Richard Collins

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A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

<p>You might expect that hedgehogs, rummaging for creepy-crawlies in leaf-litter, would have little use for high-pitched noise detection. But you’d be wrong! Picture: iStiock</p>

outdoors

Spike in numbers: Sounds good for hedgehog survival rates

Hedgehog numbers are falling all over Europe. But new research shows there’s a ray of hope for this ancient beast

<p>Male humpbacks use singing and elaborate breaching to impress females.</p>

outdoors

Humpback whales take more mature approach to mating

<p>In four out of five golden eagle nests, the firstborn kills, and eats, its little brother or sister. Attacks cease only when the chicks’ feathers begin growing.</p>

outdoors

Cainism may help restore eagle numbers in Ireland — here's how

Lambay Island

outdoors

Pest project planned for Lambay (Island)

Views of Sunrise in Clontarf,Dublin.

outdoors

Are brent geese becoming city geese?

Malaria drug research

outdoors

Climate change and deforestation helping mosquitos thrive

Five Monk Parakeets on a garden fountain in a Santiago garden

'Testing the waters’ when forming new relationships

Monk parakeets don’t rush into friendships. They gradually escalate interactions, starting from safe, low-risk behaviours and moving toward more intimate acts only when trust is established

Thu, 15 Jan, 2026

A Brown Bear comes close to a house entrance in Hokkaido

Increase in bear attacks in Japan

One theory is that trees may be to blame — a lean crop of seeds and nuts may be forcing hungry bears into human habitats in search of food

Thu, 11 Dec, 2025

View from the sea of Giannutri Island

Studying impact of honeybees on local wild bees

Giannutri is a little island off the coast Italy. Its isolation ensured that honeybees never got there under their own steam — 18 hives were introduced in 2018 and scientists have been studying their effects on the local bee population

Thu, 04 Dec, 2025

Ancient honeyhunting practice continues

Ancient honeyhunting practice continues

Scientists have found that human-honeyguide cooperation is used mainly as a recreational activity nowadays. Despite increased education and job opportunities, honey-hunting can survive "without economic incentives for humans, sustained instead by its cultural and social importance"

Thu, 27 Nov, 2025

Richard Collins: Black Death myths challenged in new research paper

Richard Collins: Black Death myths challenged in new research paper

A millennium ago, climate change began drying out grasslands in Asia. Black rats there sought sanctuary in human dwellings. When the rats died of the plague, their fleas jumped onto people

Thu, 20 Nov, 2025

Pair of male and female eursian bullfinch sitting just above water level

Why female mammals live longer than males but female birds die first

Scientists have found that while lifestyle and environment are important, genes also play a part

Thu, 13 Nov, 2025

Mosquito - Culiseta annulata

Richard Collins: Is human-induced global warming opening the door to dangerous insects?

During the 1850s, soldiers returning from the Crimean War introduced plasmodium, the malaria-causing parasite, to Cork’s mosquito population. Oliver Cromwell may have died of ‘Cork fever’, contracted during his visit to Ireland

Thu, 06 Nov, 2025

Right Whales

Richard Collins: Are we finally going to do right by the 'right whale'?

Slaughter for oil and baleen may have eased but there is a new threat... with the melting of Arctic ice, ship traffic is increasing and these slow-moving giants are being run down by ships

Thu, 30 Oct, 2025

Migration and aging link revealed by long-term flamingo study

Migration and aging link revealed by long-term flamingo study

Flamingos could hold the secret to slower aging

Thu, 25 Sep, 2025

Brent Pease TON

The working day of some birds may be up to an hour longer than ‘normal’ due to artificial light

New research shows that light pollution caused birds to sing, on average, 50 minutes longer that they would were artificial lights absent. Birds in the brightest environments tended to begin singing up to 20 minutes earlier in the morning and continued doing so up to half an hour later in the evening

Thu, 11 Sep, 2025

Richard Collins: No smiles for illegally released crocodile in Spain

Richard Collins: No smiles for illegally released crocodile in Spain

The one-metre long yacare caiman was smuggled into Spain from South America. As it grew, the exotic pet probably became too difficult to keep at home, so its owner dumped it into the reservoir

Thu, 04 Sep, 2025

Female gorillas choosy about which group to settle in — potentially an inbreeding avoidance strategy

Female gorillas choosy about which group to settle in — potentially an inbreeding avoidance strategy

Scientists have found that female gorillas shunned troops in which males from their own neck-of-the-woods were present, but opted to join ones in which no males were their close relatives

Thu, 28 Aug, 2025

Richard Collins: A joy to learn about extinct and 'resurrected' creatures

Richard Collins: A joy to learn about extinct and 'resurrected' creatures

From Ireland's last Great Auk to a fish thought to have been extinct for 70 million years — there's so much to discover in this new zoological book

Thu, 24 Jul, 2025

Does your cat prefer to sleep on their left side? Scientists have investigated why...

