Juan Carlos Senar

• PhD
• Head of Department at Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona

Moult and age determination criteria of the monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus). Age determination of the invasive monk parakeet Myiopsitta monachus has been hampered by its juvenile plumage showing only subtle differences from subsequent plumages, and little is known about its moult. Here we examined three specific traits (grey patch on forehead,...

Variation in age structure influences population dynamics, yet we have limited understanding of the spatial scale at which its fluctuations are synchronised between populations. Using 32 great tit populations, spanning 4° W–33° E and 35°–65° N involving > 130,000 birds across 67 years, we quantify spatial synchrony in breeding demographic structure...

Symbionts are key elements of ecosystems, by playing important roles in shaping the biology and ecology of their hosts. However, the factors determining symbiont loads across host species are still unclear. Nowadays, we know that the intensity and prevalence of feather mites, the most diverse group of avian ectosymbionts, differ strongly between sp...

The social complexity hypothesis argues that communicative complexity arises as a result of social complexity, with this occurring through several potential mechanisms including plasticity and selection. Most research to date has focused on ultimate drivers of repertoire size, for example finding that cooperative breeding species exhibit larger rep...

A growing number of studies suggest that individuals can develop long‐term foraging specializations independently of phenotypic or environmental variation, yet little is known about how the foraging niche is acquired. The early learning of the foraging niche hypothesis suggests a key role of vertical cultural transmission in shaping the foraging ni...

Una buena parte de la comunidad científica española dedicada al estudio de la ecología evolutiva, conoce o está en deuda, de un modo u otro, con dos figuras cuyo legado trasciende las páginas de los libros o los artículos científicos. Anders y Tinín, nombres que evocan respeto y admiración, han dedicado sus vidas al estudio de la evolución del comp...

Predicting the future abundance and distribution of introduced alien species is crucial to mitigate their impact on ecosystems, but this has been shown to be highly challenging. A good approach to obtain crucial clues to the root causes behind dynamic changes over time and space of invasive species is historical resurveys. Barcelona holds one of th...

Spatio-temporal variation in age structure influences social and demographic functioning, yet we have limited understanding of the spatial scale at which its fluctuations are synchronised between wild populations. Using 32 great tit populations, spanning 3200km and >130,000 birds across 67 years, we quantify spatial synchrony in breeding age struct...

Comprehending symbiont abundance among host species is a major ecological endeavour, and the metabolic theory of ecology has been proposed to understand what constrains symbiont populations. We parameterized metabolic theory equations to investigate how bird species' body size and the body size of their feather mites relate to mite abundance accord...

Animals use colours, morphological structures and behaviour to advertise their dominance status and ability to obtain resources (Resource Holding Potential, RHP) in agonistic contexts with conspecifics. Dominance relationships are also known between species, although the interactions and the information used to assess the other species' RHP remain...

ETH_23-0150 R1 Quesada et al_Interspp tits Ethol_data

Social associations among conspecifics are typically non-random, often being a function of relatedness, familiarity, or spatial distributions. The aim of this study was to combine field observations with molecular genetic techniques and social network analysis to investigate the predictors of social associations in free-living monk parakeets, Myiop...

Colonial birds often breed at high density, generating conflict among neighbours over the use of nest-building materials. However, in a few colonial species, breeders appear to cooperate in the construction of compound nests that contain multiple breeding chambers within a single nest structure. The relative contributions of individual birds and th...

Due to their large population sizes, synanthropic birds, including native and invasive species, can transmit pathogens to other vertebrates, and even humans. In particular, Newcastle disease virus (NDV) can cause lethal infections in a wide range of avian species as well as mild infections in humans and other non-avian hosts. In this study conducte...

Aim Anticipating the ultimate fraction of a landscape that might be susceptible to invasion is challenging as several species are able to expand the range of environmental conditions used over invasion. Despite its relevance, the more proximate processes underlying observed shifts are not sufficiently understood. Habitat selection theory predicts t...

Introduction Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is usually caused by the inhalation of avian and fungal proteins. The present study assesses a cohort of Urban Pest Surveillance and Control Service (UPSCS) workers with high exposure to avian and fungal antigens, in order to identify their degree of sensitization and the potential risk of developing H...

In humans, identity is partly encoded in a voice-print that is carried across multiple vocalizations. Other species also signal vocal identity in calls, such as shown in the contact call of parrots. However, it remains unclear to what extent other call types in parrots are individually distinct, and whether there is an analogous voice-print across...

