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The discovery of personality traits in animal populations may help to explain individual variation in breeding strategies. In the White‐collared Blackbird Turdus albocinctus, females, but not males, exhibited different nest defence behaviours that can be used to classify them into bold and shy personalities. Bold females had higher nest success, lower fecundity and higher parental investment than...
Corticosterone (CORT) is the main glucocorticoid hormone of amphibians, reptiles, birds and some mammals. This hormone may have evolved as an adaptive metabolic mechanism, in part because increased concentrations of CORT are essential for individuals to manage energy resources and thus cope with negative perturbations such as predation and storms. The benefits of CORT are offset by costs, because...
Disjunct, pantropical distributions are a common pattern among avian lineages, but disentangling multiple scenarios that can produce them requires accurate estimates of historical relationships and timescales. Here, we clarify the biogeographical history of the pantropical avian family of trogons (Trogonidae) by re‐examining their phylogenetic relationships and divergence times with genome‐scale data...
Accurate species distribution data across remote and extensive geographical areas are difficult to obtain. Here, we use bioclimatic envelope models to determine climatic constraints on the distribution of the migratory Saker Falcon Falco cherrug to identify areas in data‐deficient regions that may contain unidentified populations. Sakers live at low densities across large ranges in remote regions,...
The ecology of opportunistic foragers can be highly dependent on anthropogenic food sources, such as landfills, resulting in changes in several ecological and demographic aspects. The total closure of several landfill sites and the use of deterrence systems to prevent access to the remaining open landfill sites in a region in the northern Iberian Peninsula provided an excellent opportunity to evaluate...
Anthropogenic development may influence the choices animals make and their resulting reproductive success and survival. If such choices are maladaptive, the impact of anthropogenic change can be catastrophic to small or declining populations. Over the past century, Canada's prairie landscapes have been altered dramatically, with over two‐thirds of its native grasslands now having been converted to...
Brood parasite–host interactions during the incubation and nestling stages have been well studied, but the post‐fledging period remains virtually unknown. Using radiotracking, we provide the first detailed data on post‐fledging interactions between the Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus and its only regular cavity‐nesting host, the Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus. Cuckoos raised alone (‘solitary’)...
Urbanization affects the ecology of wildlife diseases and although it has been suggested that there are lower risks of infection in urban areas, there have been no experiments to support this conclusion. We assessed haemosporidian prevalence and intensity in House Sparrows Passer domesticus using field and experimental data under contrasting conditions (i.e. urban vs. non‐urban). For experimental...
Human activities impact upon natural habitats used by birds for breeding and foraging, and lead to changes in the composition and spatial distribution of predator communities, mainly through loss, fragmentation and disturbance of formerly pristine habitat. Yet possible fitness consequences of such changes through impacts on bird nest‐site selection remain poorly known. Here we study nest‐site selection...
Hylexetastes woodcreepers are endemic to the terra firme forests of the Amazon basin. Currently, most taxonomic sources recognize two species of Hylexetastes (H. perrotii and H. stresemanni), each divided into three subspecies. Some authors maintain that the H. perrotii subspecies should be elevated to full species status. In particular, Hylexetastes perrotii brigidai is endemic to the eastern Amazon,...
Quantitative studies on nesting habitat selection are important to understand and predict the resource requirements for breeding habitat. In this study, we analysed nest‐site (cliff) and territory selection patterns of the Bearded Vulture in the Annapurna Range of the Himalayas (Nepal). Our study area represents high‐elevation mountain range systems, where information on nest selection is lacking,...
The main mechanism to achieve hatching asynchrony (HA) for incubating birds is to start heating the eggs before clutch completion. This might be achieved through partial incubation and/or early incubation. Even in the absence of incubation behaviour during the laying phase, clutches still experience a certain degree of asynchrony. Recent studies have shown that eggs located in the centre of the nest...
Weather is known to affect the phenology and behaviour of birds, but weather‐related changes of phenotypic traits involved in communication have received little attention. Using an 8‐year dataset, we investigated links between carotenoid‐based reflectance of the freshly moulted breast of Great Tits Parus major, weather during the moulting period and food availability during the preceding breeding...
Cooperative breeding is rare in shorebirds, and when found it is thought to be due to polygamous mating (cooperative polygamy). Here we describe the social structure of cooperatively breeding groups in Southern Lapwing Vanellus chilensis and test the prediction that offspring sex ratio is skewed towards the sex that helps. The social groups consisted of a breeding pair with one or two young (mostly...
The estimation of abundance is fundamental to ecology and conservation but often is difficult or impossible to accomplish reliably. Recent improvements in wildlife cameras and ecological modelling have allowed for improved accuracy in estimates of abundance. In this study, we paired nest captures and high‐definition nest video camera monitoring with modelling for a novel approach to estimate survival...
Colonization of islands by long‐distance dispersers has great impact on genetic diversification among populations and may spearhead speciation events. We investigated intra‐ and interspecific divergence in Charadrius plovers with populations on mainland Africa, Madagascar and St Helena. We analysed microsatellite loci and sequence data from four nuclear and two mitochondrial gene regions. Charadrius...
Urbanization is currently one of the most pervasive threats to biodiversity worldwide, yet traits permitting birds to exploit urban environments are not fully understood. I used bird traits related to diet (dietary item and foraging stratum), accounting for latitude, body size, development mode and phylogeny, to compare diet breadths of urban exploiters and urban avoiders, using a global dataset (463...
Grass Wrens Cistothorus platensis build two types of non‐breeding nest structures: platforms and dummy nests. Platforms are rudimentary accumulations of grasses concealed between vegetation. Dummy and breeding nests are dome‐shaped with a similar structural layer. We used a nest‐removal experiment and observational data to evaluate several hypotheses regarding the adaptive significance of building...
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