leaving mainly large, tough seeds that the finches normally ignore. Under these drastically changing conditions, the struggle to survive favored the larger birds with deep, strong beaks for ...

This gene is most strongly expressed in the large ground finch (Geospiza magnirostris), which uses its robust beak to crack open large seeds and nuts. In other finches, a gene expresses a protein ...

For example, the cactus finch has a long beak that reaches into blossoms, the ground finch has a short beak adapted for eating seeds buried under the soil, and the tree finch has a parrot-shaped ...

The researchers tested this idea by digitally modifying male mating songs of Darwin’s medium ground finches (Geospiza fortis) to sound like they might if beaks grew bigger under one, three or ...

By Liz Kimbrough In the sunbaked Galápagos Islands, a male finch perches on a branch, hearing what sounds like another bird’s ...

In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people ... found that drought events can reshape the finch beak and make it bigger and, consequently ...

These findings suggest that, because of the links between beaks and song, an entirely new species of Darwin's medium ground ...

Researchers discovered that drought events can alter the shape of a finch's beak, making it larger and significantly changing the sound of their songs over generations. They found that older birds ...