Does your cat prefer to sleep on their left side? Scientists have investigated why...

Researchers found that 65% of cats sleep on their left side and only 35% prefer the right — this trait may have evolved as a way of responding to danger and for hunting prey more efficiently

Thu, 17 Jul, 2025

Richard Collins: Baboons walk in line to be close to their friends

Richard Collins: Baboons walk in line to be close to their friends

Researchers investigated whether baboon progressions form to avoid predators or whether it's a leadership bid — but now scientists say it's due to 'patterns of social affiliation' or friendships

Thu, 26 Jun, 2025

Image showing hirudotherapy procedure

Richard Collins: Leeches suck — which can be handy at times

Napoleon suffered from haemorrhoids and was prescribed 25 leeches to be applied to the 'swelling' on the day before the battle of Waterloo

Thu, 19 Jun, 2025

Richard Collins: Capybara are in the 'rodents we love' category

Richard Collins: Capybara are in the 'rodents we love' category

Guinea pigs and gerbils make loveable pets; we find squirrels endearing but rats inspire loathing everywhere

Thu, 12 Jun, 2025

Seabirds in trouble due to fewer sand eel and sprat

Seabirds in trouble due to fewer sand eel and sprat

Puffins must now travel ever longer distances to harvest fish for their chicks. Flying long distances, with fish held in the bill, is an additional burden on stressed parents. Chicks are undernourished and their survival rates fall

Thu, 05 Jun, 2025

Greater Spotted Woodpecker on tree through branches

Like a phoenix... rare woodpecker spotted in city park

Have you heard a woodpecker 'drumming' on trees in Phoenix Park in Dublin — or elsewhere across the country?

Thu, 29 May, 2025

Three ground-breaking studies on family lives of great apes... our nearest and dearest

Three ground-breaking studies on family lives of great apes... our nearest and dearest

From mother and baby bonds to linguistic traits, animal studies have helped us understand many of the peculiarities of human behaviour

Thu, 22 May, 2025

Did other birds copy owls' state-of-the-art navigation system?

Did other birds copy owls' state-of-the-art navigation system?

A new harrier biology study says these large daylight-hunting hawks have evolved an auditory system similar to owls

Thu, 15 May, 2025

Bone analysis proves gladiators fought lions in Britain

Bone analysis proves gladiators fought lions in Britain

Maynooth University anthropologists confirm that Roman gladiators battled wild animals — the 'sport' considerably impacted the population of North African big cats

Thu, 08 May, 2025

The mystery of a swan's death in County Offaly

The mystery of a swan's death in County Offaly

The commonest cause of death in mute swans is collision with cables when flying. A swan’s eyes, located at the sides of the head, give it virtual all-round vision, warning it of impending attack by predators. But it can’t see well in front of it and may not notice a cable until it’s too late to avoid a collision

Thu, 24 Apr, 2025

Mine-clearing record for hardworking Ronin the rat

Mine-clearing record for hardworking Ronin the rat

Fate is not an eagle, it creeps like a rat — Elizabeth BowenVisiting Cambodia some years ago, I came upon a band of musicians busking at the side of the road.

Thu, 17 Apr, 2025

They're 'elegant little killers' but what's a weasel's favourite food?

They're 'elegant little killers' but what's a weasel's favourite food?

No weasel words when it comes to weasel treats — baited camera traps have revealed the winner dinner

Mon, 14 Apr, 2025

Rare turtle stranded due to Donald Trump aid freeze

Rare turtle stranded due to Donald Trump aid freeze

Executive orders signed in the White House means international marine turtle conservation work is on hold for now, leaving Rhossi stranded on this side of the Atlantic. Kemp's ridley turtles are critically endangered — it is believed that only about 7,000 females exist

Wed, 02 Apr, 2025

Daddy long legs mosquito swarm in England

Insect population collapse and why it matters now

Bird populations here and elsewhere have been halved during our lifetimes, with a 40% decline in the last decade alone.

Thu, 27 Mar, 2025

Rare black wolves — could they be wolf-dog mixes?

Rare black wolves — could they be wolf-dog mixes?

Camera traps in a forest have caught video of two all-black wolves. Now scientists are investigating where they might have come from.

