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The use of technology in ecology and conservation offers unprecedented opportunities to survey and monitor wildlife remotely, for example by using camera traps. However, such solutions typically cause challenges stemming from the big datasets gathered, such as millions of camera trap images. Artificial intelligence is a proven, powerful tool to automate camera trap image analyses, but this is so far...
The environmental stressors that females face before egg‐laying, such as competition for resources, can impact the fitness prospects of the female as well as her offspring through hormone‐mediated maternal effects. In obligate secondary cavity‐nesting species, suitable nest‐holes are a limited resource, so gaining access to nest‐sites may require competition with other individuals. In the Western...
In species with biparental care, coordination of parental behaviour between pair members increases reproductive success. Coordination is difficult if opportunities to communicate are scarce, which might have led to the evolution of elaborate nest relief rituals in species facing a low predation risk. However, whether such conspicuous rituals also evolved in species that avoid predation by relying...
Over four decades (1982–2019) there were pronounced within‐season changes in the proportion of a key prey species (Lesser Sandeel Ammodytes marinus) in Common Guillemot Uria aalge chick diet. As Sandeels became scarcer their occurrence was largely confined to the early part of the chick period. Consequently, the mean annual proportion of Sandeels was poorly estimated if sampling occurred within a...
Although successful at recovering endangered populations, conservation actions based on nest provisioning seldom consider how they shape the composition of communities and alter interspecific interactions. Specifically, the extent to which dietary overlap within these communities may affect the conservation of target species has rarely been assessed. In Southern Europe, sites of large‐scale nest‐site...
Lack of food for nestlings is a crucial factor influencing population size and dynamics in birds. It is one of the most cited reasons for recent House Sparrow Passer domesticus population declines in cities and rural settlements. However, a detailed comparative study of habitat use by parents delivering food to offspring in different environments is still missing. To obtain the most detailed information...
Migratory birds typically fly long distances in response to large‐scale seasonal climate variation. However, most migratory species are partial migrants, and some fly only short distances, for example to take advantage of suitable feeding conditions during the non‐breeding season. In spite of their short distance, such migrations may also be fixed in populations as a result of evolutionarily adaptive...
Worldwide populations of shorebirds are declining, associated with a complex interplay of climate change, predation, human disturbance and habitat degradation. Comprehensive information on the distribution and breeding ecology of shorebird populations is crucial to understand and mitigate these threats. Kazakhstan, the largest country in Central Asia, comprises multiple flyways and breeding habitats...
Artificial structures, and particularly in urban settings, attract species showing similar ecological niches and provide nest‐sites for cavity‐breeding species. It is, however, unknown whether this proximity creates opportunities for hybridization and gene flow across related species. We investigated whether two colonial species, the Common Swift Apus apus and the Pallid Swift Apus pallidus, are experiencing...
A wide range of biologging devices are now commonly deployed to study the movement ecology of birds, but deployment of these devices is not without its potential risks and negative impacts on the welfare, behaviour and fitness of tagged individuals. However, empirical evidence for the effects of tags is equivocal. Global location sensing (GLS) loggers are small, light level recording devices that...
Hybridization occurs between numerous bird species, with some of them capable of producing backcrosses. However, little information is available concerning mating between pairs of hybrids. In this case study, a mixed pairing is reported between hybrids of Syrian and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Dendrocopos syriacus and Dendrocopos major, respectively. Mixed phenotypic and genotypic traits were found...
We assessed the influence of the severe mid‐20th century population decline on genetic diversity in non‐augmented Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus populations nesting within the Alaska Arctic and eastern Interior. Microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data were analysed for Peregrine Falcons sampled from three periods: pre‐decline, decline and post‐decline. The influence of the decline on...
Plumage coloration can have substantial effects on a bird's energy budget. This is because different colours reflect and absorb light differently, affecting the heat loads acquired from solar radiation. We examine the thermal effects of feather coloration on solar heat gain and flight performance and discuss the potential role of plumage colour on a bird's energy budget. Early investigations of the...
Moult is an energetically demanding period, during which flight may be impaired and foraging ranges may become constrained. During the non‐breeding period, Great Ardenna gravis and Sooty Ardenna grisea Shearwaters migrate from South Atlantic breeding colonies to aggregate at North Atlantic feeding grounds. We investigated whether both shearwater species used coastal Newfoundland, Canada, as a moulting...
Nestboxes have been deployed for parrots and cockatoos (Psittaciformes) worldwide, but there is limited evidence of their efficacy for these species. We examined the use of nestboxes by endangered South Australian Glossy Black Cockatoos Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus, a habitat specialist that feeds almost solely on the seeds of Drooping Sheoak Allocasuarina verticillata trees, and investigated...
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