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While the photoreceptor outer segments in the bird outer retina have access to oxygen, the inner retina operates under chronic anoxia, supported by anaerobic glycolysis in the retinal neurons.

Changing fire regimes, leading to higher likelihood of high severity fire, are having unknown impacts on biodiversity. This study identifies regions of high avian biodiversity and individual bird species predicted to be highly exposed to future high severity.

Being airborne is energetically costly for vertebrates, and migrating birds are expected to spend some resting time on the ground. Here Liechti et al. show that the Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba) can stay airborne for more than 6 months, implying that this bird can sleep in flight.

Fossils of Cretaceous birds with feathers are rare and known mostly from China. Here, the authors show an enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil with a fully articulated skeleton and rachis-dominated tail feathers, which has implications for our understanding of feather evolution.

The bar-tailed godwit departs from New Zealand for breeding sites in Alaska. Here, using geolocators, godwits are shown to time their migration depending on the latitude of their breeding site in Alaska; early migrators locate in the south of Alaska, whereas later birds breed in the North.

Specimens of the Early Cretaceous bird C. sanctuswith ornamental tail feathers are commonly interpreted as male, and those without as female. In this study, in support of this theory, medullary bone—a tissue unique to reproductively active female birds—is found in a specimen without ornamental feathers.

Animals moving in groups are expected to differ from their many-body counterparts in equilibrium. A method based on maximum entropy shows that the interactions in starling flocks rearrange slowly enough to permit an equilibrium description locally.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza is an increasing global concern but its distribution in remote regions is not known. Here, the authors conduct an environmental influenza surveillance study in remote, uninhabited regions of the Global South by sampling fresh bird guano.

Assessment of how 16 taxonomic groups in a lowland tropical forest resist and recover from anthropogenic disturbance shows the potential of protecting naturally regenerating secondary forests to reverse biodiversity losses.

On the basis of data from >329,000 migratory birds, this study presents multispecies migratory connectivity as a parameter representing exposure to global change and shows that connections between breeding regions in Canada and non-breeding regions in South America are at greatest risk from global change.

Analysis of whole genomes and life-history data of male black grouse shows that deleterious mutations, especially those in promotors, reduce lifetime reproductive success.

By collating molecular, serological and population data from multiple wildlife surveillance schemes, this paper demonstrates that host species other than the most-affected and sentinel blackbird species must be involved in the transmission of Usutu virus in the Netherlands

Projections of extinctions of bird species and losses of functional diversity over the next 100 years suggest that even immediate and widespread threat abatement would be insufficient to prevent losses, and targeted recovery programmes must also be implemented to conserve avian diversity.

Morphological trait evolution is partly driven by biomechanical function, but a general framework for this relationship is lacking. Here, the authors test two possible frameworks and find that mechanical sensitivity provides the best prediction of morphological evolution in bird wings

A new, nearly complete fossil skull of Vegavis from the James Ross Basin, Antarctic Peninsula, provides insight into its feeding ecology and exhibits morphologies that support placement among waterfowl within crown-group birds.

Birdsong has long connected humans to nature. Historical reconstructions using bird monitoring and song recordings collected by citizen scientists reveal that the soundscape of birdsong in North America and Europe is both quieter and less varied, mirroring declines in bird diversity and abundance.

The combination of within-species variation in pathogen load, the shape of the relationship between pathogen load and infectiousness, and vector feeding preferences shape transmission of multi-host vector-borne pathogens. Here, the authors use experimental and wild bird infection data to characterize the role of 17 host bird species in avian malaria transmission in Hawaii.

Scientists are developing antibodies to track the evolution of these viruses and better treat infections.

Although development of a jab for the H5N1 strain of avian flu is well under way, other strains are receiving less attention — and political obstacles to research could hamper progress.

Climate and land-use change are transforming biodiversity, yet national futures remain uncertain. The study projects growing extinction debts, but suggests that sustainable low-emission pathways can limit the worst impacts on British biodiversity.

Forecasts of risks of invasion by non-native species are challenging to obtain. Here, the authors show that mechanistic models based on functional traits related to species’ capacity to generate and retain body heat identify areas at risk of invasion by non-native birds in Europe.

Cratonavis zhui, a bird from the Early Cretaceous of China, preserves a combination of non-avialan theropod skull features and a bird-like post-cranial skeleton.

Data from three citizen science programmes on the occurrence, abundance, community structure and demography of birds across the UK show that protected areas are associated with improved state for most species and provide the most benefit to specialist, rare and declining species.

The degree to which species tolerate human disturbance contributes to shape human-wildlife coexistence. Here, the authors identify key predictors of avian tolerance of humans across 842 bird species from open tropical ecosystems.

Desert-dwelling species are adapted to high temperatures, but further warming may push them beyond their physiological limits. Here, the authors integrate biophysical models and species distributions to project physiological impacts of climate change on desert birds globally and identify potential refugia.

Citizen-science data on bird observations from eastern North America show that the timing of spring arrival of migratory birds is broadly correlated with fluctuations in vegetation green-up but that the varying sensitivity of different bird species to this phenological event is linked to their different migratory strategies.

In addition to major innovations in their locomotor system, early birds evolved highly derived skulls. Here, Wang et al. three dimensionally reconstruct the skull of a new enantiornithine bird from the Early Cretaceous that illustrates the early avialan transitions in skull morphology and function.

A dataset of the genomes of 363 species from the Bird 10,000 Genomes Project shows increased power to detect shared and lineage-specific variation, demonstrating the importance of phylogenetically diverse taxon sampling in whole-genome sequencing.

Biodiversity is unevenly distributed across the tree of life, and theoretical work suggests that biological complexity may be influential in forming these patterns. Here, Brinkworth et al. have shown that bird clades with more complex appendicular skeletons tend to have lower extant species richness.

The two GRAS transcription factors SHR and SCR play a role in root development by interacting with proteins of the BIRD/IDD family, such as JACKDAW. Structural and biochemical characterization of the three components explains how the subunits interact together and with DNA.

Birds have a more crouched posture compared to their theropod dinosaur ancestors. Here, Jiang and colleagues describe a lower hindlimb of the Early Cretaceous birdConfuciusorniswith soft tissues apparently preserved even as molecules, indicating a somewhat more modern posture in ancient birds.

The impact of humans on megafaunal extinction is Australia is unclear. Here, the authors show burn patterns on eggshells of the extinct megafaunal bird, Genyornis newtoni, created by humans across Australia, suggesting that human predation contributed to the extinction of this bird around 47 thousand years ago.

Species response to environmental change can have an impact on community assemblages and ecosystem functioning. Here, the authors assess the combined impact of regional land use and climate change on bird functional diversity and find that global changes may lead to uniform species assemblages across Europe.

The evolution and systematics of Madagascar’s extinct elephant birds remains unclear. Here, the authors recover genetic, stable isotope, morphological, and geographic data from fossil eggshell to describe variation among clades, identifying cryptic diversity and potential drivers of speciation.

Narco trafficking and subsequent counter-drug interdiction strategies can lead to loss of biodiverse forests, which are important habitats for resident and migratory bird species. This study evaluates how such activities can threaten the bird habitat in Central American forests.

The developing pelvis in birds revisits its dinosaurian state before transitioning to the characteristic avian form, providing evidence of terminal addition during evolution.

The homology of digits across amniotes is debated. Here, the authors compare the developmental transcriptomes of digits across five divergent amniotes and show high evolutionary dynamism in expression profiles, with conservation of a distinct developmental identity only in the anterior-most digit.