After cross-equatorial wintering, migratory birds reliably return to their natal grounds, but a population of cliff swallows recently switched breeding hemisphere. They inverted their annual cycle and migration directions almost instantaneously.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.026 | 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
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, School of Biosciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
The evolution of sociality is one of the major evolutionary transitions in the history of life and a key step in this transition is the occurrence of kin associations. Yet, the question of what demographic processes and environmental factors generate kin-structured populations and drive kin-directed cooperation remains open. In this review, we synthesise 30 years of studies of the long-tailed tit Aegithalos caudatus, which has a kin-selected cooperative breeding system with redirected help: failed breeders may help to raise offspring of conspecifics, typically relatives, breeding nearby.
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 PDFInt J Biometeorol
January 2025
University College of Applied Sciences in Chełm, Pocztowa 54, Chełm, 22-100, Poland.
In this study, a relationship between climate indices (local - air temperatures, and wide-scale - North Atlantic Oscillation) and first arrival dates (FAD) of a short-distant migratory bird, the Common Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) at a breeding site in SE Poland (Lublin) was investigated. Temporal patterns of FAD on a multi-year scale (20 years within 39 years between 1982 and 2020) were also studied. Additionally, correlations between mean air temperature at Lublin and sites along the spring migration route with various distances from the breeding site and various time lags were searched for.
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.
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