natural history
Fish that swim backwards – and other natural wonders
With the technologies at our disposal, we can in fact now know what it’s like to be a bat, says Caspar Henderson
The catastrophe that allowed mammals to reign supreme
Humans are so comfortable with their self-declared dominance over the rest of life, appointing themselves titular head of an entire…
Adapt or die: what the natural world can teach us about climate change
Climate change may be the central challenge of our century, but almost all attention has focused on its consequences for…
The march of the larch: the Treeline is now encroaching on the arctic tundra
Covering 20 per cent of the Earth’s surface, the boreal forest is the largest living system, or ‘biome’, on land.…
The slippery stuff of slime: should we loathe it so much?
As humans, we are supposed to have an aversion to slime. It should repel us. Objects and organisms that might…
Beavers, not concrete barriers, can save Britain from floods
As the start date of COP26 draws closer, and just when we are assailed by daily proof of climate chaos,…
Try forest bathing – by day and night – to ward off depression
Anyone who spends time among trees senses how good that is for their physical and mental wellbeing, says Ursula Buchan
Why do anglers get so hooked?
The other day a friend asked me what a lascar was. Fair enough: it’s not a word you come across…
A hymn to the hummingbird — one of the most astonishing organisms on Earth
Along with coral reefs and their fish, tropical butterflies and birds of paradise, hummingbirds must be among the most beautiful…
Born to be wild: the plight of salmon worldwide
In the Pacific Northwest, Native Americans paint images of salmon on to stones. They say that if you rub those…
Eager for beavers : the case for their reintroduction
Conservationists are frequently criticised for focusing on glamorous species at the expense of others equally important but unluckily uglier —…
Why fungi might solve the world’s problems
The biologist Merlin Sheldrake is an intriguing character. In a video promoting the publication of his book Entangled Life, which…
The world’s largest, rarest owl is used for target practice in Siberia
The montane forests of far-eastern Russia have given rise to one of the finest nature books of recent years, The…
The sex life of the Monarch butterfly is positively wild
Wendy Williams is an enthusiast, and enthusiasm is infectious. Lepidoptery is for her a new fascination, and it shows. On…
Children should get out more — even if it’s for hide and seek in the park
We live in an urban world. It’s a statistical fact. The great outdoors for most of us is a thing…
Ireland through the eyes of a brilliant teenage naturalist
Dara McAnulty is a teenage naturalist from Northern Ireland. He has autism; so do his brother, sister and mother —…
Where did birds first learn to sing?
Fieldwork can move the most rigorous scientist to lyricism, as Mark Cocker discovers
Nature fights back with tooth and claw as we persist in destroying it
Where to turn in anxious and febrile times? One answer is to nature, or the ‘non-human living world’, which, despite…
Dangerously desirable: the white-morph gyr falcon commands sky-high prices
The art of falconry is more than 3,000 years old and possibly as popular now as at any time. Its…
From pets to pests: cats, rabbits and now raccoons
I was shocked some years ago to discover, as I scratched bites on my ankles on holiday on Maui, that…
Pigeons are plucky and loyal — so don’t go poisoning them in the park
Growing up as a rootless army brat in bases home and abroad, I would listen in appalled delight to my…
Busy beavers: in praise of man’s natural ally
The British experience of beavers is somewhat limited. Most of us haven’t been lucky enough to have spied an immigrant…
Wonder is all around
Different people find different things impressive. Some claim, for instance, to experience a sense of wonder at the fact of…
Swine fever
‘Rightly is they called pigs,’ says a farmworker in Aldous Huxley’s Crome Yellow as he watches porkers grunt and squelch.…
Cathedral of creation
Sometimes, it pays to rediscover what’s already under your nose. I’ve been umpteen times to the Natural History Museum but…
