Migratory birds as global pathogen vectors: Ecological roles, transmission pathways, and emerging zoonotic risks
September 2026
Migratory birds have emerged as primary vectors of infectious agents, including viruses, bacteria, vector-borne pathogens, and fungal pathogens, posing a considerable and geographically unrestricted...
Inherited biases reveal call-type-specific conspecific alarm responses in tits
September 2026
Eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm signals provides critical predator information, yet whether recognition is driven by innate phylogenetic biases or learning and ecology remains unclear. We hypothesize...
Why are some White Eared Pheasants (Crossoptilon crossoptilon) grey? Investigating plumage divergence through habitat modeling
September 2026
Plumage coloration plays a crucial role in ecology, often reflecting adaptive responses to environmental heterogeneity. According to Gloger's rule, animals in warm and humid regions are expected to...
Metagenomic analysis of vitamins B and K2 biosynthesis by gut microbiota in wild birds
June 2026
The role of gut microbiota in vitamin biosynthesis in wild birds, which is essential for understanding avian health and ecological adaptation, remains largely unexplored. In this study, metagenomic...
Patterns and drivers of waterbird alpha and beta diversity are different between arid and humid regions of China
June 2026
Waterbirds are vital for wetland ecosystems, but climate change and human activities are harming these habitats globally, reducing biodiversity and threatening waterbird survival. In China, wetlands...
Effects of wind and temperature on the migration decisions of a short-distance migratory shorebird across the annual cycle
June 2026
Elucidating the spatial-temporal characteristics and influencing factors of migration activities is the basis for understanding the life cycle of migratory birds and for making conservation measures....
Estradiol acutely modifies singing patterns via modulating the synaptic activity of RA in Zebra Finches
June 2026
Songbirds serve as an appealing animal model for evaluating the hormonal influences on the regulation of fine motor skills, particularly in relation to vocal production. The influence of estrogens on...
Unraveling the spatial patterns and driving mechanisms of avian functional assemblages in the agro-pastoral ecosystems of the Tibetan Plateau
June 2026
China's new national park system prioritizes the conservation of large-scale ecosystems to maintain ecological integrity, exemplified by Qilian Mountain National Park (QMNP) in northwestern China. QMNP...
Sex-specific effects of social complexity and competitive interactions on cognitive performance in Budgerigars
June 2026
The social intelligence hypothesis posits that complex social interactions drive cognitive evolution in animals. However, empirical support remains inconsistent, likely because most studies rely on...
Knowledge gaps in trace element contamination of shorebirds and allies along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway: A review
June 2026
Trace elements (metals and metalloids) are naturally occurring substances that may be essential at trace levels but become toxic pollutants at higher concentrations, accumulating in biological systems...
Precisely targeting host activity for parasitism by Common Cuckoos
June 2026
The evolution of parasitic strategies through tracking host life-history patterns represents a key adaptive trait in avian brood parasites. However, when hosts successfully exploit human-modified environments—such...
Bird banding in Asia: Contributions, challenges, and prospects
June 2026
Bird banding is internationally recognized as one of the most useful and cost-effective methods for avian monitoring. While widely adopted in Europe and North America—where it has played a pivotal role...
Highly urbanized areas are not absolute barriers: Assessing avian habitat connectivity in a megacity via the omnidirectional connectivity model
June 2026
Maintaining habitat connectivity for birds has become a central challenge in urban biodiversity conservation. Taking the Shanghai metropolitan area as a representative case, this study integrates citizen...
A novel machine learning model for the prediction of avian haemosporidian infection from morphological data
June 2026
Avian haemosporidians are a group of widespread protozoan parasites that often impose significant physiological burdens and reduce host fitness; therefore, an increasing number of studies on these parasites...
Landscape and habitat effects on functional and phylogenetic diversity and structure of bird communities in fragmented habitats within an urban landscape, Southwest China
June 2026
Understanding how landscape and habitat characteristics shape species diversity and community structure in fragmented habitats offers insights into the impact of fragmentation on biodiversity. However,...
How do wintering waterbird communities respond to polder restoration in a Ramsar wetland of the Yangtze River Basin, China? A functional and phylogenetic perspective
June 2026
Wetland restoration has been increasingly implemented to compensate for the substantial loss of natural wetlands, and consideration of multidimensional biodiversity is essential for evaluating how restoration...
LiBird: A new universal primer enhancing avian environmental DNA metabarcoding
June 2026
In recent years, global avian diversity has been in continuous decline. Traditional monitoring methods are often constrained by detectability limitations and observational challenges, which makes it...
Factors influencing the distribution patterns of bird endemism in China
June 2026
Distribution of geographically restricted and evolutionarily unique species and its underlying drivers is key to understand evolutionary patterns and conserve biodiversity. However, few studies have...
Global patterns and data gaps in avian genetic diversity based on mitochondrial Cyt b and COI sequences
June 2026
Genetic diversity is a fundamental component of biodiversity, with far-reaching implications for the stability and resilience of ecosystems. Despite the growing recognition of the importance of genetic...
Host ecology shapes chigger mite parasitism on wild, captive, and domestic birds across Malaysia and Thailand
June 2026
Southeast Asia is one of the global biodiversity hotspots, renowned for its rich bird fauna and diverse arthropod communities among other taxa. This comprehensive multisite study investigated trombiculid...
Removing non-avian sounds enhances correlations between acoustic indices and bird vocal activity in urban environments
June 2026
Acoustic indices have been increasingly explored as possible proxies for biodiversity, yet in complex environments non-avian sounds often mask bird vocalizations, compromising assessment accuracy and...
Comparing line transect and Indian White-eye mobbing call playback for detecting forest birds in subtropical Yunnan
June 2026
Detection bias in avian monitoring is a critical constraint on the accurate assessment of community structure. This study presents a detailed field-based comparative case study between the playback...
Breeding success rate of waterbirds in restored wetland: an important indicator for assessing restoration effectiveness
June 2026
Wetlands are crucial habitats for waterbirds, but wetland loss and degradation have caused significant population declines in many waterbird species. Ecological restoration can improve habitat quality...
Determinants of secondary school students' conservation willingness toward the Great Bustard (Otis tarda) in riparian cities along the Yellow River in Henan Province, China
June 2026
Understanding public conservation willingness is crucial for mitigating the global decline in avian diversity. Secondary school students, as key future actors and stakeholders in biodiversity conservation,...
Spatiotemporal patterns of bird strikes at civil airports across China inferred from DNA barcoding (2012–2024)
June 2026
Wildlife strikes, particularly bird strikes, pose a persistent threat to aviation safety worldwide. Although wildlife aircraft collisions in North America and Europe airports have been extensively studied,...