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ISSN: 2053-7166
CN: 10-1240/Q
p-ISSN: 20556187

Negative effects of artificial nest boxes on birds: A review

Artificial nest boxes are placed to attract birds to nest and breed in a specific location, and they are widely used in avian ecology research and in the attraction of insectivorous birds. There is...

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Does bird photography affect nest predation and feeding frequency?

Bird photography is a popular and growing form of ecotourism that contributes to the economic growth of local communities, but its disturbance to bird reproduction remains understudied. We worked in...

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The Black-winged Monarch (Monarcha frater): Geographic variation, taxonomy, a "new" population, and an enduring mystery in migration

The Black-winged Monarch (Monarcha frater) inhabits low-mid elevation forests across New Guinea and far north-eastern Australia. Of its four recognized subspecies, M. f. canescens is migratory, breeding...

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Plumage assisted divergence in a vocally complex island endemic: The Dicrurus paradiseus species complex in Sri Lanka

Models of allopatric speciation within an island biogeographic framework suggest that the division of ancestral mainland populations leads to one or more allopatric island species predominantly through...

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Achievements, challenges, and recommendations for waterbird conservation in China's coastal wetlands

China's coastal wetlands provide breeding, migration stopover, and wintering habitats for about 230 waterbird species, which is more than a quarter of all waterbirds in the world. Large-scale and high...

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Systematics of the avian family Alaudidae using multilocus and genomic data

The family Alaudidae, larks, comprises 93–100 species (depending on taxonomy) that are widely distributed across Africa and Eurasia, with single species extending their ranges to North and northernmost...

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The effects of climate and land use change on the potential distribution and nesting habitat of the Lesser Adjutant in Nepal

Climate change and land use change pose a threat to the world's biodiversity and have significant impacts on the geographic distribution and composition of many bird species, but little is known about...

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Relative importance of tidal flats and artificial habitats for two spoonbill species and related interspecific differences

Artificial/seminatural environments, such as aquacultural ponds, saltpans, and croplands, have recently been acknowledged as important habitats for coastal waterbirds. Although coastal waterbirds tend...

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Responses of breeding waterbird communities to environmental changes in subsidence wetlands in the North China Plain

In the context of global degradation and loss of natural wetlands, waterbirds have been increasingly using artificial wetlands as alternative habitats. However, waterbirds are facing various threats...

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Variation in reproductive life-history traits of Chinese Bulbuls (Pycnonotus sinensis) along the urbanization gradient in Hangzhou, China

Urbanization brings new selection pressures to wildlife living in cities, and changes in the life-history traits of urban species can reflect their responses to such pressures. To date, most of the...

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Predicting the non-breeding distributions of the two Asian subspecies of Black-tailed Godwit using morphological information

Until recently, Limosa limosa melanuroides was thought to be the only subspecies of Black-tailed Godwit in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. For this reason, all previous occurrences and counts of...

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Phylogenetic definitions for 25 higher-level clade names of birds

Knowledge of the higher-level phylogenetic relationships of birds has grown substantially during the past two decades due to the application of genomic data. However, the nomenclature of higher-level...

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Does cryptic dichromatism exist in the Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola)? Colorimetric variables and the avian visual model

Sexual dichromatism, a particular type of sexual dimorphism, occurs in several species and has been associated with sexual selection. In some cases, the differences are so small that they are imperceptible...

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Effects of diet shift on the gut microbiota of the critically endangered Siberian Crane

Wetlands worldwide have suffered from serious degradation and transformation, leading to waterbirds increasingly dependent on agricultural fields for feeding. Although gut microbiota is an essential...

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Habitat-dependent breeding biology of the Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) across a continuous and heterogeneous Mediterranean woodland

Mediterranean woodland environments are characterised by high spatial and temporal heterogeneity, which means the inhabiting species face a wide variety of selective pressures. Species may respond differently...

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Visual cognition of birds and its underlying neural mechanism: A review

Birds have acute vision and many remarkable visual cognition abilities, due to their unique living environment. The underlying neural mechanisms have also attracted interests of researchers in neuroscience....

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Migration routes and differences in migration strategies of Whooper Swans between spring and autumn

Long-distance migratory birds travel more rapidly in spring than in autumn, as they face temporal breeding constraints. However, several species travel slower in spring owing to environmental influences,...

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Altitudinal migration behavior patterns of birds on the eastern slope of Mt. Gongga, China

Many bird species in montane regions exhibit altitudinal migration behavior; however, altitudinal migration of birds is still understudied, especially in Asia. Mt. Gongga (7556 ​m) is the highest peak...

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The impact of earlier flood recession on metacommunity diversity of wintering waterbirds at shallow lakes in the middle and lower Yangtze River floodplain

The hydrological regime in wetlands plays an important role in the process of wintering waterbird metacommunity assemblage. However, increasing frequency of extreme climate and the intensification of...

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Phylogeography and diversification of Oriental weaverbirds (Ploceus spp.): A gradual increase of eurytopy

Weaverbirds are a speciose group of colorful passerines inhabiting the Old World Tropics. Nevertheless, the Oriental weaverbirds (Ploceus spp.), widespread across southern Asia, are much less diverse...

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Egg rejection and egg recognition mechanism in a Chinese Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) population

Recognition and rejection of foreign eggs are effective defense of hosts against brood parasitism. However, brood parasitism can impose various selection pressures on different geographic populations...

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Hummingbird-plant interactions in Chile: An ecological review of the available evidence

Hummingbird species have closely evolved with the plants they feed on, which is confirmed by their often tight ecological relationships in natural settings. Hummingbird-plant interactions are of interest...

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Litter buffet: On the use of trash bins by birds in six boreal urban settlements

Unintentional food resources in urban areas (street litter, food leftovers, overflowing trash bins) are dietary components of some urban-exploiter bird species. In this study, we report on 13 bird species...

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Feeding ecology of a highly aerial bird during its long breeding season

Pallid Swifts (Apus pallidus), as other swifts, are birds extremely adapted to an aerial lifestyle, showing unique adaptations that allow them to fly almost continuously. The diet of these non-stopping...

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Mongolian Lark as an indicator of taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of steppe birds

Biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate. Many grassland species have been lost and are now of conservation concern. Identifying efficient biodiversity indicators is a key pillar of the global...

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