New Lit Alert: Colourful Urban Birds: Bird Species Successful in Urban Environments Have More Elaborate Colours and Less Brown

Juan Diego Ibáñez-Álamo, Kaspar Delhey, Lucía Izquierdo, Mihai Valcu, Bart Kempenaers Juan Diego Ibáñez-Álamo and Kaspar Delhey shared first authors. Abstract Rapidly expanding urbanisation presents significant challenges to wildlife. Consequently, many studies have investigated the impact of urbanisation on diverse organisms. However, despite the ecological relevance of animal colouration, its association with urbanisation remains poorly understood. Using a global... Continue Reading →

May 2, 2025 0

Gulls are taking over our European cities

Coastal cities in Europe are swarmed with gulls, to the annoyance of many of those cities’ inhabitants. Gulls (Larus spp.) are naturally cliff-nesting species, but are able to thrive in urban areas because of the high food availability, the suitable climate, the similarity of nest substrate, lesser risk of predation and the presence of conspecifics... Continue Reading →

November 27, 2024 0

Urban Observation: Little Ringed Plovers on Urban Tidal Marshes

Who would ever have expected to see plovers on the banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai? The Huangpu River is the "mother river" of Shanghai that flows north throughout Shanghai. It passes some of the most population-dense regions of the city, including Lujiazui and the Bund, and provides green paths on both banks for... Continue Reading →

January 14, 2024 0

New Lit Alert: Metabolic adjustment in urban birds: glycometabolic enzyme activities in urban and rural tree sparrows (passer montanus)

Metabolic adjustment in urban birds: glycometabolic enzyme activities in urban and rural tree sparrows (passer montanus) J Shang, S Cun, S Zhang, W Liang Abstract Urbanization is rapidly changing habitats of wild birds around the world. Food availability is one of the important factors leading to phenotypic differences between urban and rural bird populations. Comparing... Continue Reading →

August 3, 2023 0

Urban Observation: Flamingo City

Flamingos are definitely not the first species that comes to mind when I think of urban birds, however, that might change if I ever travel to flamingo city! https://twitter.com/shivangmehtaNW/status/1668269832658206726?s=20 As someone who has personally only seen flamingos in captivity, @shivangmehtaNW's photos of hundreds of these vivid birds gathered in front of sprawling apartment buildings were... Continue Reading →

July 7, 2023 0

Urban Observation: Why did the pheasant cross the road?

A couple of weeks ago in Detroit, a ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) was spotted crossing a major urban road, seemingly to get to a nearby park! Although the details of this individual are hard to see in the photo, the presence of a white ring around its neck when zoomed in and the long, pointed... Continue Reading →

March 30, 2023 0

Urban Observation: Winter Neighbors 1: Canada Goose

Ever notice these long-necked denizens of NYC? Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) are a familiar sight in many parks and open spaces within the city, leading complex lives. New York City boasts 3 of the 7 subspecies of the Canada Goose, and it may come as a shock to know that the one subspecies we observe... Continue Reading →

January 17, 2023 0

Urban Observation: Mute Swan in Leicester

Check out this Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) sauntering about the busy streets of Leicester! https://twitter.com/Hannam79/status/1602660747997216770 This species of swan is native to most of Europe and has been introduced to the eastern United States. They reside in various aquatic ecosystems, including urban lakes and ponds. However, as this tweet's author stated, they don't often take... Continue Reading →

December 26, 2022 0

Urbanization and the Avian Endocrine System

In a previous post titled Meta-analysis of Urban Bird Phenology, we discussed how urban conditions have affected the average value of phenology and reproductive phenotypes in bird species. Capilla-Lasheras et al. found that urban bird populations had lower values than their non-urban conspecifics for three life-history traits, indicating earlier lay dates, smaller clutch sizes, and... Continue Reading →

November 18, 2022 0

Urban Observation of the Week: Co(r)vid Party

Although we need to social distance and wear masks for safety, wild animals (even domestic ones) are exempt from these during the pandemic. So a bunch of corvids get together and have a nice little party on your power lines. I'm thinking our observer may have tasted a hint of jealousy? Stay safe and healthy!... Continue Reading →

September 2, 2020 0

Urban Observation of the Week: House Sparrows at a Field Station

Urban birders strike again! This week we bring a pair of house sparrows at a field station in Louisiana catching food for their young. Do you have a photo or video of an urban species doing something unusual? What about a rare plant or animal that you were surprised to find in a city?... Continue Reading →

August 12, 2020 0

Urban Observation of the Week: Fox and Magpie

It is getting wild in Scotland cities! Last week we brought you canal otters of Edinburgh and this week we bring you a fox and a magpie in Glasgow. A bit of shrubbery between a car park seems to attract several urban wildlife creatures. Do you have a photo or video of an urban species... Continue Reading →

February 26, 2020 1

Urban Observation of the Week: Woodpecker in Washington Square Park

Last week we brought you a bald eagle in Manhattan, this week we present you with a woodpecker found in Union Square Park in NYC. Urban birders win again! Parks are a great refuge for many organisms that find themselves living inside the big cities. Check out the other animals found near Union Square Park.... Continue Reading →

February 12, 2020 0

Urban Observation of the Week: Wild Neighborhood Turkeys

With the US Thanksgiving tomorrow, here's a turkey treat! Wild turkeys were found earlier this month terrorizing Holiday City, a New Jersey neighborhood. Wild animals can be dangerous, so keep your distance. Sadly, packs of wild animals get pushed into urban neighborhoods as we continue to develop our cities on their territory. They can cause... Continue Reading →

November 27, 2019 0

Tag: urban birds