Feather in Shropshire's cap as DNA tests show Noddy the heron is a rare visitor indeed

By Aimee Jones | Shrewsbury | News | Published: Jan 23, 2018

He's a character loved by those who have come across him in Shropshire – and now DNA testing has proved that Noddy the heron is one special bird.

Wildlife experts have carried out tests on the bird, who unexpectedly chose to make Shrewsbury his home.

Noddy was taken in by Shropshire's Cuan Wildlife Rescue in November after living in Shrewsbury's Dingle for about seven months.

People travelled from all over to see the heron, but a member of the public raised concerns about his health as winter fell and fish stocks plummeted.

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Surprising DNA test result leads to bird discovery

By Rob Verger Published June 27, 2016 

The two types of brown birds look like birds of a feather. But their genomes tell a different story. 

DNA testing has revealed that the two types of birds— previously thought to be subspecies— are in fact different species, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reports.

The bird is called the streak-eared bulbul, and it’s common in Southeast Asia. One type, with red eyes, is called Pycnonotus blanfordi blanfordi, and lives in Myanmar. The other, with blue or greyish eyes, lives in Thailand, and is called Pycnonotus blanfordi conradi.

“Streak-eared bulbul is a very common bird. It’s in city parks in Bangkok or in Rangoon,” Robert Tizard, a senior technical advisor to the WCS’s Mynamar program, told FoxNews.com from Thailand. “It’s a garden species that people would see every day if they were out looking.”

The similarities between the two birds don’t stop at their appearance, even if there are some subtle differences, Tizard said.

“They sound very similar as well,” he said. “They make these screechy sounds — sort of a scratchy call — that isn’t particularly distinctive. So everybody just considered them as a common species with some slight differences.”

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DNA reveals bird habitat shift surprise

5 March 2015 Last updated at 12:42

By Mark KinverEnvironment reporter, BBC News

A "dramatic" shift in behaviour and appearance obscured the identity of two birds on remote Indonesian islands.

The forest-dwelling birds are members of the pipit and wagtail families, but were not recognised as such, partly because they live in very different habitats to their relatives.

The madanga was considered to be a white-eye species, while the Sao Tome shorttail's affinities were uncertain.

The findings appear in the Royal Society journal Open Science.

DNA samples confirmed the their true identities, and it suggests that birds can change appearance in short periods of time.

"This is surprising because these birds do not look anything like a pipit or wagtail," explained co-author Per Alstrom from the Swedish Species Information Centre, based at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

He told BBC News that the birds also occurred in "completely different habitats".

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DNA test to check if bird is one of three stolen from butterfly house

The Co Down family which had three parrots stolen and then returned is to carry out a DNA test on one of them to determine if it is really theirs.

Three parrots were stolen from the Seaforde Butterfly House in south Down on Monday, along with a number of terrapins.

Two of the birds were returned to the Forde family business by an anonymous man who met them in Lisburn.

Police found a third parrot in Newtownards but the Fordes are divided on whether it is really their ‘Pedro’.

“We have got this bird very like Pedro and some of us say 100 per cent it is Pedro but the rest of us are not entirely convinced. The police found it in Newtownards,” said Charles Forde.

“Personally I don’t think it is him.

“When he came back he was totally out of character, he was so well behaved. But he is normally quite aggressive and maybe has more yellow on his shoulders.

“He used to make so much noise – you wouldn’t really want to put your hand near him.

“We have got the original feathers so we are hoping to do a DNA test to see if it is really him.

“I don’t want to deprive someone of their parrot if it is not ours.

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Feathers' DNA tested in Cornwall to sex Devon Inca Terns

The feathers of a monomorphic species of bird in Devon have been DNA tested because humans are unable to tell the sexes apart.

Male and female Inca Terns, which have a red beak and white moustache, can only be told apart by DNA as they look and behave in the same way.

The feathers plucked from 25 birds at Living Coasts in Torquay were tested by Avian Biotech, based in Truro.

The results showed a split of 70% males to 30% females from this year's young.

'Breeding mix'

Clare Rugg, from Living Coasts, said: "You have to pluck that feather directly from the bird so that you know for sure which one it has come from.

"We take three or four feathers from each bird, put them in a clear, sealed, labelled bag and send it away to Avian Biotech in Cornwall."

Inca Terns fly freely under a 50,000 cubic metre canopy at Living Coasts, a coastal zoo and aquarium.

Ms Rugg added: "It's about managing the flock properly, having the right sex ratio and making sure the breeding mix is good, so that no birds become over-represented genetically."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20579460

Transgendered Bellbird Found in New Zealand

Biologists at the Zealandia eco-sanctuary in New Zealand have spotted a bellbird that exhibits features and behaviour of both male and female members of the species.

The bird hatched in early 2011, and DNA testing then showed it as female, but since then its development has been rather different to normal female bellbirds.

Normally, female bellbirds have a white feather pattern but the chick bean to show signs of the dark plumage normally seen on male birds. It also began to behave in a masculine way, not flitting between flowers like a female bellbird but instead moving with purpose, ready to defend its territory.

The bird’s calls are unusual too. It makes both male calls and the distinctive “chup chup” normally heard from females, but the latter are louder and more frequent that is normal.

Zealandia conservation officer Erin Jeneway told New Zealand’s Dominion Post, “There’s something we can’t pin down. We haven’t seen anything like this before.”

Victoria University biologist Ben Bell told the Post, “It could be due to a hormonal imbalance or it could be a reaction to shock or an incomplete moult — given the appearance and behaviour, any of those would be unusual though.”

It’s not the first transgendered bird to be found. Both transgendered and homosexual birds have been documented before. But it’s the first time the trait has been seen in New Zealand bellbirds.

Source: Wired.co.uk

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/transgendered-bellbird/