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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Habitat preferences and nest site selection by sympatric populations of Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) and Syrian Woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus) in natural mountain forests of Southwest Iran
2024
We examined habitat preferences and nesting requirements of sympatric populations of Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) and Syrian Woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus). We carried out our...
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Deterministic processes drive turnover-dominated beta diversity of breeding birds along the central Himalayan elevation gradient
2024
Beta diversity, the variation of community composition among sites, bridges alpha and gamma diversity and can reveal the mechanisms of community assembly through applying distance-decay models and/or...
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Comparative analysis of the microbiome of sympatric wintering Bean Geese, Domestic Ducks, humans, and soil at Shengjin Lake of China reveals potential public risk to human health
2024
The gut microbiota of migratory waterbirds is affected by various complex factors, including cross-species transmission, which increases the risk of pathogen spreading among sympatric animals and poses...
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Structural effects of reedbed grazing and its cessation on reed-nesting songbird densities
2024
Reedbeds are crucial breeding habitats for vulnerable songbird species. Irrespective of their protection status, these habitats may be threatened by organic matter accumulation, progressively leading...
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Shallow sub-lakes are essential for sustaining the successful wintering of waterbirds in Poyang Lake, China
2024
For migratory waterbirds, the quality of wintering habitat is related to spring migration and successful breeding in the next year. The availability of food resources in the habitat is critical and...
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Development and parentage analysis of SNP markers for Chestnut-vented Nuthatch (Sitta nagaensis) based on ddRAD-seq data
2024
Extra-pair paternity (EPP) is commonly found in socially monogamous birds, especially in small passerine birds, and there are interspecific and intraspecific variations in the extent of EPP. The Chestnut-vented...
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The effect of Common Cuckoo parasitism on the annual productivity of a host population
2024
Avian interspecific brood parasitism is an excellent system for studying coevolutionary processes in nature because brood parasites directly affect host reproductive success. Most research on avian...
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Detour for the inexperienced? Migration count data suggest mostly juvenile Greater Spotted Eagles appear in coastal peninsulas in China
2024
Soaring bird migration often relies on suitable terrain and airflow; therefore, route selection is vital for successful migration. While age and experience have been identified as key factor influencing...
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Changes in the adult sex ratio of six duck species breeding populations over two decades
2024
Despite all efforts, long-term changes in the adult sex ratios of breeding duck populations are still unclear; this uncertainty is especially true for male-bias populations, which are often under the...
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Correlation of personality with individual reproductive success in shrub-nesting birds depends on their life history style
2024
Two questions in the research of animal personality—whether there is a correlation between a personality trait and individual reproductive success, and what is the genetic basis underlying a personality...
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Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) and Little Tern (Sternula albifrons) prefer shells for nesting: A field experiment
2024
Shorebird populations are declining worldwide, mainly due to human disturbances and loss of coastal wetlands. However, supratidal habitats as saltpans could play a role in buffering human impact. Saltpans...
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The Crested Ibises expanding to plain areas exhibit a higher tolerance of human proximity
2024
Animals must strike a balance between anti-predation behavior and other essential behaviors, such as foraging. Within the same species, strategies may vary on individuals' risk-taking preferences, and...
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Highly divergent sympatric lineages of Leptotila verreauxi (Aves: Columbidae) suggest a secondary contact area in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico
2024
Due to a complex geological and biotic history, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (IT), has been long recognized as a driver for the evolutionary divergence of numerous lowland and highland taxa. Widely distributed...
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Avian responses to an extreme weather event: The case of the ‘Filomena’ snowstorm in Madrid (central Spain)
2024
Cold spells and severe weather may have detrimental effects in wild birds, but owing to the stochastic nature of these events, it is not always possible to measure their impacts. In January 2021, a...
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Annual variation of adult survival of a south-temperate House Wren population in Argentina
2024
Identifying factors affecting the survival of individuals is essential for understanding the evolution of life-history traits and population dynamics. Despite numerous studies on this subject in north-temperate...
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Distributional and behavioral responses of the wintering Oriental Storks to drought in China's largest freshwater lake
2024
Extreme droughts are increasing in frequency and severity globally as a result of climate change. Developing understanding of species' responses to drought is crucial for their conservation, especially...
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Proximity to corridors benefits bird communities in vegetated interrow vineyards in Mendoza, Argentina
2024
Management under ecological schemes and increasing habitat heterogeneity, are essential for enhancing biodiversity in vineyards. Birds provide several contributions to agriculture, for example pest...
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Hard life for sons in the nest? Sex-dependent offspring mortality in Great Tits in urban and forest areas
2024
Sex-biased mortality can occur in birds during development, for example due to sexual differences in energy requirement and/or environmental sensitivity, or the effects of sex hormones or sex differences...
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Weak influence of natural vegetation in urban green spaces compared to agricultural ecosystems on House Martin populations: Insights from nationwide citizen science data in the Czech Republic
2024
The House Martin (Delichon urbicum) is a common farmland bird species in the European landscape, yet its population numbers are currently in decline. However, it is not yet sufficiently explained why...
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The influence of wing morphology upon intraspecific divergence in birds: A global study of subspecies richness
2024
Since the time of Darwin, subspecies have been recognized as an initial stage in the evolution of species. However, the impact of dispersal on subspecies richness in birds globally has received little...
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