Subscribe to the OSS Weekly Newsletter!

Register for the OSS 25th Anniversary Event

Peckers Get Smaller Where It Gets Colder

16 Dec 2022

Charles Darwin postulated that Toucan’s massive beaks might be for sexual selection purposes. Other scientists have theorized that it could be for shows of intimidation, for actual defense or for...

The pitohui bird contains deadly batrachotoxin

26 Apr 2018

Did you know that the pitohui ("pit-oo-eey,") bird of New Guinea is the only bird known to contain a toxin?

Pitohui

20 May 2017

The Pitohui of New Guinea is the only known bird that produces a poison. Its feathers contain batrachotoxin, a nerve toxin also found in South American poison dart frogs. The Pitohui rubs its eggs...

Can "Kombucha tea" prevent the flu?

20 Mar 2017

While some people are looking to stockpile Tamiflu in case the bird flu strikes, a few others are placing their bets on a foul concoction with a folkloric history of curing everything from AIDS and...

Back to top