World Shorebirds Day 2026 looks at recent progress for shorebirds and why continued monitoring of local sites matters beyond a single day or count.

Alpine Swifts first bred in Hungary in 2020. Six years later, numbers are growing and new breeding sites are appearing. A new breeding bird is becoming established.

The Global Shorebird Counts start tomorrow! From 1–7 September, count shorebirds at your local sites and share your eBird checklists with WorldShorebirdsDay. Big counts, small counts or zero counts ...

An experiment with Common Bulbuls found that condition before moult and diet during feather growth affected different parts of the process. A new Conceptual Note on how birds finance the replacement ...

An experiment with Common Bulbuls found that condition before moult and diet during feather growth affected different parts of the process. A new Conceptual Note on how birds finance the replacement ...

Do tracking devices affect small birds? A new study on Kentish Plovers finds no detectable impact from solar-powered GPS tags—but raises deeper questions about the limits of biologging.

Celebrating 40 years of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network and thanking the people who have supported World Shorebirds Day.

Oystercatcher Day has officially launched as a new international awareness initiative focused on oystercatchers, coastal habitats, and beach-nesting birds.

A global initiative promoting shorebird conservation through education, citizen science, observation, and worldwide participation.

Most birding apps optimise for speed and certainty. Firefinch takes another path — using illustration and slower learning to explore how birding tools shape observation itself. A new reflective featu...

Curlews are not disappearing unnoticed. We now understand the drivers of their decline with precision. Yet across continents, recovery remains slow — or absent. On World Curlew Day, a closer look at ...

A 40-year study of the Hermit Thrush reveals how climate change reshapes birds in unexpected ways — through both evolution and phenotypic plasticity.

The Thousand Birder Circle is a new way for readers to support thoughtful ornithological writing and the continued development of The Ornithologist.

A Shoebill that never existed – yet looked entirely real. Artificial intelligence is already reshaping ornithology, from acoustic monitoring to migration modelling. But generative systems raise deepe...

The Thousand Birder Circle is a new way for readers to support thoughtful ornithological writing and the continued development of The Ornithologist.

New research shows that just 11.6% of The Gambia remains highly suitable for Hooded Vultures – and most of it lies within human landscapes.

Taking into account future climatic changes.

How wildlife art and illustrations shape memory, education, and the foundations of ornithology — an interview with wildlife artist, Szabolcs Kókay.

A new Conceptual Notes series in The Ornithologist explores the questions and uncertainties that sit just beyond conventional scientific publishing.

A short conceptual note on naming, migration, and the European Roller’s shifting centre of gravity.

On Saturday 7 February 2026, a week after the autumn hunting season had closed, BirdLife Malta collected a Barn-owl from Dwejra, Malta, bearing a closed ring inscribed BORP 10.0 24 014, linking the bi...

We hear woodpecker drumming everywhere, but rarely ask what it truly signals. This Conceptual Note looks at what we know — and what we don’t.

American Oystercatchers are nesting on Florida rooftops as beaches disappear—an extraordinary but precarious response to coastal development.

Listening to forests can change how habitat quality is understood. A Finnish study shows Crested Tits respond to fine-scale forest structure rather than forest age.

The Ornithologist is an independent online magazine exploring bird science, conservation, migration, and the fascinating world of birds – delivered through thoughtful articles and expert insights.

The Ornithologist is an independent online magazine exploring bird science, conservation, migration, and the fascinating world of birds – delivered through thoughtful articles and expert insights.

When winter bites, survival becomes a question of access, not abundance. New research shows how Taiga Bean Geese rely on winter cereal fields during the harshest cold spells.

Genetic data from Mexico’s coastlines reveal that American Oystercatchers are far more anchored to place than their mobility suggests.

A new study showed that presence of mercury was linked to inefficient fuel use during energy production in wild birds’ cells, while certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may prevent prote...

Cormorants are often dismissed as poorly designed divers because their feathers let in water. This article reveals why that “flaw” is actually a refined evolutionary strategy, contrasting their diving...

What happens to birds when the law designed to protect them is itself under threat?

New logger data reveal how Western Orphean Warblers cross the Sahara: not in marathon flights, but in a sequence of short, high-altitude hops along a remarkably direct migration route.

The PatchBird Initiative advances bird conservation through citizen science and structured patch birding. Using the eBird platform and a standardised survey method tied to UTM grids, PatchBird collect...

Female Ruffs are not the solitary nesters we thought. A new study shows they cluster nests near leks and neighbours, reshaping our understanding of their breeding strategy.

A single tracked Bluethroat from central Siberia reveals a hidden migration route across Central Asia – and hints at a long-suspected migratory divide.

Iceland’s role in the movement of avian influenza is clearer than ever – and Gyrfalcons are now testing positive. With numbers already declining, the species faces a changing risk landscape.

The Caspian Gull’s westward expansion did not begin at the coast. Tracing its journey from Ukraine to the North Sea reveals how freshwater corridors reshaped Europe’s avian map.

The proposal to downlist the Peregrine Falcon under CITES risks reopening the pressures that once drove it to collapse. Have we learned nothing from its recovery?

The proposal to downlist the Peregrine Falcon under CITES risks reopening the pressures that once drove it to collapse. Have we learned nothing from its recovery?

A Pygmy Cormorant has attempted to breed in Poland for the first time, marking the northernmost event in its range. The 2024 nest in the Upper Vistula Valley highlights the species’ northward expansio...

Four decades after reintroduction, Griffon Vultures in France show remarkably high and stable survival. A model case in long-term conservation.

New study maps the Scarlet Flycatcher’s migration using 40,000+ citizen-science records. Clear breeding/wintering zones, eastward shifts, and possible partial migration. A powerful example of what cit...

A new study reveals how Caspian Gulls are thriving in the Netherlands by using freshwater habitats overlooked by other gulls.

Nearly 1,900 birds—mostly Brown Pelicans—were killed in a rare Texas hailstorm. Drone surveys reveal the full scale of the devastation. News story now live.

In a world torn by wars and crises, bird conservation can seem irrelevant. Yet to protect life itself is not indulgence – it’s resistance.

“Should I stay, or should I go?” This is a question that every migratory bird has when deciding how long to stay at a site to rest and refuel.