A few weeks ago when I was out cycling with some friends, we saw a few birds who looked like they were sleeping. Someone asked me what they were doing, and I said they were resting or sleeping but I'd ...

Birds resting on a beach or a wire often look calm, almost detached from what is happening around them. But that stillness can be misleading. For many species, sleep is not a full shutdown. One eye ...

Birds exist in a fluid and unpredictable world. Survival depends on remaining constantly alert, adapting and responding to encounters with predators and environmental conditions that change with the ...

Researchers have tracked muscle contractions in a bird's vocal tract, and reconstructed the song it was silently singing in its sleep. The resulting audio is a very specific call, allowing the team to ...

This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. Animals such as penguins and frigatebirds have evolved extreme sleep strategies — naps that last a few seconds, ...

Every animal with a brain needs sleep — and even a few without a brain do, too. Humans sleep, birds sleep, whales sleep and even jellyfish sleep. Sleep is universal “even though it’s actually very ...