The selective revision of beliefs in light of new evidence has been considered one of the hallmarks of human-level rationality. However, tests of this ability in other species are lacking. We examined...

Domestic cats, Felis catus, can be found almost everywhere in the world and estimating their impact on wildlife, including birds, requires the most up-to-date information. There are an estimated 9.3 million pet cats in Canada, 30–60% of which are given unrestricted access to the outdoors. With the best available data in 2013, cats were estimated to kill between 105–348 million birds per year in Canada, making them the leading measurable cause of bird mortality in the country. However, a decade later, research on outdoor cats and their predation of birds has increased considerably, providing an opportunity to revisit this mortality estimate. Using recent data on predation rates and cat abundance, we estimated that cats kill between 19 and 197 million birds per year in Canada, 71% lower than the earlier estimate. This does not mean that cat populations or predation rates on birds have declined since the previous estimate. Rather, we suggest that the difference can be primarily attributed to lower outdoor cat abundance estimated from field surveys compared to previously used cat ownership surveys and media reports of shelter intake data. Although the estimated number of birds killed annually by cats is considerably lower than the previous estimate, outdoor cats remain a serious concern for native bird populations.

Neophobia (the aversive response to novelty) varies considerably across species and individuals, and can impact adaptability and survival. This study assesses neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 bird ...

Increasingly frequent heatwaves require animals to spend more time thermoregulating at the expense of other fitness-related behaviours. Emerging evidence also indicates that high temperatures can impa...

Nature Reviews Psychology - Birds demonstrate complex numerical abilities at levels similar to primates. In this Review, Regolin and colleagues describe the contribution of laboratory, field and...

The evolutionary origins of human language are deeply intertwined with the ability to communicate intentionally. Grounded in frameworks from developme…

Older, more experienced individuals may make better mates than young, inexperienced individuals, but reproductive ability often declines in old ages. Mount

Humans from different cultures speak to their children using a form of speech known as "child-directed speech", or “baby talk”. Though to us, it may seem natural to communicate directly with our littl...