During spring and autumn 2001, we screened 13,260 migrating birds at Ottenby Bird Observatory, Sweden, and found 3.4% were infested with ticks. Four birds, each a different passerine species, carried tickborne encephalitis virus (TBEV)-infected ticks (Ixodes ricinus). Migrating birds may play a role in the geographic dispersal of TBEV-infected ticks.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1308.061416 | DOI Listing |
Trop Biomed
December 2024
Higher Institution Centre of Excellence, Tropical Infectious Disease Research & Education Centre (TIDREC), Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Migratory birds are potential vectors transmitting zoonotic parasites, bacteria, and viruses that can significantly affect human health. Over 60 diseases have been identified to be associated with these birds. Given their close proximity to human habitation, the potential transmission of zoonotic diseases is a major concern for the public.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Anim Ecol
January 2025
Institute of Avian Research, Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
Whilst efficient movement through space is thought to increase the fitness of long-distance migrants, evidence that selection acts upon such traits remains elusive. Here, using 228 migratory tracks collected from 102 adult breeding common terns (Sterna hirundo) aged 3-22 years, we find evidence that older terns navigate more efficiently than younger terns and that efficient navigation leads to a reduced migration duration and earlier arrival at the breeding and wintering grounds. We additionally find that the age-specificity of navigational efficiency in adult breeding birds cannot be explained by within-individual change with age (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU, UK.
Understanding the distribution of breeding populations of migratory animals in the non-breeding period (migratory connectivity) is important for understanding their response to environmental change. High connectivity (low non-breeding population dispersion) may lower resilience to climate change and increase vulnerability to habitat loss within their range. Very high levels of connectivity are reportedly rare, but this conclusion may be limited by methodology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiology (Basel)
January 2025
Lipu-BirdLife Italy, Via Pasubio 3, I-43122 Parma, Italy.
In this study, we (a) inventoried the breeding bird community of a town located in Northern Italy using quadrat sampling, (b) quantified bird richness and abundance, (c) measured sample completeness, (d) tested whether the bird community assembly was driven by environmental filtering (i.e., local properties of every single quadrat), e) explained bird richness and abundance in light of the land cover types present in each quadrat, (f) disentangled the marginal effects of every land cover type, and (g) simulated the effects on birds of different planning decisions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOecologia
January 2025
Tohoku Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Morioka, Iwate, Japan.
Vertical seed dispersal towards higher or lower altitudes is an important process for plants' adaptation to climate change. Although many plants depend on animals for seed dispersal, studies on vertical seed dispersal by animals, determined by complex animal behaviours, are scarce. Previous studies hypothesised that animals inhabiting temperate regions disperse seeds uphill in spring/summer and downhill in autumn/winter due to their seasonal movement following the altitudinal gradients in food phenology.
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