Birds

The fossilized skull of Navaornis is almost perfectly intact, a rarity for such an ancient specimen.

Fossil bears tooth marks from giant crocodile, hinting at how the predator met its end.

The long-legged buzzard with spectacular chestnut brown plumage, is one of the most impressive raptors in Israel.

Unlike the lungs of mammals, bird lungs do more than just breathe. An air-filled sac within the birds’ lungs is thought to increase the force the birds use to power flight muscles while soaring.

A new study led by Prof. Lee Koren of Bar-Ilan University (BIU) in Ramat Gan looked into the profound effects of habitat disturbance on the Arabian babbler.

In the last 30 years the the migratory bird population in Israel has dropped by more than 10%, according to KKL-JNF, due in part to climate change and the bird flu epidemic. 

Until the 1950s, there were still an estimated 1,000 pairs of vultures in Israel. Today, there are fewer than 200 such birds. 

Analyses of viruses found in the cows have so far not found any changes affiliated with transmission between people.

While most non-verbal gestures have mostly been studied in humans and primates, Japanese researchers found that a small bird species uses wing movements to convey messages.

The African desert warbler, or Curruca deserti, is a small songbird typically found in northwest Africa. This was the second known sighting in Israel, after a first in 2013.