These Birds Are So Rare, Their Nests Are a Secret
Imagine catching your lunch as it falls out of the sky. For Montagu’s harriers, that’s just how dinner works. The male hunts, flies back toward the nest, and drops his catch in midair. The female swoops up and grabs it before it hits the ground. Birdwatchers call this the “food pass,” and it’s one of the most impressive things you’ll see a bird do.
Very few people in Britain get to see it, though. Montagu’s harriers are so rare there that wildlife experts keep the locations of their nests secret. That’s to protect them from people who might disturb the birds or steal their eggs. The population is in serious trouble: for five years in a row, not a single pair of harriers raised chicks anywhere in the UK (the United Kingdom, made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).
Secrecy isn’t enough, because harriers have an unusual habit for a bird of prey. They build their nests on the ground, hidden in fields of crops like wheat and barley. Climate change is making crops ripen earlier in the year, so farmers harvest sooner. That means the chicks may not be able to fly yet when the combine harvesters come through. To help, farmers are teaming up with the RSPB (the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, a major British wildlife charity). They put fences around the nests and leave a patch of crops standing until the young birds can fly.
Surviving the harvest is only the first challenge. Soon after, the harriers leave Britain and fly south for the winter. Scientists already know the adults travel thousands of miles to West Africa, to countries such as Senegal and Mali, on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. What they don’t know is which route the young birds take on their first trip. To find out, researchers have fitted two chicks with tiny satellite trackers. Every flap of the way, the data will help show how these young birds handle one of the toughest journeys in the animal kingdom.
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For most of us, forgetting a song is just a little embarrassing, maybe at karaoke. But for one Australian bird, it’s a sign of a much bigger problem.
The regent honeyeater is critically endangered. Fewer than 250 are left in the wild in southeastern Australia. While studying the species, researchers noticed something else: some young males weren’t singing the regent honeyeater song at all.
Like humans learning to talk, many songbirds learn their songs by listening to adults and copying them. But regent honeyeaters are now so rare and so spread out that some young males can’t find an older male to learn from. So they copy the songs of other birds nearby instead.
Researchers found that about 12% of the remaining males could sing only other species’ songs, not their own. That matters because males use their song to attract mates. Fewer songs could mean fewer chicks, making it even harder for the species to recover.
To help, scientists have been teaching young birds raised in zoos the traditional regent honeyeater song, using recordings and older wild males as tutors. The song has now disappeared from the wild, so these zoo birds are the only ones who still know it. Scientists hope that when the birds are released, they’ll pass it on and help the species survive.
Lots of people find seashells on the beach. Far fewer find a rare sea turtle. But that’s what a dog named Meg did on a walk along a beach in Wales, part of the United Kingdom, in December 2023.
The turtle was a Kemp’s ridley, and he was about 5,000 miles from home. Kemp’s ridleys live in the Gulf of Mexico, but ocean currents and strong winds likely carried this one across the Atlantic into much colder water. By the time he washed ashore, he was severely cold-stunned. That happens to cold-blooded sea animals, most often sea turtles, when the water temperature drops quickly, usually below 50°F. That might not sound freezing, but a typical swimming pool is around 80°F. Remember how cold that feels when you first jump in.
A cold-stunned turtle becomes weak, stiff, and unable to swim properly, so he was lucky to be found. Staff at Anglesey Sea Zoo named him Rhossi, after Rhosneigr, the beach where he was found. They warmed him up very slowly, by only about one degree a day, because warming too fast can be dangerous. He spent nearly two years recovering.
This summer, Rhossi finally went home. He flew by helicopter from Anglesey, an island off the coast of Wales, to London. From there, he took a cargo flight to Houston, Texas, to prepare for his release into the Gulf.
The rescue matters for more than just Rhossi. Kemp’s ridleys are the smallest sea turtles and among the most endangered. They lay their eggs on only a few beaches in Mexico and Texas, and only about 7,000 to 9,000 nesting females are left in the world. Every single turtle counts.
Look at the sea off the coast of East Greenland today, and you’ll notice two big changes: less ice and more whales.
Greenland is a huge Arctic island between North America and Europe. For a long time, thick sea-ice along its eastern coast kept large whales away, even in summer. But as the ocean has warmed and the ice has shrunk, some of the world’s biggest whales have moved in.
Scientists combined airplane surveys, satellite tags on whales and observations from local Inuit hunters. They found that fin whales, humpbacks, and minke whales now arrive by the thousands each summer. The whales are following capelin, a small fish that has moved into the warmer water. Humpbacks weren’t spotted in the area at all until 2006.
A sea full of whales might sound like great news, but it isn’t good news for every species. Many whales can travel between feeding areas, so they can follow the food. But some Arctic animals depend on sea-ice and have fewer places to go.
Polar bears have already been struggling as their icy habitat disappears. Now researchers say narwhals, which are specially adapted to icy Arctic waters, are having to share their home with the new arrivals, and in some places they’re being pushed out.
So the same change that’s creating a feast for some whales is shrinking the world for animals that need the ice.
Not many babies can say they had surgery before they were born. Then again, not many babies can say much of anything. But Theo, a baby from London, England, is healthy and thriving after doctors operated on him while he was still inside his mother’s womb.
During a routine scan, doctors discovered Theo had a condition called gastroschisis. That means his intestines were developing outside his body, through an opening in his belly. Babies with gastroschisis usually have surgery after they’re born. But Theo’s family got the chance to join a clinical trial in Texas that would fix the problem before birth.
