For a reddish-beaked bird called the zebra finch, sexiness is color-coded. Males have beaks that range from light orange to dark red. But to females, a male's colored bill may simply be hot, or not, ...

Researchers have demonstrated that learning about the appearance of their parents may give birds a preference for mates with exaggerated parental traits, rather than traits that more exactly match ...

We examined natural and sexual selection in a laboratory population of zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), with a principal focus on bill color. Previous studies indicated that females prefer males ...

In the Australian Outback, we follow Mylene Mariette as she sets up an unusual experiment that reveals something extraordinary about the zebra finches battle to survive. When it gets really hot out ...

Funding: This work was supported by National Institutes of Health (R35 GM150714, RO1 AR047364, R37 AR060306, RO1 AR078050 to CMC), National Science and Technology Council (Dragon Gate fellowship ...

Right across the bird and animal kingdoms, the colour red is used for communication, often to attract mates, and zebra finches are no different: the males have a distinctive red beak, which is a ...