Birds

Poetry’s debt to birdsong

The creatures of the air have for centuries inspired some of our finest writing, and they still do

Britain’s swan song

How we fell out of love with the majestic waterfowl.

Survival of the dishiest

The useless beauty of male birds is evidence of something evolutionists long struggled to accept: female agency.

Cuckoos sang me happy birthday for a decade. Now they are silent

Britain’s shifting weather patterns are a particular problem for these ingenious, misunderstood birds.

Will bird flu be the next pandemic?

While attention was focused on Covid, a new variant of avian influenza emerged: one that can infect many different species…

Spring reflection: Heeding the dawn chorus

Every year the first blackbird feels more poignant, its notes pregnant with nostalgia.

Nostalgia reveals nature’s true value

A sentimental perspective helps identify those essential creatures and habitats we have carelessly lost.

Antarctica’s penguins may yet be safe from bird flu, but other threats remain

If the birds are lost, it will be due to commercial over-fishing and our failure to take simple steps to…

The bird that wasn’t there

Soon after the Bay thrush was discovered in 1774, it was lost. But we can no longer blame ignorance for…

The NS Poem: Birds of the Arctic

A new poem by Simon Armitage.

Dead birds falling from the sky is a bad omen for humanity

A new variant of avian flu derived from intensive poultry farming is decimating British wildlife.

Mysteries of the owl and octopus

A new school of natural history seeks to understand the deep intelligence of the Earth’s most enigmatic creatures.

Summer reflection: the silence of the seabirds

In my lifetime, seabirds have symbolised one thing above all: pollution.

11 March 1922: Robins are selfish birds. Sparrows, on the other hand, are sociable.

Why we must fight the threat of a “silent spring”

My sleepless hours are filled by birdsong, but it’s a solace that may soon be lost.

Where have all the jays come from?

How a success story from this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch hides a wider disappearing act.

Where have all the sparrows gone?

For millennia the house sparrow has thrived alongside humanity, now its halved population offers a warning.

Birds aren’t real and this man wants the world to know

The Birds Aren’t Real movement is a combination of post-truth satire and Gen-Z s**tposting. But is Peter McIndoe on the…