nest

Removing egg from nest may help save endangered whooping crane

Removing an egg from the endangered whooping crane's nest increases the species chances of survival despite governmental concerns about tampering with nature, says a University of Alberta scientist. Dr. Mark Boyce, from the Faculty of Science, studied the policy of removing from Wood Buffalo National Park one of two whooping crane eggs laid and raising it in a "foster-parenting" program....

Primates harvest bee nests in Ugandan reserve

In the first study of native African honeybees and honey-making stingless bees in the same habitat, humans and chimpanzees are the primary bee nest predators. Robert Kajobe of the Dutch Tropical Bee Research Unit and David Roubik from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute report this finding in the March, 2006 issue of Biotropica. Batwa Pygmies, who have traditionally harvested ho...

Disappearing nest egg: Researcher studying declining numbers of macaws

One of the most colorful birds in the world may have a less-than-colorful future. Macaws, the largest members of the parrot family, have seen their numbers decline in recent decades, and that trend is continuing today. Dr. Don Brightsmith, a bird specialist at Texas A&M University's Schubot Exotic Bird Center, part of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, is s...

'Empty nester' parent birds use recruitment calls to extend offspring care

By studying a habituated population of pied babblers (Turdoides bicolor) in the Kalahari Desert, researchers have discovered a surprising new way in which parent birds can extend the period of their care of offspring. The findings are reported by Andrew Radford of the University of Cambridge and Amanda Ridley of the University of Cape Town and appear in the September 5th issue of Current Biology,...

Cambodian vulture nests offer hope for species

Working in the remote forests of Cambodia, conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have just discovered Southeast Asia's only known breeding colony of slender-billed vultures, one of the world's most threatened bird species. Found in heavily forested country just east of the Mekong River in Cambodia's Stung Treng Province, the colony also represents one of the only...

Rare soft-shell turtle, nesting ground found in Cambodia

One of the world’s largest and least studied freshwater turtles has been found in Cambodia’s Mekong River, raising hopes that the threatened species can be saved from extinction. Scientists from Conservation International (CI), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Cambodian Fisheries Administration, and the Cambodian Turtle Conservation Team captured and released an 11-kilogram (24.2-pound) fem...