It took two trips. First, doctors in Belgium injected Botox, a medicine that relaxes muscles, into the muscles of Theo’s belly. Then the family traveled to Houston, Texas. There, surgeons partially exposed the womb and gently moved Theo’s intestines back inside his body using keyhole surgery. That’s a technique where doctors operate through very small cuts using a tiny camera and special tools. Compared with open surgery, it can mean less pain, a lower risk of infection and a faster recovery.
The operation was a success. About three months later, Theo was born healthy. He avoided the multiple surgeries and long hospital stay he might otherwise have faced.
Theo is only the third baby in the world to have this surgery, and it’s still experimental. Doctors hope it will one day be available in more places, including the UK, and help many more babies like Theo.
For most of us, forgetting a song is just a little embarrassing, maybe at karaoke. But for one Australian bird, it’s a sign of a much bigger problem.
The regent honeyeater is critically endangered. Fewer than 250 are left in the wild in southeastern Australia. While studying the species, researchers noticed something else: some young males weren’t singing the regent honeyeater song at all.
Like humans learning to talk, many songbirds learn their songs by listening to adults and copying them. But regent honeyeaters are now so rare and so spread out that some young males can’t find an older male to learn from. So they copy the songs of other birds nearby instead.
Researchers found that about 12% of the remaining males could sing only other species’ songs, not their own. That matters because males use their song to attract mates. Fewer songs could mean fewer chicks, making it even harder for the species to recover.
To help, scientists have been teaching young birds raised in zoos the traditional regent honeyeater song, using recordings and older wild males as tutors. The song has now disappeared from the wild, so these zoo birds are the only ones who still know it. Scientists hope that when the birds are released, they’ll pass it on and help the species survive.
Lots of people find seashells on the beach. Far fewer find a rare sea turtle. But that’s what a dog named Meg did on a walk along a beach in Wales, part of the United Kingdom, in December 2023.
The turtle was a Kemp’s ridley, and he was about 5,000 miles from home. Kemp’s ridleys live in the Gulf of Mexico, but ocean currents and strong winds likely carried this one across the Atlantic into much colder water. By the time he washed ashore, he was severely cold-stunned. That happens to cold-blooded sea animals, most often sea turtles, when the water temperature drops quickly, usually below 50°F. That might not sound freezing, but a typical swimming pool is around 80°F. Remember how cold that feels when you first jump in.
A cold-stunned turtle becomes weak, stiff, and unable to swim properly, so he was lucky to be found. Staff at Anglesey Sea Zoo named him Rhossi, after Rhosneigr, the beach where he was found. They warmed him up very slowly, by only about one degree a day, because warming too fast can be dangerous. He spent nearly two years recovering.
This summer, Rhossi finally went home. He flew by helicopter from Anglesey, an island off the coast of Wales, to London. From there, he took a cargo flight to Houston, Texas, to prepare for his release into the Gulf.
The rescue matters for more than just Rhossi. Kemp’s ridleys are the smallest sea turtles and among the most endangered. They lay their eggs on only a few beaches in Mexico and Texas, and only about 7,000 to 9,000 nesting females are left in the world. Every single turtle counts.
Look at the sea off the coast of East Greenland today, and you’ll notice two big changes: less ice and more whales.
Greenland is a huge Arctic island between North America and Europe. For a long time, thick sea-ice along its eastern coast kept large whales away, even in summer. But as the ocean has warmed and the ice has shrunk, some of the world’s biggest whales have moved in.
Scientists combined airplane surveys, satellite tags on whales and observations from local Inuit hunters. They found that fin whales, humpbacks, and minke whales now arrive by the thousands each summer. The whales are following capelin, a small fish that has moved into the warmer water. Humpbacks weren’t spotted in the area at all until 2006.
A sea full of whales might sound like great news, but it isn’t good news for every species. Many whales can travel between feeding areas, so they can follow the food. But some Arctic animals depend on sea-ice and have fewer places to go.
Polar bears have already been struggling as their icy habitat disappears. Now researchers say narwhals, which are specially adapted to icy Arctic waters, are having to share their home with the new arrivals, and in some places they’re being pushed out.
So the same change that’s creating a feast for some whales is shrinking the world for animals that need the ice.
Not many babies can say they had surgery before they were born. Then again, not many babies can say much of anything. But Theo, a baby from London, England, is healthy and thriving after doctors operated on him while he was still inside his mother’s womb.
During a routine scan, doctors discovered Theo had a condition called gastroschisis. That means his intestines were developing outside his body, through an opening in his belly. Babies with gastroschisis usually have surgery after they’re born. But Theo’s family got the chance to join a clinical trial in Texas that would fix the problem before birth.
It took two trips. First, doctors in Belgium injected Botox, a medicine that relaxes muscles, into the muscles of Theo’s belly. Then the family traveled to Houston, Texas. There, surgeons partially exposed the womb and gently moved Theo’s intestines back inside his body using keyhole surgery. That’s a technique where doctors operate through very small cuts using a tiny camera and special tools. Compared with open surgery, it can mean less pain, a lower risk of infection and a faster recovery.
The operation was a success. About three months later, Theo was born healthy. He avoided the multiple surgeries and long hospital stay he might otherwise have faced.
Theo is only the third baby in the world to have this surgery, and it’s still experimental. Doctors hope it will one day be available in more places, including the UK, and help many more babies like Theo.