Dark eyeliner feathers of peregrine falcons act as sun shields to improve the birds hunting ability, a new scientific study suggests. Scientists have long speculated that falcons eye markings improve their ability to target fast-moving prey, like pigeons and doves, in bright sunlight. Now research suggests these markings have evolved according to the climate; the sunnier the bird s habitat, the larger and darker are the tell-tale dark sun-shade feathers.
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IMAGE: One thing bears and people have in common? Their love of a tasty snack. Here, a black bear wanders in the Ninemile Valley of Montana. view more
Credit: Charlie Durrant
MISSOULA - In bear country, it s normal to find bruins munching down on temptations left out by humans - from a backyard apple tree to leftovers in the trash bin - but these encounters can cause trouble for humans and bears alike. One method to reduce human-bear conflicts is to secure attractants like garbage and livestock feed.
While effective when implemented, this approach requires people to change their behavior, and that makes things a little more complicated.
Scientists from Konstanz and Innsbruck uncovered how honeybees organise their collective defence in response to predators and used computational modelling to identify potential evolutionary drivers of the behaviour.