Science Times: Good-looking birds

Science Times: Good-looking birds

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Science Times

November 27, 2025

Happy Thanksgiving wherever you are. We don’t have any new stories about Thanksgiving science this year, but we do have a fun item about some stylish birds that trade the ability to see for attractiveness to the opposite sex. Probably not what you’ll see on your Thanksgiving table. Enjoy the holiday, and some Turkey Day-adjacent science from our archives.

A bright-plumaged pheasant with a golden crest and ornate orange and black striped hood on display just beneath its eye.

blickwinkel, via Alamy

Pheasant vision

He’s beautiful, but he has a huge blind spot. →

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Scape bird

No, the tryptophan in turkey won’t make you sleepy. →

Oli Scarff/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Mexican food

The turkey on your table might have first been domesticated in Mesoamerica. →

Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Who you calling sweet?

If your Thanksgiving journey seemed long, consider how the sweet potato colonized the world. →

Serge Bloch

Chemical warfare

You’ll never think of brussels sprouts the same way again. →

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