Why were birds the only dinosaurs to survive the fateful asteroid that hit Earth 65 million years ago? A new exhibition sheds light on the extent of birds’ adaptability and the behaviours that allowed them to thrive in all niches.

Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre, created by the UK’s Natural History Museum with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, pays tribute to the qualities of what it calls “ultimate survivors”. But it also shows how global challenges threaten that status.

In the main image, conservators prep a great bustard (Otis tarda) – one of the heaviest flying birds – for the exhibition. Once a familiar sight in the UK, the species is now classified as vulnerable.

Pictured above, the image shows a Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), among the world’s largest eagles. There are only a few hundred pairs left, writes Joanne Cooper, a senior curator at the museum and author of a book that accompanies the show. The birds are scattered across four islands in the Philippines, and with deforestation encroaching, they are classed as endangered.

The exhibition runs at the Natural History Museum in London until 5 January 2025. The book is on sale at its shop.

New Scientist video
Auk eggs and mummified falcons: Inside NHM’s bird archive https://youtu.be/oNESQvUbi4o