Supplementary File 1 (ZIP, 3511 KiB) Increasing landscape transformations and urbanisation affect insectivorous bird populations in various ways such as food availability, breeding phenology, or reproductive success. Especially during the breeding season, many passerine birds rely on the availability of caterpillars as the main prey for their nestlings. Previous studies suggested that similar diet preferences of sympatric species may result in interspecific competition, as demonstrated for Blue and Great Tits in forest habitats. However, nestling diet and prey preferences in other habitats are ..read more

Eleonora’s Falcon is the commonest bird of prey in Greece, with more than 80% of the global population breeding on Greek islands. The aim of this study was to assess the population status and the colony characteristics for the species in the National Marine Park of Alonissos—Northern Sporades. Every island was circumnavigated twice in order to count individual birds and active nests during the breeding season of the species in 2021 by boat. Colony characteristics including nest category, nest height above sea level and nest orientation were recorded. The species was recorded nesting in 13 (12 ..read more

Supplementary File 1 (ZIP, 87 KiB) The role of chemical communication in the social relationships of birds is receiving growing attention, but our knowledge is still scarce compared to that of other taxa. Previous evidence suggests that chemical cues emitted by birds may carry information about their characteristics, which may be useful in the context of sexual selection. However, experimental studies are needed to investigate the role of bird chemical cues in signalling the quality of potential partners. We performed an experimental study aimed at disentangling whether the female Zebra Finche ..read more

Supplementary File 1 (ZIP, 20 KiB) Animals can use different cues to memorise food resources, which can be broadly divided into spatial and feature cues. Differences in species-specific preferences for spatial or feature cues has been historically linked to their reliance on spatial information (food-caching and migratory species prefer spatial cues), but more recently, attention has shifted to procedural differences largely affecting the salience of cues. Here, we investigated cue preferences in the colour-polymorphic Gouldian Finch to test a range of hypotheses. Birds were trained to find fo ..read more

Wildlife trade, both legal and illegal, is increasingly recognized as a key factor in the rise of emerging viral infectious diseases, and this is especially apparent in Asia, where large numbers of wildlife are openly offered for sale in bird markets. We here focus on the risk of Psittacosis becoming a zoonotic disease in the wildlife markets of Java and Bali, Indonesia. Psittacosis is particularly prevalent in parrots (hence the name), and the trade in parrots was instrumental in the Great Parrot Fever Pandemic in 1929/1930. Between 2014 and 2023, we conducted 176 surveys of 14 bird markets ..read more

Supplementary File 1 (ZIP, 178768 KiB) This study examines the common raven ( ) population on Lanzarote, Spain, at a previously unstudied site. The study aimed to compare the use of camera trap technology and human observation in capturing a wide repertoire of raven behaviour and pay close attention to the perforation of aluminium cans, a behaviour that has not been described in the scientific literature previously but has been reported anecdotally through human observation. Five cameras were sited over a period of 6 months, with three aluminium cans placed at each location. One of the three c ..read more

Avian vocal mimicry has been described in a variety of contexts, suggesting its function is multifaceted within and across species; however, basic empirical data describing mimetic signal prevalence and context are lacking for numerous species. We examined the occurrence and context of mimicked Red-shouldered Hawk ( ) calls over a 12-month period in a population of 49 individually color-marked Steller’s Jays ( ). We documented mimicry of Red-shouldered Hawk calls in 14 of 49 (28.6%) jays during this 12-month period. We also reviewed the occurrence of the behavior in historic observation data ..read more

Supplementary File 1 (ZIP, 380 KiB) ) is one of the rarest birds in South America, and it is a critically endangered Anatidae species with an estimated population of less than 250 adult individuals in the Brazilian Cerrado. A captive population was established a few years ago at Zooparque Itatiba (São Paulo state) where 46 individuals were kept, and the founding population (progenitors derived from nature) was composed of 19 of the ex situ birds, derived from the four remaining localities with wild populations in Brazil. To characterize the genetic diversity and the genealogical relationships ..read more

Supplementary File 1 (ZIP, 139 KiB) Understanding how humans perceive animals is important for biodiversity conservation, however, only a few studies about this issue have been carried out in South America. We selected two Brazilian cities to assess people’s perceptions of birds: Bauru (São Paulo, Brazil) and Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais, Brazil). From the available bird data for each city, we developed a questionnaire and applied it between September 2020 and June 2021. The data obtained were analyzed by simple counts, a Likert scale, and percentages. Also, human feelings related to birds wer ..read more

17 pages, 2938 KiB   Propensity of Predator Mimicry in Steller’s Jays - 09 Mar 2024 Avian vocal mimicry has been described in a variety of contexts, suggesting its function is multifaceted within and across species; however, basic empirical data describing mimetic signal prevalence and context are lacking for numerous species. We examined the occurrence and context of mimicked Avian vocal mimicry has been described in a variety of contexts, suggesting its function is multifaceted within and across species; however, basic empirical data describing mimetic signal prevalence and context are ..read more