Birds

July 9, 2020

Winners of the 2020 Audubon Photography Awards Highlight the Beauty of Birds

Each year the National Audubon Society asks photographers from across the United States and seven Canadian provinces to submit their best bird imagery. With over 6,000 submissions, the 2020 Audubon Photography Awards was hotly contested. In the end, American photographer Joanna Lentini came out on top for her magical photograph of a double-crested cormorant diving into the waters off Mexico.

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May 20, 2020

New Guinea Has Rare and Beautifully Haunting Creatures Called ‘Dracula Parrots’

There are some beautiful birds in the world but perhaps none with a name quite as frightening as one species found in New Guinea—the Dracula parrot. This is the nickname for the Pesquet's parrot (Psittrichas fulgidus), which is endemic to the island's hill and montane rainforest. With rich black feathers and a scarlet red underbelly, it has all the coloration of Count Dracula's cape, but looks can be deceiving.

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April 28, 2020

Rare Birds With “Vantablack” Feathers Absorb 99.95% of Light

Birds-of-paradise are striking animals known for their elaborate plumage, used by males to attract mates. Found primarily in New Guinea and eastern Australia, researchers are still discovering more about these rare birds. A case in point is the superb bird-of-paradise (Lophorina superb). With Vantablack feathers, this bird-of-paradise is known for its elaborate courtship ritual. But now, researchers have realized that what they believed was one species is actually two.

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