Population monitoring and conservation implications of intra- and interspecific nest occupation rates in swallows.

With the exception of a few groups of birds, such as large raptors and colonial seabirds, direct counts of nests cannot be conducted over very large areas for most of the abundant and widely distributed species, and thus indirect methods are used to estimate their relative abundances and population sizes. However, many species of the Family Hirundinidae (swallows and martins) build their mud nests in discrete, predictable and accessible sites, which are reused across years. Therefore, the direct count of active nests could constitute a reliable method for estimating breeding population sizes and their changes at large spatial and temporal scales.

Insularity determines nestling sex ratio variation in Egyptian vulture populations.

Variation in offspring sex ratio, particularly in birds, has been frequently studied over the last century, although seldom using long-term monitoring data. In raptors, the cost of raising males and females is not equal, and several variables have been found to have significant effects on sex ratio, including food availability, parental age, and hatching order. Sex ratio differences between island populations and their mainland counterparts have been poorly documented, despite broad scientific literature on the island syndrome reporting substantial differences in population demography and ecology.

Top-predator carrion is scary: Fight-and-flight responses of wild boars to wolf carcasses.

Predation risk largely constrains prey behavior. However, whether predators may be scary also after death remains unexplored. Here, we describe the "fight-and-flight" responses of a prey, the wild boar (), to carcasses of (a) its main predator, the gray wolf () and (b) a carnivore that very rarely kills wild boars, the red fox (), in the western Alps (Italy).

Females know better: Sex-biased habitat selection by the European wildcat.

The interactions between animals and their environment vary across species, regions, but also with gender. Sex-specific relations between individuals and the ecosystem may entail different behavioral choices and be expressed through different patterns of habitat use. Regardless, only rarely sex-specific traits are addressed in ecological modeling approaches.