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The visual fields of Blacksmith Lapwings Vanellus armatus show the characteristics of visual guided foragers that use precision pecking for prey capture – a binocular field of narrow width and limited vertical extent, with the projection of the bill close to its centre and a large blind area above and behind the head. The topography of the total field, particularly the binocular field, is similar...
The Collared Kingfisher species complex is the most widespread of the ‘great speciator’ lineages of the Indo‐Pacific. They have shown a remarkable ability to spread and diversify. As a result of this rapid diversification, Todiramphus species are often found in secondary sympatry. In Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, two Todiramphus species are present, the breeding resident Collared Kingfisher Todiramphus chloris...
We used microsatellite DNA to assign probable parentage of young Corn Crakes to adult males and females and used these assignments to estimate the distribution of distances between broods of chicks and juveniles and the night‐time singing place of the father at the time of initiation of the clutch. Estimated distances for broods of young chicks were in accord with those estimated previously by radiotracking,...
Because migration is highly time‐constrained and migration timing varies among individuals, the responses of migrants to food shortage at a refuelling site could differ between individuals that arrive early and late at the site. To test this hypothesis, we compared the stopover decision, in terms of occurrence and length of stay (LOS), of radiotagged Great Knots Calidris tenuirostris before (2012)...
Young birds communicate their need to parents through complex begging displays that include visual and acoustic cues. Nestlings of interspecific brood parasites must ‘tune’ into these communication channels to secure parental care from their hosts. Various studies show that parasitic nestlings can effectively manipulate host parental behaviour through their begging calls, but how these manipulative...
Central nesting sites within avian colonies are often more profitable in terms of fitness, as they can offer better protection against predators compared with colony edges. Thus, central sites are expected to attract high‐quality individuals, which should produce a clear central–periphery gradient in the phenotypic quality of nesting individuals and reproductive output within colonies. The aim of...
Trade‐offs between moult and fuelling in migrant birds vary with migration distance and the environmental conditions they encounter. We compared wing moult and fuelling at the northern and southern ends of migration in two populations of adult Common Whitethroats Sylvia communis. The western population moults most remiges at the breeding grounds in Europe (e.g. Poland) and migrates 4000–5000 km to...
Autonomous recording units have been widely used in a large number of bird studies in recent years, but challenges remain in estimating abundance based on acoustic monitoring. We tested whether vocal activity rate index (VAR; the number of songs per unit time for a species), recorded using autonomous recording units, was related to population abundance in two terrestrial bird species, the European...
Vulture populations worldwide have suffered precipitous declines in recent decades. The Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus, a highly philopatric scavenger distributed across southern Europe and the central Asian plateau, is threatened in many parts of its range. Turkey holds the second largest population of this species in the Western Palaearctic, but there has been no research on its genetic structure...
Roosts are important sites for shorebirds in non‐breeding areas at night and during high tides. How the spatial configuration of food and risk of predation and disturbance influence roost site use in tropical locations remains poorly known. We analysed the locations of nocturnal roosts of Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus in mangroves of Sanquianga National Park, Colombia, with respect to variation in spatial...
Two hypotheses have been proposed to link population regulation to density‐dependent changes in demographical parameters: the habitat heterogeneity hypothesis (HHH) states that, as population density rises, an increasing proportion of individuals are forced to occupy low‐quality territories, which provokes a decline in average per‐capita survival and/or productivity although some individuals show...
Hybridization between two species typically occurs when allopatric or ecologically dissimilar species expand into areas of secondary contact or habitat transitions. However, as species' ranges shift rapidly in response to environmental change, the potential for novel types of ephemeral hybrid zones exists. Here, we document and describe the occurrence, prevalence and symmetry of a previously undocumented...
The globally distributed avian family Motacillidae consists of five to seven genera (Anthus, Dendronanthus, Tmetothylacus, Macronyx and Motacilla, and depending on the taxonomy followed, Amaurocichla and Madanga) and 66–68 recognized species, of which 32 species in four genera occur in sub‐Saharan Africa. The taxonomy of the Motacillidae has been contentious, with variable numbers of genera, species...
Many bird populations in temperate regions have advanced their timing of breeding in response to a warming climate in recent decades. However, long‐term trends in temperature differ geographically and between seasons, and so do responses of local breeding populations. Data on breeding bird phenology from subarctic and arctic passerine populations are scarce, and relatively little data has been recorded...
The Andean Condor Vultur gryphus is a globally threatened and declining species. Problems of surveying Andean Condor populations using traditional survey methods are particularly acute in Bolivia, largely because only few roosts are known there. However, similar to other vulture species, Andean Condors aggregate at animal carcasses, and are individually recognizable due to unique morphological characteristics...
Understanding the foraging behaviour of predators is key to interpreting the role of anti‐predator adaptations of birds in reducing nest losses. Conducting research in primaeval habitats, with a low level of direct human interference, is particularly valuable in the understanding of predator–prey interactions. Using nest cameras, we investigated the identity and behaviour of potential and actual predators...
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