20 December 2011 Last updated at 10:32 Share this page By Ella Davies Reporter, BBC Nature How can a bird of prey benefit from a perching bird's company? Lesser kestrels in Italy have formed a 'truce' with their jackdaw neighbours to save energy, a study has revealed. Researchers found that birds nesting in a mixed colony patrolled for predators less often than those living in single species sites. The unlikely co-operation happened despite the birds' [...]
Science & Environment
15 December 2011 Last updated at 01:48 Share this page By Ella Davies Reporter, BBC Nature Researchers had an unprecedented encounter with rare robins Rare black-throated robins have been recorded in the Qinling mountains, north central China, by scientists. The 14 new sightings double the total number for the species since its first discovery 125 years ago. A team of Chinese and Swedish researchers located two breeding areas after hearing the males' distinctive calls. The [...]
13 December 2011 last updated at 18:33 Share this page by Victoria Gill & Jason Palmer Science reporters, BBC Nature and BBC News the fish use their pelvic fins as hind legs to propel itself along the bottom of the tank Scientists have filmed an African lungfish using two fins to walk and "bound" along the bottom of its tank. The lungfish appeared to use their pelvic fins as hind legs – stepping along the [...]
13 December 2011 last updated at 01:17 Share this page 2011 marks 25 years of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's work in Madagascar to save native species, including the Critically Endangered ploughshare tortoise. But with the explosive growth in demand for pet tortoises from Asia, the ploughshares' former safe haven of Baly Bay National Park is under increasing threat from poachers. Richard Lewis is director of Durrell's Madagascar programme. Here he speaks about how the [...]
12 December 2011 Last updated at 09:16 Share this page by Ella Davies Reporter, BBC Nature Ostriches: researchers have resolved one of the big birds' mating mysteries Ostriches have bloodless erections, according to researchers. The large birds were previously thought to have blood-based erection mechanisms similar to humans. But scientists from Yale University, US, have now confirmed that the birds actually enlarge their penises with lymph fluid. All other birds with a penis achieve erections [...]
8 December 2011 Last updated at 07:41 Share this page the penguins beat their wings an average of 237 times on each dive Emperor penguins "time" their dives by the number of flaps they can manage with their wings. This is according to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. It aimed to show how the birds reached the "decision" that it was time to stop feeding and return to the surface [...]
6 December 2011 last updated at 09:17 Share this page By Brett Westwood BBC Natural History Unit Two-part toadstool: The greyish strangler is clothed by the orange "stockings" of the earthy powdercap It is proof that unusual wildlife can turn up anywhere. A north Worcestershire garden is playing host to a very rare fungus – the bizarre powdercap strangler (Squamanita paradoxa). The fungus is confined to a handful of sites in the UK, and is [...]
5 December 2011 last updated at 07:57 Share this page by Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature Species such as the white-shoulder ibis need arable landscapes to survive, say researchers Several threatened species in the developing world are completely dependent on human agriculture for their survival, say scientists. A study by researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA), found at least 30 bird species that would be driven to extinction without farmland. The research [...]
30 November 2011 last updated at 05:10 Share this page by Ella Davies Reporter, BBC Nature The stunning spectacle of the Aurora Borealis dances over Greenland Could our planet be under attack from the unearthly forces that cast a mysterious glow across the poles, disrupting life as we know it? The strange, beautiful coloured lights that circle the Earth's polar regions are a source of fascination for many. But as the Aurora Borealis, or Northern [...]
28 November 2011 last updated at 15:08 Share this page by Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature The dawn chorus of the colobus monkeys is a forest-wide "wall of sound" Scientists have revealed some of the secrets of the loud, growling monkey dawn chorus in the forests of Uganda. Guereza colobus monkeys appear to join the chorus to advertise their size and dominance. The scientists managed, for the first time, to trigger a forest-wide chorus [...]
