National Audubon Society

Scientists are turning to a low-cost radio-based technology to help solve the mysteries of declining bird populations.

Studying puffin populations on three Norwegian islands, scientists have uncovered the first evidence to connect a large-scale hybridization to 20th-century warming trends. Yet a serious decline in the birds’ genetic diversity does not bode well for their future.

Collecting, studying, and storing the carcasses from wind and solar facilities, scientists say, can unlock new insights.

A bay-breasted warbler weighs about the same as four pennies, but twice a year makes an extraordinary journey. The tiny songbird flies nearly 4,000 miles (6,437 kilometers) between Canada's spruce forests and its wintering grounds in northern South America.

The new rule would cement 2017 guidance that protects energy companies and other entities from being prosecuted for unintentionally killing birds.