My picks from ScienceDaily

New Bird Species Discovered:

The announcement of the discovery of a new bird comes with a twist: It's a white-eye, but its eye isn't white. Still, what this new bird lacks in literal qualities it makes up for as one of the surprises that nature still has tucked away in little-explored corners of the world.

Flexible Mating Calls May Contribute To Ecological Success Of Species:

Katydid (or didn't she?) respond to the mating call of her suitors. According to scientists at the University of Missouri, one species of katydid may owe its ecological success and expanded habitat range to the ability of male katydids to adjust their mating calls to attract females.

Rare North Island Brown Kiwi Hatches At Smithsonian's National Zoo:

Early Friday morning, March 7, one of the world's most endangered species--a North Island brown kiwi--hatched at the Smithsonian's National Zoo Bird House. Keepers had been incubating the egg for five weeks, following a month long incubation by the chick's father, carefully monitoring it for signs of pipping: the process in which the chick starts to break through the shell. The chick remained in an isolet for four days and is now in a specially designed brooding box.

Like Dogs, Like Humans? Day Blindness In The Wirehaired Dachshund:

For his Ph. D. degree, Ernst-Otto Ropstad investigated the retinal disease called cone-rod dystrophy in the Norwegian population of wirehaired dachshunds. His findings are of comparative interest for the corresponding disease in people.

More like this

tags: North Island brown kiwi, Apteryx australis mantelli, endangered species, conservation, birds, National Zoo The National Zoo welcomed a new North Island brown kiwi chick, Apteryx australis mantelli, on March 7, 2008. The chick, whose sex has yet to be determined by DNA testing, is the third…
tags: researchblogging.org, birds, aves, ornithology, Zosterops somadikartai, Togian white-eye, Indonesia, Sulawesi An undated artist's rendering of Zosterops somadikartai, or Togian white-eye. This small greenish bird that has been playing hide-and-seek with ornithologists on a remote…
Scientists Map Penguins From Space By Locating Their Feces: Penguin poo (guano) stains, visible from space, have helped British scientists locate emperor penguin breeding colonies in Antarctica. Knowing their location provides a baseline for monitoring their response to environmental change. New…
Electronic Eggs Used To Help Save Threatened African Bird: This is an important summer for kori bustards at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Four chicks of this threatened African bird have hatched in June and July. Along with the bumper crop of baby birds is a bumper crop of new information for…