“These beacons of light in the mud do so much more than promise us brighter days ahead.”
The first signs of spring aren’t just beautiful – they’re essential to awakening wildlife, too
In a remote town in Nepal, huge armoured creatures shuffle past restaurants and snooze on lawns. Here’s what’s going on
Rhino numbers are on the rise in southern Nepal and now these powerful animals are moving into town
“Our guide told us there was a bear cave 300m away. We didn’t take him seriously. It was a miracle we survived”
Boris Belchev on birds, batteries and battling bears with pop music
Into the wild: Where to spot rare species in 2026
Adventure on your own terms
This river giant can grow over 1m long, weigh more than 5kg and lay an astonishing 500,000 eggs
Meet the mighty northern pike.
There is only one place on Earth where crocodiles and alligators live together in the wild – and it's here
Can crocodiles and alligators co-exist in the wild? The answer is yes – but there is only one place on the planet where this happens.
Stunning wildflower 'superbloom' sweeps through Death Valley. It's the best display in a decade
The hottest place on the planet has transformed into a sea of colour, as desert gold and notch-leaf phacelia flowers fill the valley floor.
“At first, we were puzzled.” Scientists track 69 ravens through Yellowstone – and make remarkable discovery
The researchers wanted to find out exactly how ravens find wolf kills in the US national park.
“My stomach lurched as the hippo drifted in our direction, only her pink, sweaty face visible – like a shark’s fin.”
Oscar was on a river safari in Niger when one mother hippo began to approach the boat
“Far more than pollinators.” New James Cameron-backed TV series shows bees can build structures – and even eat meat
Take a ‘bees-eye view’ of this incredible, yet often overlooked, insect with TV series Secrets of the Bees
Birds
Fiery eyes, fluffy 'horns' and a strange hoot – meet one of Britain's most mysterious predators
Long-eared owls are one of the most secretive birds in Britain.
Researchers in Oxford have been studying great tits for 75 years. They discovered something odd (and human-like) about their song
As part of the long-running Wytham Wood research project, great tits and blue tits are being studied
Why don’t baby birds make less noise to avoid attracting predators?
To be honest making a noise isn't always the best strategy for staying alive...
The 'Great Texas Freeze' killed thousands of beloved songbirds. Scientists are worried about what might happen next
North America’s largest swallow, the purple martin, was hit hard by winter storms in 2021. With erratic weather events becoming more common, experts are concerned about the bird's long-term survival.
Birdwatching may slow ageing of the brain, say neuroscientists
Learning to identify birds could be beneficial for cognition as people get older, according to a new study.
It has a bizarre beak, is twice as heavy as a robin and uses animal hair to make its nest
Meet the common crossbill, the chunky finch with a taste for pine cones.
How to identify wildlife
Red squirrel vs grey squirrel: Think you know how they differ? Think again as the differences between these two squirrels will surprise you
We take a look at how the red squirrel differs to its American grey cousin
Brown rat or water vole: How to tell the difference between these two lookalike-rodents
When all you've seen is a flash of brown fur, it can be hard to know whether it was a water vole or rat. Though the two species tend to live in different habitats, there are areas where they overlap, potentially leading to cases of mistaken identity. So how do you tell rats and water voles apart?
Mink or otter? What's the difference between these two slippery, semiaquatic lookalikes?
How do you tell the difference between otters and mink?
LRPs, PG Tips and Jizz: Cracking the secret language of birders
You’re sitting in a hide and overhear other birders talking. The conversation ranges from ‘LRPs’ and ‘roosting Leos’ and you scratch your chin as you try to decipher their code – welcome to the world of birding jargon.
It's the fastest animal in the world and its deadly claws can catch prey mid-air: Meet one of the world's most incredible birds of prey
Peregrines are the ultimate urban predator. Learn all about them, including how to spot them ‘stooping’ to catch prey
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Save 30% when you subscribe to BBC Wildlife Magazine, plus receive Simon Barnes’ latest release, Spring is the Only Season
Plants
It's as big as a tractor tyre and smells like a rotting corpse
Why the biggest flower in the world is also the smelliest...
"When it blooms, it emits a horrendous aroma, similar to that of rotting meat" – 14 weirdest, bizarrest flowers on the planet
Nature has a wild imagination, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the world of flowers. From leaves shaped like lips to enormous flowers that smell of rotting flesh, these are some of the weirdest, most unusual flowers in the world
It looks like an extra-terrestrial being that fell to Earth, behaves like a vampire and smells like rotting meat
We take a look at one of the world's strangest and smelliest plants
Scientists looked beneath one of oldest trees on Earth. What they found is astounding
The researchers discovered a hidden world of life among the roots of Chile's ancient alerce trees. Here's why that's important.
