Posted on 19. July, 2011.

African grey parrots are capable of cooperating and performing tasks as a team, but they let their personalities lead their decision. That’s according to a new study published in the journal Animal Cognition by a team led by Dr Dalila Bovet from Paris West University Nanterre La Defense.

Posted on 19. July, 2011.

British-led action has prevented an attempt by some EU Member States to delay a ban on ‘battery cages’ for laying hens, according to the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Posted on 15. July, 2011.

Audubon California has negotiated agreements with farmers to secure the safety of several large colonies of rare Tricoloured Blackbirds. In all, the agreements resulted in the protection of the breeding production of at least 50,000 birds, which constitutes more than 10% of the species’ global population.

Posted on 15. July, 2011.

Recently released genetic research from Australia’s CSIRO and New Mexico State University in the USA is helping scientists better understand how Australian birds evolved. The researchers found that the tiger-parrots of New Guinea‘s rainforests – named for their striped or barred plumage – are not, as has been widely accepted, closely related either to a group of rosella-like parrots found in Australia and Oceania, nor a similar group found in Asia and Africa.

Posted on 14. July, 2011.

A new global estimate of the impact of longline fisheries on seabirds reveals that, despite efforts to reduce seabird deaths, upwards of 300,000 birds are still being killed every year. The study by scientists from BirdLife International and the RSPB is published in the journal Endangered Species Research.

Posted on 14. July, 2011.

Some birds that live near noisy sites can alter their songs to deal with din. But closely related species with similar songs may tweak their tunes in different ways, according a new study led by Clinton Francis of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, NC. The study was published in the May 25 issue of Biology Letters.

Posted on 13. July, 2011.

The US Food and Drug Administration has announced that Alpharma, a subsidiary of Pfizer Inc., will voluntarily suspend US sales of the animal drug 3-Nitro (Roxarsone), a product used by poultry producers since the 1940s.