How Wood Storks Hunt by Touch in Murky Wetlands
A wood stork walking through a shallow marsh may look as though it is simply probing the water. In reality, it is using one of the most specialized feeding techniques …
Wildlife
The Groundhog Is a True Hibernator — Here’s What That Actually Means
Every February, the groundhog becomes famous for supposedly predicting how much winter remains. Its real winter ability is far more remarkable. Groundhog true hibernation involves a profound, controlled reduction in …
Why Pangolins Curl Into a Ball: How Their Natural Armor Works
Pangolins look almost as if nature covered a small mammal in pinecone-like armor. Their unusual appearance comes from overlapping keratin scales, and the pangolin scale defense becomes especially impressive when …
How Weaver Birds Build Nests So Precise They Look Machine-Made
A finished weaver bird nest can look almost too precise to have been made with a beak and two feet. Yet weaver bird nest building is a remarkable combination of …
How Dung Beetles Use the Milky Way to Navigate in a Straight Line
On a dark African night, a dung beetle can climb onto a freshly made ball of dung, perform a brief orientation dance, tip forward, and begin rolling backward across the …
The Shoebill Stork: Africa’s Prehistoric-Looking Ambush Hunter
Standing almost motionless in a tropical African swamp, the shoebill can look more like a creature reconstructed from a fossil than a living bird. Its enormous shoe-shaped bill, pale staring …
The World’s Fattest Parrot Just Had a Record-Breaking Breeding Season
New Zealand’s extraordinary kākāpō has reached a conservation milestone that would have seemed almost impossible three decades ago. The kakapo record breeding season of 2026 produced 90 chicks that survived …
How Cuttlefish “Hypnotize” Their Prey With a Pulsing Light Show
A cuttlefish closing in on a crab can suddenly transform into something that looks almost unreal. Dark bands appear to flow repeatedly across its pale head and arms while the …
Why the Platypus Breaks Almost Every Rule of Being a Mammal
The platypus looks as if several unrelated animals were combined into one body: dense mammalian fur, a broad sensitive bill, webbed feet, a beaver-like tail, and an egg-laying reproductive system. …
How the Mantis Shrimp’s Punch Breaks the Laws of Ordinary Speed
A mantis shrimp does not look like an animal capable of producing one of the fastest strikes in the ocean. Yet some “smasher” species accelerate a hammer-like appendage so rapidly …