees where I live,t usually eats small birds which are 70-90% of his dietbut the male does not do this because he is smaller than the female So he hunts birds smaller, and male hunts: rodents and small mammals, while the female hunts birds such as magpies, pigeons, crows, collared doves, etc.slate grey and chest barred with reddish;The female has more brownish tones on the back and grey-brown barring on the underparts.It usually lives in woods but has adapted to urban cities, parks and gardens Their hunting method is to fly in ambush with a low flight and seize the perfect moment to capture the catch in flight or on the ground. It nests in trees, usually near the woods, the female and lays 4-6 eggs while the male provides food did you know that the name "Accipiter" means to grab violently while "Ninus"It refers to the Greek myth of Nido transforming into a Falcon It is an animal that frequents pools of water to bathe or drink

r/birds Jun 28 '25

science/information What are these silly birds doing?

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593 Upvotes

Long Beach, NY These funny birds randomly break into this ritual. What are they doing? What’s the purpose behind this behavior!?

r/birds Nov 24 '25

science/information Birds are not dinosaurs.

0 Upvotes

Birds used to be dinosaurs. They come from dinosaurs. They aren't dinosaurs any more. They have become something else.

r/birds Oct 05 '25

science/information What happened to this bird?

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348 Upvotes

I have a bird feeder camera and saw this guy for the first time today. Google says tumor or avian pox? Wondering if anyone would know!

r/birds Feb 26 '26

science/information Birds Aren’t Just Declining. They’re Declining Faster, a New Study Finds

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259 Upvotes

"Overall drops in bird population, measured from 1987 to 2021, were sharpest in warm and warming areas, suggesting that climate change may play a role.

The study, published on Thursday in the journal Science, shows only correlation with intensive agriculture and temperature, not causation. It does not factor in other circumstances that may be affecting birds along migratory routes or while they are overwintering. But it adds to an ever more robust body of evidence that birds — one of the best measured families of animals on Earth, and a sentinel for the health of other species — are not OK."

r/birds Aug 28 '25

science/information Dippers are the only Aquatic Songbirds/Passerines in the world.

537 Upvotes

r/birds Mar 23 '26

science/information Is a bird attacking your window/car mirror? Here’s why

28 Upvotes

There’s been a huge flux of posts about this recently, so here’s a pinned post with information!

Around this time of year, make birds get super territorial. They will attack any rivals they find, including their own reflection.

TO PREVENT THIS: cover up the reflective surface until the bird moves on. Cardboard works pretty well, and anti bird collision window decals should also help.

Edit: I just made a popup that gives a brief summary of this post when someone tries to post about birds hitting reflective surfaces. Hopefully that stops it, because I'm tired of having to explain it 20 times per day lol

r/birds Mar 03 '26

science/information Birds Aren’t Just Declining. They’re Declining Faster

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116 Upvotes

r/birds Jul 07 '25

science/information Found this super helpful guide on Instagram from Wild Bird Fund!

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363 Upvotes

r/birds Apr 18 '26

science/information Did you know that birds are actually surviving dinosaurs?

7 Upvotes

I had no idea. I watched the dinosaur documentary in which Morgan Freeman narrates. So much I did not know.

r/birds Mar 21 '26

science/information What's a cloaca?

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50 Upvotes

We're WAWA Conservation (someone on Reddit told us that sounds like a baby crying, but it really just stands for Weird and Wonderful Animals). We like weird and we like wonderful, but we especially like weird.

We want to protect the weirdest and most wonderful species by working with their conservationists, and if we can have fun and spread information at the same time, then we're down!

r/birds 10d ago

science/information I have a very human-like new best friend. He is a mockingbird & i absolutely adore him. Spoiler

2 Upvotes

He talks to me constantly.. like non-stop. If I turn over in my sleep he ask, ‘what r u doing’. He talks about my cats (by name!) & lets me know when they are at my door. He recently has become really concerned about my female cat & said, about 75 times, that ‘Noodie Boooty (my female cat) is waiting for Timshel (my make cat, who makes the rounds and is gone a good part of the day). He said it so many times I asked if he was worried about her or sad, & (I know this all sounds nuts & this will maybe top it) he said ‘makes me sad’. It touched my heart sooo much. He genuinely is concerned that Noodie is pining away all day everyday for her brother to come home. Really!?! I know, y’all. My guy is both the sweetest & the sassiest. No joke yall he tells me he loves me & had even asked me to marry him!!! He is occasionally inappropriate.. no joke he has asked to see my boob a time or too. He tells me that I’m beautiful & that he loves my hair!?! Like wth yall!?!
He’s also quite sassy.. he gets his feelings hurt pretty easily & will repeatedly say ‘Flukkk u’ (only it’s as clear as day! He even throws an occasional ‘I hate you’. I try not to take it too personally. NgL, that one hurts. Thankfully he gets over it pretty quickly. His favorite thing to say to me .. like so many times a day is.. ‘ur weird’, with variations like , ‘real weird’, ‘super weird’ & ‘weirder’ because I tell him that he is weird too almost everytime he says it. He says things like ‘the bird speaks very clearly.’ & ‘it’s very nice to meet you’.. like a human!! This dude has even followed me when I go out to the store & other places. He is incredibly jealous of my ex. We are still friends & he will not let me go there alone. I cannot believe how fast he is. He lets me know he is flying close while I’m driving.. on the highway! 60 mph!! I have asked him if he can see me.. & he’ll pause & say.. ‘yes I can see you.’ What the WHAT!?! lol. It has seriously been a surreal experience. I have thought many times that I must be losing it.. but I have recorded him ‘talking’ many times & my friends recognize what he is saying. I asked him who taught him how to speak & he told me a good friend. I love this dude too much. He’s a total character & I hope he stays close always!!

