The typical wild green form of the Lineolated parakeet does not appear on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services' approved captive-bred bird import list, but it does allow other color mutations that do ...

A Purple Finch in the middle of molting makes for a strange picture but is an essential part of the bird's life.

Birds tend to be more colorful in the tropics, and scientists wanted to find out how they got there: if colorful feathers evolved in the tropics, or if tropical birds have brightly-colored ancestors ...

Feather mites are microscopic arthropods that inhabit the plumage and skin of birds, occupying specific microhabitats on their hosts. These mites exhibit extraordinary morphological diversity and host ...

More than 99% of birds can fly. But that still leaves many species that evolved to be flightless, including penguins, ostriches, and kiwi birds. In a new study in the journal Evolution, researchers ...

Migratory birds are specially adapted to find their way over extreme distances that represent remarkable tests of endurance. Now, researchers have discovered an unexpected way that migratory birds ...

Bright, beautiful birds face the highest wildlife-trade pressure, as aesthetic preferences shape demand across continents.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 prohibits possessing native North American bird feathers without a permit. The law, punishable by fines and imprisonment, aims to prevent the killing and ...

The California gnatcatcher, Polioptila californica, is a little gray bird. Males are identifiable by their black cap (absent in winter), females by the slight brownish tinge of their plumage.