Waterbird image recognition using lightweight deep learning in wetland environment
December 2025
Wetland waterbirds serve as key ecological indicators for assessing habitat quality and biodiversity. Accurate identification of waterbird species is a cornerstone of long-term ecological monitoring....
Birds of a feather: Comprehensive plumage colour analysis for a revised subspecies classification of the Chestnut-winged Babbler (Cyanoderma erythropterum) species complex
December 2025
Quantitative analysis of colouration is an essential tool for subspecies delimitation but has always posed a challenge in avian taxonomy. In this study on the Chestnut-winged Babbler (Cyanoderma erythropterum)...
Impacts of prolonged dry season and artificial food supply on the wintering spatial distribution of Siberian Cranes: Implications for conservation
December 2025
Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, is a critical wintering ground for most of the global Siberian Crane (Grus leucogeranus) population. However, increasingly prolonged dry seasons have degraded...
Chinese provincial-level new records for 96 resident bird species reveal poleward range shifts
December 2025
Anthropogenic climate change is altering species distributions globally. While species distributions are expected to shift to higher latitudes and elevations under global warming, empirical evidence...
The predictable HPAI H5 outbreaks in European wild birds
December 2025
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 viruses have caused widespread mortality in wild birds and poultry, with increasing spillover risk into mammals. The recently dominant clade 2.3.4.4b has...
Urbanization alters the seasonality of bird communities across China
Available online 4 November 2025
Urbanization has profoundly reshaped biodiversity, yet its impacts on community seasonal changes remain poorly understood. Here, we used citizen science data from 839 bird species in 37 cities and their...
Escape behavior and refuge selection preferences by two common urban birds
Available online 4 November 2025
Urbanization destroys wildlife habitats, fragmenting them into small patches with poor connectivity, leading to population declines in species sensitive to such changes. Escape is the most common anti-predator...
Patterns and drivers of beta diversity in bird communities associated with blue-green infrastructure in rapidly urbanizing landscapes
Available online 4 November 2025
Habitat loss driven by land-use change is a major factor shaping the dynamics of urban bird community structures. However, the potential mechanisms by which the spatial configuration and composition...
Birds' co-occurrence is mediated by diet, habitat type, and anthropogenic disturbances in Ghana's Central Region
September 2025
Understanding the fundamental drivers of large-scale species co-occurrence is a critical issue in ecology and conservation research. Here, we assessed foraging guilds, habitat type and disturbances...
Migration patterns and spatial connectivity of Pallas's Gulls (Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus) from Alakol lake, Kazakhstan using ring recovery and tracking data
September 2025
Understanding migration patterns and spatial connectivity is crucial for conserving long-distance migratory birds. While satellite telemetry has advanced the study of large gulls, Pallas's Gull (Ichthyaetus...
Elevated extinction risk of low-elevation populations of two songbirds on the Taiwan island
September 2025
Prevailing concerns on mountainous biodiversity are concentrated on the impacts of climate change at higher elevations. However, the lower elevations are facing additional human disturbance and are...
Evaluation of the visual signal in playback by territorial responses of nuthatches
September 2025
A playback experiment is a well-established method for behavior research, especially in the study of the territorial responses of songbirds. Birds obtain information from multimodal signals, whereas...
Testing urban edge effects: Nest predation rates are higher in areas further from the boundary of a suburban park
September 2025
Urban green spaces and parks offer opportunities for retaining and increasing bird richness, diversity, and species abundance. However, urbanisation influences predator–prey interactions, leading to...
Responses of steppe birds to habitat fragmentation: Insights from niche specialization and functional traits
September 2025
Habitat fragmentation poses a significant threat to bird communities, especially those in open and semi-open ecosystems such as steppes. This study investigates how steppe birds adapt to and utilize...
Climatic, topographic, and local-scale variables differently shape bird communities in urban streets and parks
September 2025
Green cover and human disturbance are important local factors shaping urban bird communities, while climatic and topographic variables can be important when analyzing cities in different biomes. However,...
Reconciling Bergmann's rule throughout the annual cycle in two congeneric large-bodied migratory waterbirds
September 2025
Bergmann's rule predicts that the larger of two homeotherm species differing only in size would occur at higher latitudes, or in cooler climates than the smaller, because of relative thermoregulatory...
Variation of migration routes in the central Asian-breeding Common Cuckoo population influenced by the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
September 2025
Ecological barriers present significant challenges to bird migration by limiting the availability of stopover sites and shelters. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a major migratory barrier located in higher...
From fledging to independence: Post-fledging movements and space use of the Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon)
September 2025
The post-fledging period, extending from fledging to independence, is a crucial life stage characterized by high mortality due to fledglings' limited mobility and inexperience. During this stage, fledglings...
Genomic evidence of hybridization between two species of Penduline Tits reveals postzygotic reproductive isolation
September 2025
Regional differences in wintering habitat selection strategies of Siberian Crane (Leucogeranus leucogeranus) and ecological network construction of key wintering areas
September 2025
Poyang Lake (PYL) and the Yellow River Delta (YRD) are two critical wintering areas for the Siberian Crane (Leucogeranus leucogeranus) along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway in China. Based on nearly...
Trait-mediated responses and co-occurrence patterns of breeding steppe birds under human footprint in Inner Mongolia
September 2025
Grasslands are among the world's most threatened ecosystems, and steppe birds face increasing risks from human activities. This study investigates how human impacts affect the distribution and community...
Nest attentiveness does not impact incubation duration across different bird species
September 2025
Avian incubation is characterised by the contact between the eggs and the bird's skin to transfer heat to increase egg temperature above ambient conditions. Birds can be attentive to the clutch all...
Mammal-rich diet associated with reproductive success of Saker Falcons in Mongolia
September 2025
Understanding how diet influences the breeding success of Saker Falcons (Falco cherrug) is key to assessing the role of food supply in population dynamics and informing conservation strategies. Through...