birds

Tests of geese found in Henry and Vernon counties showed probable avian influenza infections, prompting the Missouri Department of Conservation to warn people to avoid touching any dead waterfowl and report them for testing.

The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is the core of a major flyway for migrating birds and one of the most visited refuges in the U.S. Anglers and outdoor enthusiasts saved it from being drained 100 years ago, but the next century brings new challenges.

A federal program kills hundreds of thousands of wild animals a year — like cowbirds in Missouri and prairie dogs in Kansas. Documents obtained by NPR show that many of those animals were killed in places where no damage to livestock was reported.

Sending birds through the mail is a longstanding practice in the United States, but reports of deliveries that come too late for hatchlings to survive are getting more common. It's part of a larger trend of complaints about delays within the U.S. Postal Service.

For more than a century, bird hatcheries and farmers across the country have used the U.S. Postal Service to ship newborn birds. But recent shipment delays have led to many birds dying in transit. Plus: Climate change could bring more water scarcity to the Midwest and Great Plains and, with it, more legal battles over water.

The eagle has undergone three surgeries at the World Bird Sanctuary after being found shot in the beak in central Missouri. It also had an injured wing and lead poisoning.

Librarians at the downtown branch named the pair of mourning doves after Carrie Westlake Whitney, the "mother of the Kansas City Public Library," and her longtime companion Frances Bishop. Staff want visitors' help naming the two hatchlings.

As many as 100 million or 200 million birds will fly northward along the Central Flyway on Saturday night. Kansas, Missouri and neighboring states lie in the hottest of hotspots.

For thousands of years, birds have fascinated the minds of scientists around the world. As birds face growing challenges of climate change and habitat destruction, a new exhibit at Kansas City’s Linda Hall Library explores the study of birds and humans' impact on their populations.

Quivira's marshes have a legal right to water. Kansas has never enforced it, because doing so would hurt farmers who use the water for crop irrigation.

Ranchers across the Midwest are battling black vultures, a federally protected bird that has a reputation for killing newborn livestock. While the birds play a major ecological role, their expanding population is becoming a big nuisance for producers.

The federally protected birds are preying on newborn livestock. Missouri's black vulture bird population has grown from 14,000 in 2015 to roughly 21,000 in 2021, which is only worsening the problem.