If "sometimes it pays to be a weakling," what does that mean for 154 years of Darwinian teaching about survival of the fittest? What does it mean, further, when sexual selection doesn't work?
Our amazing feathered friends range from tiny hummingbirds to fast-running ostriches, from penguins to pigeons. In both living and fossil forms, they provide endless opportunities for study and fascination. Here are a few recent examples of news for the birds, in both good and bad connotations of the phrase.