Gulls. Bird rest stops to be tracked by NASA rain radar. (Phys.org) -- At sunset on a spring night, tree-dwelling songbirds take off in a flurry of wings from the lower Delmarva Peninsula near Oyster, Va.
The peninsula is a temporary home to hundreds of species of migratory birds. In spring they fly north to boreal forests of New England and Canada, returning from places as far south as Central and South America. Scientists are hoping to learn where the prime stopover spots are on this route with the help of ground radar set up by NASA to improve satellite measurements of rainfall. BBC Nature - Related birds evolve different songs and colours. 9 July 2012Last updated at 10:32 By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature, Ottawa, Canada The closely related blackpoll warbler (left) and yellow warbler (right) look and sound very different Canadian Researchers have discovered a pattern in birds' songs and plumage that help explain some of the colourful and tuneful variety in nature.
The team found that closely related birds that share the same habitat tend to look and sound different. This evolutionary rule of thumb seems to help birds to identify members of their own species. Dr Paul Martin presented the findings at the First Joint Congress for Evolutionary Biology in Ottawa.
Caspian Region birds. Korean birds. The Internet Bird Collection.