Female of the species

Absurd little birds across the world lay their eggs in the nests of other species, leaving the hapless parents to raise a changeling at the expense of their own offspring. The majority are cuckoos – o

Jolly frock-coated robins, majestic geese and arboreal partridges make for both literal and symbolic centrepieces at Christmas, says Matthew Dennison, as he revels in the cultural history of the season’s feathered fowl and game

THIS MONTH Barn owls

Nadia Shaikh seeks good company for a search-and-gorge to get her through the ruthless darkness of the winter months

I t’s 2am and Grandpa Boofhead is feeling frisky, his bellows echoing through the moonlit eucalyptus trees around my house in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. It’s early spring, the breeding seaso

Keepers at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage in Zambia have noticed a fashion trend spreading among groups of chimpanzees living there – sticking strands of grass in their ears or rectums, and just le