Many people may assume New Zealand’s native birds arrived via Australia. But our new research on the Auckland Island merganser shows they originated from much further away.
Articles on Native birds
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Victoria’s decision this week to reject a ban on duck hunting is a shot to the heart for proud Yuin man Jack Pascoe, son of Bruce Pascoe. The black duck Yumburra is a Yuin tribal totem.
Our birds are tough. They went through some mean climatic conditions to make Australia home.
Our research looked at data from the government’s annual baking competition. Upon close analysis, we find a dangerous lack of diversity and biases towards cute, cuddly mammals.
But here’s why this seemingly unremarkable bird could save other, less obvious species from devastation.
Sugar water feeding in cities helps native nectar-eating birds in winter, but it’s important to use the right feeders to avoid pathogens.
For one, they’ll work as a team to dive bomb potential enemies, even vomiting or defecating on them.
Brush turkeys, bats, and cockroaches are crucial for the environment – including our gardens. Each have fascinating ways of coping in wet weather.
The number of live animals seized by the Australian Government has tripled since 2017, with blue-tongue lizards and sulphur-crested cockatoos frequently captured.
I watched little ravens line their nests with messmate stringy bark last spring. Here’s what birds might seek your garden trees this year.
Invasive mammals have already removed some native bird species from our cities. It’s why urban forest restoration and predator control are crucial to support the ‘ghosts of predation past’.
Let us introduce you to this shy performer and convince you that the Albert’s lyrebird is worthy of as much attention as its limelight-stealing sister species, the superb lyrebird.
Increasing revegetation from 1% to 10% of the landscape doubled the number of woodland bird species. The collective efforts of landowners can make a real difference for native wildlife.
It was the first time a bird has removed a tracking device, and the second time a bird species showed cooperative ‘rescue’ behaviour.
These are poignant cries of a disappearing landscape – the creaking calls of gang-gangs, buzzing bowerbirds and the mournful cry of the far eastern curlew.
New research finds the last 250 years has seen more than 100 million hectares of bird habitat destroyed on mainland Australia – that’s 15% of Australia’s landmass.
It may not be extinct, but our research suggests the buff-breasted button-quail may only be hanging on by a thread, at best.
The hidden social lives of fairy-wrens are just as complex as those of animals with much larger brains, including monkeys, whales and even humans.
The heaviest bird nest ever discovered weighed more than 2,000kg. It was built by bald eagles. The tiniest nest, built by a bee hummingbird, was just over 2cm wide.
Populations of noisy miners have boomed since colonisation, and today they’re a huge threat to other native birds. 45 attempts to cull them in 30 years have left us with more questions than answers.
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
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Senior Research Associate, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne
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Lecturer in Conservation, The University of Queensland
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Researcher, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University
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Lecturer, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University
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Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney
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Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University
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Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Wollongong
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Professor of Animal Ecology, Western Sydney University
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Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, La Trobe University
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Professor, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney
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Professor of Restoration Ecology, University of Waikato
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Professor in Conservation Science, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland
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Postdoctoral fellow, Australian National University
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Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand