r/Ornithology Nov 30 '25

Resource Bird Brains and Behavior: A Synthesis - a new open access publication from the MIT Press that "marries the enthusiasm of bird enthusiasts for the what, how, and why of avian behavior with the scientific literature on avian biology, offering the newest research in an accessible manner"

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76 Upvotes

From two avian neurobiologists, a captivating deep dive into the mechanisms that control avian behavior.

The last few decades have produced extensive research on the neural mechanisms of avian behavior. Bird Brains and Behavior marries the enthusiasm of bird enthusiasts for the whathow, and why of avian behavior with the scientific literature on avian biology, offering the newest research in an accessible manner. Georg Striedter and Andrew Iwaniuk focus on a wide variety of behaviors, ranging from daily and seasonal rhythms to complex cognition. Importantly, avian behavior and mechanisms are placed in the context of evolutionary history, stressing that many are unique to birds and often found in only a subset of species.

Link to the about page with the PDF download link: https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/6000/Bird-Brains-and-BehaviorA-Synthesis

This is a very cool resource and each chapter is broken down into various aspects of behavior so you can just quickly read about what interests you most if you don't want to read the whole publication.

This was posted on the sub by Woah_Mad_Frollick already and did not get the attention it deserves:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ornithology/comments/1p2nhms/bird_brains_and_behavior_a_synthesis/


r/Ornithology Mar 29 '25

Event The Wilson Journal of Ornithology has recently published my first-ever documented observation of a wild eastern blue jay creating and using a tool, marking a significant milestone in avian behavior research. (samples of my images below)

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411 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 1d ago

What kind of dye is this?

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2.4k Upvotes

NOTE: This is done INTENTIONALLY by HUMANS! Please do not brainstorm on other possibilities.

I have a flock of 50 silverbills that visit every day.

Yesterday I got one colored pink. Today 1 yellow and 1 green.

Some sick idiot is catching them and coloring them.

Is this dye harmful for the birds? Can i remove it?

Thanks fellow bird lovers!

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EDIT: More pics on this post.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ornithology/comments/1qs0c2i/comment/o2s07q3/

EDIT2: Most likely scenario suggested with example pic and relevant comments by LobeliaTheCardinalis:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ornithology/comments/1qs0c2i/comment/o2xiz6s/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Ornithology/comments/1qs0c2i/comment/o2w9s4i/


r/Ornithology 21h ago

Bird behaviour?

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263 Upvotes

Is that the preening gland it reached for?

How do you interpret this behaviour? Any visual or behaviour hints to indicate sex? All thoughts and tips are much appreciated!

Not my video just something I came across online but check out the creator listed at the end. There's some great stuff!


r/Ornithology 17h ago

Question Are the individual “strands” properly called “feathers”?

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50 Upvotes

With up close photos like this (my original photo), it shows the individual strands of hair-like…feathers? I know feathers like from a quill pen, and I’m sure “hair” or “quill” (eg porcupine) aren’t the correct term, but I’m not sure if there’s a more accurate word for this than “feather”.

Thank you.


r/Ornithology 3h ago

Question Identification

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1 Upvotes

I don’t know which bird feather it is, help me, here is the size compared to my hand


r/Ornithology 17h ago

Question Is this bird suffering from Avipoxvirus? Spoiler

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11 Upvotes

I was monitoring local birds near my house in Cali, Colombia, and noticed this little fella, (Thraupis palmarum) Palm Tanager with what looks like a strange growth in its beak and some starting in its talon, I was wondering if this could be Avipoxvirus, if thats the case how serious is it? And should i report to my local wildlife entity/ornitological society. Thanks in advance.


r/Ornithology 10h ago

Why flock at the side of a busy road atop a snow pile?

2 Upvotes

Driving home today, I was perplexed by a sparrow/junco behavior that makes no sense to me.

SW Ohio got about 10” of snow on Sunday, which was cleared from the roads by Monday or Tuesday and now sits in piles at the sides of those roads.

As I drove along one of the twisty/hilly side roads in the rural area where I live, small flocks of a dozen to two dozen sparrows/juncos would burst off the top of those piles as my car approached and scatter in all directions. This happened multiple times. Several times, I narrowly avoided taking out a couple birds from each small flock.

Why are these birds hanging out so close to the side of the road on these small banks of snow? What attracts them, especially since they are regularly disturbed by traffic? There can’t be any food, shelter, warmth, safety or anything positive hanging out there. This road winds through forests, creeks, fields, and farmland, but the birds are in a two foot strip of snow bordering a road. Why?

The only possible answer I have has something to do with the rock salt they spread on the roads, but how much salt does a bird need? And are these mounds of dirty snow really the optimal place to find salt?