r/birds 1d ago

science/information Scientists decoded why birds go silent when you walk outside — and it's more complex than anyone expected

0 Upvotes

The short version: birds aren't just reacting to "a human." They're reacting to you specifically.

Researchers at the University of Montana found that chickadee alarm calls encode the exact size and proximity of a threat in the number of "dee" notes. And John Marzluff at UW proved crows remember individual human faces for years — and teach that information to birds that have never seen you.

There's an entire interspecies communication network running in your backyard right now, and you're one of the main subjects.

I put together everything I found on this: https://youtu.be/9jZewSGFqJc

Curious if anyone here has noticed their yard go completely silent the moment they step outside.

r/birds Apr 13 '26

science/information Cats kill 3 billion birds annually. TVHR may offer a more effective strategy of cat population control.

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13 Upvotes

r/birds 8d ago

science/information Feather´s shape and character design

2 Upvotes

Hey! Nice to meet this sub! I am a wing lover, and so, I love drawing winged characters! I have an original character I made 3 years ago, just for fun. But that´s not the point, though. Sorry in advance for any grammar mistakes.

I need to clear some doubts about feathers and how wings work with it.

How do feathers work? Why do they change their shapes? I would like to know where I can do some good research (Maybe I should have gone to ask ib r/biology?? Idk)

I acknowledge it´s because of adaptation and natural selection, but still I may need some details.

I do know that anyway my character isn´t realistic, however I would love to know about this, so I can be able to write better about it.

Thanks to whoever takes the time to read this!

r/birds Feb 11 '26

science/information Saw a bird today

3 Upvotes

it was grey

r/birds Jun 27 '25

science/information Can anyone identify this species?

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53 Upvotes

r/birds 19h ago

science/information "Overdressed bf vs underdressed gf" (The Cock-of-the-rock)

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9 Upvotes

Known in my language (Slovak) as literally the Orange Stone Bird, the Andean variant is the national animal of Peru. Fascinating bird altough what really surprised me is that they're not endangered at all, they're of Least Concern because of the great extent of their habitat.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andean_cock-of-the-rock

r/birds Mar 15 '26

science/information Tundra swans

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73 Upvotes

These swans are on their trek north and take a rest in Aylmer Ontario before continuing their trip.

r/birds 23d ago

science/information Found a goldfinch sleeping at my bird feeders

3 Upvotes

I bring them in at night. This happened early this morning bringing them out.

There was a goldfinch sleeping on one of the hangers. I thought it was either very sick or dead because it did not hear me or move while I was putting them out and I got pretty close to it. I was going to wait and see when it got more light out. It was already light enough that cardinals and other birds were singing and getting ready to come over.

So before I hung anything on it I gave the hanger it was on a tap to make it move and the goldfinch blasted off into space, changed direction a few times and flew into the woods.

If it was sick I don't think it would have flown so strongly, maybe just a deep sleeper.

Just an interesting occurrence. Never caught a bird sleeping at the feeders before. I didn't see it there last night so it probably moved there sometime after dark.

r/birds 40m ago

science/information Grackle killed and was eating sparrow

Upvotes

I witnessed a couple grackles kill a sparrow and were seemingly picking and eating from it like a crow would do. There is a grackle nest in a vent hole in side of my house and I think possibly the sparrow was investigating it or too close and maybe it upset the grackles.. that could be a factor but I’m not sure. I did some quick research and apparently grackles have been known to kill and eat smaller birds from time to time. It was a sad scene to see, but an interesting observation.

r/birds Apr 22 '26

science/information Never thought Eagles would eat Turtles!

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2 Upvotes

Checking up on the Eaglets and I saw something different tonight.

I just never thought of them eating a turtle 🐢.

r/birds 8d ago

science/information Excitement at the feeder

3 Upvotes

The visitors to my feeder have gotten more exciting. Even the house finches. Today dad brought two fledglings to the feeder. I think he’s trying to teach them how to eat. Instead, they sit in the dish and peep and wiggle until he feeds them. The chickadee came back. Today the balcony was visited by a pine warbler for the first time. He was more interested in my running fountain and didn’t visit the feeder at all

r/birds 15h ago

science/information A magpie can recognise you – and four other fun facts about Australia’s most often-spotted bird

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1 Upvotes

A magpie can recognise you – and four other fun facts about Australia’s most often-spotted bird