Thu, 20 Mar, 2025

Narwhal couple, two Monodon monoceros swimming together in the ocean (3d rendering)

How drones are helping in elusive 'unicorn' research

The underwater behaviour of the secretive narwhal has been almost impossible to study until now — but drone technology means we can now see what they are up to and what they are really doing with those tusks

Thu, 13 Mar, 2025

COMMON EIDER somateria mollissima, EGGS IN NEST, SCOTLAND

Richard Collins: Nesting eider ducks will pay farmers 'rent'

The eider, twice as heavy as a mallard, is Europe’s biggest duck. On leaving the nest, the female covers her eggs in down plucked from her breast. The grey fluffy material is a ‘gold standard’ insulator. It traps the bird’s heat better than does the domestic goose down we stuff into pillows

Thu, 06 Mar, 2025

Richard Collins: No animals eligible for Oscars even if they are the real stars

Richard Collins: No animals eligible for Oscars even if they are the real stars

New research finds that whale song has a human language-like structure

Thu, 27 Feb, 2025

Tiger population increase

Richard Collins: How has India turned the fortunes of its tigers around?

A paper just published claims that tigers are staging a comeback in India

Thu, 20 Feb, 2025

Richard Collins: Cultural loss in chimp groups — and the role of humans

Richard Collins: Cultural loss in chimp groups — and the role of humans

Humans have caused the loss of the only male chimpanzee in one social group — and as a result at least one traditional courting gesture has disappeared

Thu, 13 Feb, 2025

Are we prone to contagious urination and have we inherited peeing behaviours from chimpanzees?

Are we prone to contagious urination and have we inherited peeing behaviours from chimpanzees?

Is synchronised peeing a 'thing' and could there be a benefit to it...

Thu, 30 Jan, 2025

Iberian lynx saved from extinction... for now

Iberian lynx saved from extinction... for now

Thanks to captive breeding programmes, and tender loving care, there are now more than 2,000 of these carnivores — Europe’s rarest mammal — in the wild

Thu, 23 Jan, 2025

Richard Collins: Identification of new moray species is the eel deal

Richard Collins: Identification of new moray species is the eel deal

The Hades' Snake Eel was found in the Philippines. But the oceans are warming relentlessly... fish from sub-tropical seas are visiting our shores. In 1997, a 1.12m long Mediterranean moray eel was caught off the Waterford coast, the first member of its species to be taken in Irish waters and the most northerly moray record in the North Atlantic at the time

Thu, 16 Jan, 2025

Lyell Canyon

Richard Collins: 150th anniversary of geologist with lunar and Martian craters named after him

The highest peak in Yosemite National Park is also called after Charles Lyell

Thu, 09 Jan, 2025

They're gonna hear me roar: What do big cats' roars mean?

They're gonna hear me roar: What do big cats' roars mean?

Audible more than a kilometre away, a leopard’s roar proclaims the caller’s identity and status, alerting potential mating partners and warning off same-sex intruders

Thu, 02 Jan, 2025

Richard Collins: The worst single-species die-off in the modern era

Richard Collins: The worst single-species die-off in the modern era

Millions of seabirds and other wildlife have been affected by 'the blob' — seal, sea-lion, cod, and humpback whale numbers have fallen drastically

Fri, 27 Dec, 2024

Leatherback Turtle

Richard Collins: Leatherback turtles are long-distance seasonal migrants to Irish waters

Unfortunately a leatherback turtle found on a beach at Portmarnock this month had died

Thu, 19 Dec, 2024

Trying to hear what prehistoric hunter-gatherers heard by examining rock art site acoustics

Trying to hear what prehistoric hunter-gatherers heard by examining rock art site acoustics

The sites consist of vertical cliffs rising directly from the lakes, with painted images of humans, boats, and animals, sometimes also drummers and typically gave clear and distinct echoes

Thu, 12 Dec, 2024

Urban fox research

Richard Collins: Not quite zebras crossing, but animals are taking to city life

Foxes, peregrines, and even mountain lions, are setting up shop inside the lion's den

Thu, 28 Nov, 2024

scarlet macaws

Back to the fuchsia: the evolution of colour sensitivity

There has been a dramatic explosion in the use of colour vision during the last 100 million years. Its greatest users are fish, birds, butterflies, and reptiles. Furry mammals are less enthusiastic about colour — they prefer scent

Thu, 21 Nov, 2024

Bohemian waxwing with rowan berries (Bombycilla garrulus)

Richard Collins: Berry berry drunk — it's only natural

Scientists say that alcohol has been in the natural world for millions of years: "moderate ethanol intake is associated with nutritional medicinal and cognitive benefits. Evidence is growing that humans are not drinking alone and that many animals ingest ethanol in their natural environment"

Thu, 14 Nov, 2024