Wildlife

Cliff swallows nest under a bridge on US 90 in Louisiana. (Photo by Carol Foil/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Cliff swallows could be the Evel Knievels of the bird world. They have an affinity for living in extreme places—cliffs, buildings, under bridges, in the crevasses of railroad tracks—and they appear to be getting better at cheating death. 

This is, hands down, the best version of the Harlem Shake we’ve seen. Shout out to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for pulling it together. “This is why we think wildlife is amazing,” USFWS writes with the video. “They know how to get down!” We couldn’t agree more.

Young royal penguins on Macquarie Island. Photo: Mike Usher/National Science Foundation

UPDATE: Thanks for all the fabulous entries! See more of them on our Facebook page. Now, vote for your favorite!

Every week we post a funny animal photo that’s begging for a caption. Join in the fun! You’ve got til 11:59 pm (Eastern time) on Sunday to enter your suggestion (click “Read more” below). On Monday we’ll choose our three favorite captions and list them under the image.

Great egret by John James Audubon, 1821. Photo by New-York Historical Society/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 

A new exhibit offers viewers an unprecedented opportunity to experience John James Audubon’s incredible bird paintings, including the famous watercolors featured in The Birds of America as well as some of the artist’s earlier works.

Red-footed booby and two frigatebirds On Eastern Island, Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. Photo: David Patte/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

UPDATE: We've selected the finalists. Vote for your favorite!

Every week we post a funny animal photo that’s begging for a caption. Join in the fun! You’ve got til 11:59 pm (Eastern time) on Sunday to enter your suggestion (click “Read more” below). On Monday we’ll choose our three favorite captions and list them under the image.

A white stork nest in Portugal. Photo by Isidro Vila Verde/ CC BY-NC 2.0)

In Europe, legend has it that white storks, those long-distance migrants, deliver babies. Turns out, that’s not true—and not just the part about the babies. Large numbers of the birds are sticking closer to their breeding grounds thanks to a plentiful food supply in the form of heaps of garbage.

The southern elephant seal is the largest seal in the world. Males grow to 14.5 feet long and females will reach 11 feet. Photo: Glenn E. Grant/NSF

UPDATE 3/4/2013: We've narrowed down the entries to these three.

Every week we post a funny animal photo that’s begging for a caption. Join in the fun! You’ve got til 11:59 pm (Eastern time) on Sunday to enter your suggestion (click “Read more” below). On Monday we’ll choose our three favorite captions and list them under the image.

A large blackbird flock pictured in The Starved Rock State Park in Illinois. (Photo: Dan Dzurisin/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

One Kentucky town has been doused with white stuff this winter—but it’s not snow. Millions of blackbirds have descended on Hopkinsville, overwhelming residents with noise and bird excrement since they arrived in November.

The horned puffin is among the numerous bird species that could be affected by an oil spill in Arctic waters. Photo: USFWS via Flickr

Royal Dutch Shell PLC is calling it quits for drilling in the waters off Alaska’s north coast—at least for 2013. The move comes as no surpise, given the series of setbacks the company has encountered.

A mother giant petrel watches while her baby is weighed in Antarctica. Photo: Jeff Otten/NSF

Every week we post a funny animal photo that’s begging for a caption. Join in the fun! You’ve got til 11:59 pm (Eastern time) on Sunday to enter your suggestion (click “Read more” below). On Monday we’ll choose our three favorite captions and list them under the image.