News tagged with tail feathers


Anna's Hummingbird

Long, sexy tails not a drag on male birds

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 12, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

The long tails sported by many male birds in the tropics look like they're a drag to carry around and a distinct disadvantage when fleeing predators, but experiments by University of California, Berkeley, ...





Search results for tail feathers


Anna's hummingbird chirps with its tail during display dives

Anna's hummingbird chirps with its tail during display dives

Biology /

created Jan 30, 2008 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 0

The beeps, chirps and whistles made by some hummingbirds and thought to be vocal are actually created by the birds' tail feathers, according to a study by two students at the University of California, Berkeley.


A computer-generated image of the Tianyulong confuciusi

Feathers fly over new dinosaur find

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Mar 18, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (20) | comments 0

The discovery of a petite, plant-eating dinosaur with primitive plumage could mean that the dinosaur from which all others evolved had feather-like protrusions, said a study released Wednesday.


More flight than fancy?

Biology /

created Apr 05, 2007 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Scientists from the universities of Exeter and Cambridge have turned a textbook example of sexual selection on its head and shown that females may be more astute at choosing a mate than previously thought.


From Chicken Feathers to Flower Pots

From Chicken Feathers to Flower Pots

Chemistry / Other

created Sep 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Chicken feathers, usually an unwanted byproduct of poultry processing, may have a more valuable future as an ingredient in biodegradable flower pots, according to an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist.


Scientists 'rebuild' giant moa using ancient DNA

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (12) | comments 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have performed the first DNA-based reconstruction of the giant extinct moa bird, using prehistoric feathers recovered from caves and rock shelters in New Zealand.


What limits the size of birds?

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 2

Why aren't birds larger? Fifteen-kilogram swans hold the current upper size record for flying birds, although the extinct Argentavis of the Miocene Epoch in Argentina is estimated to have weighed 70 kilograms, the size of ...


Early environment may be key to determining bird migration location

Biology /

created Feb 18, 2008 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

How young migratory birds choose the nesting location of their first breeding season has been something of a mystery in the bird world. But a new University of Maryland/National Zoo study of the American redstart suggests ...


Barn Swallow

For barn swallows, feathers make the man, says study

Biology /

created Jun 02, 2008 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder has shown the testosterone of male North American barn swallows skyrocketed early in the breeding season when their breast colors were artificially ...


Ancient Birds Flew On All-Fours

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Sep 26, 2006 | popularity 4 / 5 (15) | comments 0

The earliest known ancestor of modern-day birds took to the skies by gliding from trees using primitive feathered wings on their arms and legs, according to new research by a University of Calgary paleontologist. In a paper ...


Scientists are learning more about big birds from feathers

Scientists are learning more about big birds from feathers

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 06, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Catching adult eagles for research purposes is no easy task, but a Purdue University researcher has found a way around the problem, and, in the process, gathered even more information about ...



List of search results for tail feathers