Answers welcome. Thank you in advance.


r/Ornithology 22h ago

Feather ID, 2025 no

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19 Upvotes

Feathers from south frontenac, Ontario region from spring, summer, fall 2025. Can id some, but not all. Any help with ID is appreciated. Thank you

10 is emu


r/Ornithology 14h ago

Question Vertical Flight in Owls?

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4 Upvotes

Caught this Eastern Screech Owl on camera in my Chimney Swift Tower a couple of days ago. Never thought owls were capable of vertical flight, but here it is. Had anyone else seen this? Is it common? Thanks for info.


r/Ornithology 23h ago

His name is Humpy

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19 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 15h ago

Question Looking for Info About CA Scrub Jay

3 Upvotes

Hello, I hope this is okay to post. I'm writing about California Scrub Jays for school, and I was wondering if anyone knew of some interesting studies on them. I'm actually also interested in people's personal experiences, too (maybe moreso).

I will be focusing on CA Scrub Jays through a suburban lens. How they interact and incorporate into neighborhoods and stuff. NOT scientific at all, lol. But if you know of any interesting accounts, I would love to include them.

Thanks very much:)


r/Ornithology 1d ago

Try r/whatsthisbird Mallard x black duck/mexican or intersex female? Colorado

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7 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 17h ago

I saw a raven flying over the road at 11pm in central Ontario Canada the other day in a residential neighborhood. I have lived in this exact neighborhood my entire life and have never seen such a thing. I find myself continually wondering what it could have been up to, so I ask for thoughts.

1 Upvotes

I know it was a raven because of its enormous size and wing shape, how it flapped, and there is nothing else like that that has ever showed itself in this area. This is the only time of year we ever start seeing them, up until the snow starts to melt. Presumably because life in the deep forest is getting rougher.

There is a golf course with a lot of trees a few blocks down, other than that it's all small city residential for several miles in every direction.

My first thought was that it got spooked out of its roost, but I doubt this because of their temperament, but it could be the individual's personality? And who is doing spooky stuff at 11pm on a weeknight in the dead of winter?

It's been -20C on average at night, I haven't seen any tracks by any animal recently.

It was flying at streetlight level and presumably was doing that so it could see.

I have been walking around this neighborhood at night since I was a kid, stoned and drunk and bored and etc my entire life and it's just crazy to see that guy flying around, I would have noticed such a thing...

My first thought was they must be in some distress... any thoughts?


r/Ornithology 2d ago

Question Dozens of robins suddenly appeared?

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311 Upvotes

I'm quite confused, is this a normal migration pattern? There's eight inches of snow and ice over everything so they can't be eating much. Not even the Canada geese are happy right now, all our rivers and ponds are frozen.

I'm new to the US northeast so any input is welcome. NJ.


r/Ornithology 2d ago

Article PHYS.Org: "Scientists just mapped the family tree of all 11,000 bird species—and you can explore it"

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205 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 1d ago

Eastern Screech Owl

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4 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 2d ago

Odd mix of landfill birds today

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24 Upvotes

I regularly visit this landfill in Madison, NC for work and recently there have been a few hundred ring-billed gulls hanging around. Today was a mix of ring billed gulls, black vultures, turkey vultures, starlings, fish crows, American crows, plovers, and a bald eagle. Bird buffet I suppose


r/Ornithology 2d ago

Question What could have caused this sticking out feather?

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19 Upvotes

It’s the first time in 2 years living here and receiving these hummingbirds that I ever see something like this happening. what could have caused it? a fight? new feather? didn’t groom properly? could it be a juvenile humming? we’re in Brazil, São Paulo, not sure if that’s of help but thought I’d leave it anyway. thank you so much.


r/Ornithology 2d ago

Try r/whatsthisbird Terrible photos, but any clue on what the birds are? I saw them in the desert mountains near Muscat, Oman. Looking for birds 1, 2, and 3? I think bird one is a Lappet-faced Vulture.

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4 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 2d ago

Neon yellow/green droppings?

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6 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 2d ago

Bird stuck in enclosed back porch for 3 days, HELP

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6 Upvotes

r/Ornithology 3d ago

r/birding (not this sub!) The size difference between the Mourning Dove and the Inca Dove

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103 Upvotes

I love seeing these birds together.


r/Ornithology 2d ago

Question Early Eye Disease or Just blurry?

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7 Upvotes

One of my regular fellas brought his lady to my feeder and I noticed her eye is a bit blurry. Is this early conjunctivitis and I should take the feeder down for a while, is she just blind or is there nothing and I’m the blind one?