A 1994 FIFA World Cup souvenir. A McDonald’s McChicken container from 1996. Decades-old plastic packaging. Look inside the nests of Eurasian coots, and you’ll find a surprising history of human ...

Eurasian coots are round, black waterbirds with distinctive, chicken-like feet. Each year, these birds typically build new, bowl-shaped nests using leaves, rushes and reeds. But, while nesting in ...

“Do birds reuse their nests? asks Birds & Blooms reader Liza Peniston of Augusta, Kansas. The short answer is that it depends on the species. Some large birds may use the same nest for years, but most ...

One man’s trash is a common coot’s treasure, at least when it comes to plastic. In Amsterdam, the birds have been constructing nests out of plastic food wrappers, masks and other waste for at least 30 ...

An advertisement for the 1994 World Cup, fast food wrappers, COVID-19 masks—what birds used to build their nests reflects a world with more plastic. A coot bird in London on a nest made of twigs and ...

Contrary to its name, the common coot is no ordinary bird. Contrary to its name, the common coot is no ordinary bird. These plump, black-and-white birds have made themselves at home in the canals of ...

Snakeskin decor is a bold interior design choice—but for some birds, it's literally a matter of life and death. This is the conclusion of researchers from New York's Cornell University, who found ...

Researchers may have finally cracked the centuries-old mystery of why African honeyguide birds sometimes lead human honey-hunters to dangerous animals instead of bees: they could just be recall errors ...