Chinese Blackbirds (Turdus mandarinus) mimic electric moped sounds with lower consistency and frequencies
June 2025
Passerine mimics often imitate various vocalizations from other bird species and incorporate these sounds into their song repertoires. While a few anecdotes reported that wild songbirds imitated human-associated...
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Testing for assortative mating based on migratory phenotypes in the Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
June 2025
Tracking and mating data of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) breeding in a single colony in north-eastern Germany were used to test for assortative mating in regards to migratory phenotypes. These birds...
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DFEFM: Fusing frequency correlation and mel features for robust edge bird audio detection
June 2025
Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) technology is increasingly becoming one of the mainstream methods for bird monitoring. However, detecting bird audio within complex natural acoustic environments using...
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Shallow water habitats provide high-quality foraging environments for the Spoon-billed Sandpiper at a critical staging site
June 2025
Abundant food supply is crucial for the survival of long-distance migratory birds. The continued population decline of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Calidris pygmeae), a critically endangered shorebird,...
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Evaluation of antimicrobial resistance and virulence characteristics in Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis isolates from dead Crested Ibis embryos at the artificial breeding base
June 2025
Bacterial infections of avian embryos can lead to an increase in embryo mortality, and the proliferation of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria aggravates the situation. A low hatching rate also poses...
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eDNA enhances detection efficiency but reveals lower waterbird diversity: A comparison with point counting method
June 2025
Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods have emerged as a promising tool for studying a broad spectrum of biological taxa. However, metabarcoding studies of avian biodiversity using eDNA have received little...
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Distinguishing between wild-caught and captive-bred Common Pheasant using methylation rate of skeletal muscle DNA
June 2025
Illegal hunting and trafficking of wildlife and their derivatives extort unprecedented population decline of relatively many species pushing them towards extinction. Notwithstanding contemporary counteracting...
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A review of eDNA technology in avian monitoring: Current status, challenges and future perspectives
June 2025
In recent years, environmental DNA (eDNA) has garnered significant attention as a novel tool in biodiversity monitoring, recognized for its efficiency, convenience, and non-invasiveness. Despite its...
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Impacts of free-ranging yaks on habitat occupancy and population density of a high-mountain rare pheasant species
June 2025
Free-ranging yak grazing is a regime specially adapted to high-elevation environments across the Pan-Tibetan Highlands, yet its impacts on alpine birds remain poorly understood. The Chinese Monal (Lophophorus...
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Moving away from home: Early life movements and space use in juvenile Montagu’s Harriers (Circus pygargus) from central Italy
June 2025
Assessing individual differences and variability in animal movement patterns is essential to improve our understanding of the evolution and ontogeny of migratory strategies. In long-distance migratory...
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Crown saturation and intrasexual dominance: Evidence of a negatively correlated handicap in male Saffron Finches
June 2025
Carotenoid-based plumage coloration may signal individuals’ overall body condition, influencing reproduction and survival of birds. In tropical species, little is known about the influence of color...
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Comparative analysis of female bubbling calls: Within- and between-species variation among the four species of Cuculus cuckoos
June 2025
In brood-parasitic Cuculus cuckoos, male vocalizations are species-specific and easily distinguishable, whereas female calls are remarkably similar across species, making species identification challenging....
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The impact of climatic conditions in wintering and breeding quarters on long-term breeding success in the Common Swift
June 2025
Climate change can affect rainfall and temperature worldwide, and the ability of birds to react to these changes can be mirrored by studying population phenology and their breeding success. Some European...
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Impacts of China's natural forest protection project on habitat distribution of key protected birds in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
June 2025
The Natural Forest Protection Project (NFPP), initiated by the Chinese government in 2000, is a crucial ecological construction project that has played a significant role in forest restoration in China....
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Habitat suitability and influencing factors of a threatened highland flagship species, the Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis)
June 2025
Evaluating the habitat suitability of flagship species and its key influencing factors is vital for understanding potential conservation issues and developing coping strategies. We surveyed the wintering...
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Size of the ulna and taxonomic order affect vane dimensions of secondary remiges in birds
June 2025
The number of secondary feathers varies among orders of birds with some orders exhibiting a positive relationship with ulna length, whereas in other orders secondary number is invariant. This difference...
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The impact of weather conditions on the prevalence of avian influenza in dabbling ducks (genus Anas) during autumn migration in southern Western Siberia
Available online 11 April 2025
Investigating the correlation between the incidence of low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) in dabbling ducks and external environmental parameters during their autumnal migration provides critical...
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An updated list of parasitic cuckoos and their hosts in China
Available online 11 April 2025
Avian brood parasitism is a unique reproductive behavior in which parasitic birds depend on other species to incubate their eggs and raise their offspring. In China, there are 20 species of cuckoos...
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Avian acoustic communication: Understanding of peripheral and central neural systems with ecological adaptations
Available online 10 April 2025
Avian vocal communication represents one of the most intricate forms of animal language, playing a critical role in behavioral interactions. Both peripheral and central auditory-vocal pathways are essential...
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Inability of recognizing offspring underlies parental errors in the selection of offspring
March 2025
Inclusive fitness theory posits that altruistic behaviors, which are directed more likely towards relatives, should be favored by natural selection. However, the prevalence of alternative parenting...
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Nestlings of two parrotbill species can independently evaluate the presence of predators based on acoustic cues
March 2025
Nest predation is the leading cause of reproductive failure in birds and a major driving force in the evolution of anti-predation strategies. Current studies on the anti-predation strategies of birds...
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Are urbanization, biotic and social factors associated with the song frequency and song entropy attributes of three urban syntopic passerines?
March 2025
Urban environments have challenging characteristics for bird acoustic communication. High levels of anthropogenic noise, as well as vegetation structure (e.g., in urban parks), can potentially affect...
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Decreased basal thermogenesis is associated with the downregulation of cellular metabolic activity of organs and serum thyroid hormones in fasting Eurasian Tree Sparrows (Passer montanus)
March 2025
Food is a critical environmental factor that influences animal survival, especially for small passerines due to their high mass-specific metabolic rates. Basal metabolic rate (BMR) reflects the energy...
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Assessing the vulnerability of wintering habitats for the red-listed Asian Houbara (Chlamydotis macqueenii) using climate models and human impact assessments
March 2025
The Asian Houbara (Chlamydotis macqueenii), a vulnerable species, is under significant threat from habitat degradation and anthropogenic pressures in Pakistan's arid landscapes. This study addresses...
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Distribution pattern and niche overlap of sympatric breeding birds along human-modified habitat gradients in Inner Mongolia, China
March 2025
The transformation of natural habitats into human-modified landscapes has far-reaching consequences for species distribution and abundance. As species adapt to these changing environments, shifts in...
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