A new study published in Ecology and Evolution reveals that bird masturbation is a common and natural behavior, not a sign of stress from captivity. Researchers surveyed experts and keepers, finding the activity widespread across 120 species, more so in the wild than in captivity, and urged vets to avoid harmful interventions.
James Kempster, a 39-year-old roofer from Totton, has been found guilty of two counts of possessing a wild bird under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 after DNA matching his was found on barn owl and kestrel carcasses dumped outside a village shop in Broughton, Hampshire. The incident in March 2024 also involved 50 dead hares left at the shop, creating what prosecutors described as a "horror movie scene". Kempster was cleared of criminal damage as magistrates said evidence did not prove he was the person who threw the hares. He will be sentenced in June.
