News Archive

Not all heroes wear capes, some wear GPS-enabled backpacks and have feathers. Wildlife ecologist Joe Kolowski is studying the breeding ranges of kestrels by fitting them with tiny tracking backpacks. Learn more in this Q&A.

In the eastern part of North America, purple martins nest in groups of plastic gourds hung by bird enthusiasts. Each year, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's bird team prepares nest gourds for a large colony of martins and monitors the birds throughout the breeding season.

In late April, birds in the mid-Atlantic region began to turn up sick or dying. Scientists are trying to figure out why.

Local songbirds will take advantage of the abundance of cicadas, something Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center scientists are eager to study.

Artificial light at night is a major factor in global insect decline. Smithsonian scientists and partners found that using amber-colored filters to remove the blue spectra of light from “warm white” LED (light-emitting diode) lamps drastically reduces insect attraction to nocturnal lighting in a...

Cuckoos are extremely secretive birds and difficult to spot. Researchers are developing a tool, using remote sound recorders and artificial intelligence, to help detect them.

In the midst of the pandemic, as the story goes, a team set out to bring swift foxes back to a land they had disappeared from more than 50 years ago. Learn more in this update from landscape ecologist Hila Shamon.

From a litter of chirping cheetahs and the birth of a lovable giant panda cub to groundbreaking coral reef research and new strides in animal care, there were many milestones to celebrate this year.

This International Cheetah Day, we are excited to look toward the future for both Echo’s nearly 8-month-old cubs and this vulnerable species.

The African crested rat's fur is packed with a poison so lethal it can fell an elephant, and just a few milligrams can kill a human. Researchers found that it's the only mammal known to sequester plant toxins for chemical defense, and they uncovered its unexpected social life.

On Peru’s pacific coastline, where desert meets sea, lives one of the least studied and most at-risk birds: the Peruvian tern. This bird's desert camouflage makes it almost impossible to track, but that’s exactly what our team set out to do.

En la costa del Pacífico peruano, donde el desierto se encuentra con el mar, vive una de las aves menos estudiadas y en mayor riesgo: el gaviotín peruano (Sternula lorata), también conocido como el gaviotín chico.

We hope that you have enjoyed watching black-footed ferret Potpie and her kits on the Black-footed Ferret Cam! Join us in celebrating the next chapter in their lives, contributing to their species’ survival.

Our playful 3-month-old Hartmann's mountain zebra colt is a bundle of energy! Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute ungulate keeper Tara Buk shares how the colt spent his summer in her latest update on our growing herd. 

After an absence of more than 50 years, the swift fox has returned to the grasslands of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana.

Guam kingfishers are incredibly rare and difficult to breed, so we are thrilled to be closing out the breeding season with four new chicks. This has been our biggest year to date — and one of our busiest!

Ecologist Andy Boyce discovered a lobster fossil near his field site in Montana, evidence that long ago this area of the Northern Great Plains was once the floor of a shallow sea.

Spindly legs and thick, red fur have earned them the nickname “foxes on stilts,” but maned wolves are neither fox nor wolf. Today, researchers are monitoring maned wolves' heart rates to learn more about these unique and charismatic canids.

Breeding season is the most demanding time of year for the bird team at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, but it can also be the most rewarding.

State-of-the-art tracking technology reveals previously unknown long-distance movements of Kirtland’s warblers during the mating season that have important conservation implications for North American birds.

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute carnivore keeper Adri Kopp and intern Shannon Richard share the latest news on Echo's cheetah cubs, from weigh-ins to water play. 

For frogs dying of the invasive chytridiomycosis disease, the leading cause of amphibian deaths worldwide, the genes responsible for protecting them may actually be leading to their demise, according to a new study published today in the journal Molecular Ecology by Smithsonian Conservation Biology...

Celebrate the Fourth of July with one of America's most precious national treasures: the black-footed ferret! SCBI carnivore keeper Vicki Lake shares the story of mom Potpie and her six kits as they grow, play and prepare to help save their species from extinction.

At their field site in north-central Montana, ecologist Andy Boyce and intern Andrew Dreelin are learning more about how black-tailed prairie dogs change the landscape and support the many species that call the prairie home.

The rainforest canopy is a challenging place to study. It’s hard to observe from the ground and difficult for researchers to access, so conservation biologist Tremie Gregory learned to climb trees.