Longevity records (maximum lifespan) of free–ranging birds are basic to understand the evolution of avian senescence patterns. Here we provide minimum longevity records for the citril finch Carduelis citrinella, an endemic cardueline finch of high mountains in Central and Western Europe. Continuous ringing over 43 years in the Eastern Pyrenees allo...

Climate change affects timing of reproduction in many bird species, but few studies have investigated its influence on annual reproductive output. Here, we assess changes in the annual production of young by female breeders in 201 populations of 104 bird species (N = 745,962 clutches) covering all continents between 1970 and 2019. Overall, average...

Nest material kleptoparasitism occurs when an individual steals material from another individual's nest. Here we document 69 observations of grey herons, Ardea cinerea, removing nest material from the nests of monk parakeets, Myiopsitta monachus. The observations coincided with the breeding season of grey herons in Barcelona. We observed the behavi...

Invasive species threaten biodiversity all around the world and for this reason, identifying the causes and mitigating their effects is a priority in conservation biology. One of the most important factors when dealing with invasive species is dispersal, because the distribution of dispersal distances among members of a population can greatly affec...

A recurrent behavioral trait model to study adaptation to urban environments is the flight initiation distance (FID), measured as the distance at which animals flee from an approaching threat. It has previously been shown that urban birds display shorter FID than their non-urban (rural) counterparts. However, discerning whether this is the result o...

Comprehending symbiont abundance among host species is a major ecological endeavour, and the metabolic theory of ecology has been proposed to understand what constraints symbiont populations. We parameterized metabolic theory equations to predict how bird species’ body size and the body size of their feather mites relate to mite abundance according...

In humans, identity is partly encoded in a voice-print that is carried across multiple vocalisations. Other species of vocal learners also signal vocal identity in calls, for example as shown in the contact call of parrots. However, it remains unclear to what extent other call types in parrots are individually distinct, and whether there is an anal...

Identifying the environmental drivers of variation in fitness‐related traits is a central objective in ecology and evolutionary biology. Temporal fluctuations of these environmental drivers are often synchronized at large spatial scales. Yet, whether synchronous environmental conditions can generate spatial synchrony in fitness‐related trait values...

Studies on plumage colouration are valuable in fields such as systematics, behavioural biology, and evolutionary biology, which have frequently sought access to bird skins collections. Thus, in the context of zoological preparation, it is important to use skin preparation methods that do not significantly affect plumage colour. Research on zoologic...

Capsule Previous observations in Barcelona and other cities showed that approximately 40% of the food ingested by adult Monk Parakeets Myiopsitta monachus is of anthropogenic origin. Here we show that this type of food source is also used for feeding nestlings. Aims To quantify the proportion of anthropogenic food within the diet of nestling Monk...

The phenology of many species shows strong sensitivity to climate change; however, with few large scale intra-specific studies it is unclear how such sensitivity varies over a species’ range. We document large intra-specific variation in phenological sensitivity to temperature using laying date information from 67 populations of two co-familial Eur...

The coping style of an individual in relation to potentially dangerous situations has been suggested to be inherited in a polygenic fashion, being SERT one of the candidate genes. In this paper, we assessed in free-living great tits Parus major the association between SNP290 in the SERT promoter and three standard fear-related behaviors, namely the...

Identifying the molecular mechanisms involved in rapid adaptation to novel environments and determining their predictability, are central questions in evolutionary biology and pressing issues due to rapid global changes. Complementary to genetic responses to selection, faster epigenetic variations such as modifications of DNA methylation may play a...

Home-range size is a key aspect of space-use, and variation in home-range size and structure may have profound consequences for the potential impact of damage and control strategies for invasive species. However, knowledge on home-range structure of naturalized parrot species is very limited. The aim of this study was to quantify patterns of home-r...

Data on home-range size of 73 Monk parakeets in Barcelona city

Comparación de la dieta de los carboneros comunes en entornos urbanos y forestales en un hábitat mediterráneo El escaso éxito reproductor y la condición física deficiente de los pollos de paseriformes en entornos urbanos se han atribuido a la escasez de alimentos en estos ambientes y a la mala calidad de estos. No obstante, existen pocos datos deta...

La plasticidad en la dieta de una especie invasora y las implicaciones para su gestión. El caso de la cotorra argentina en una ciudad mediterránea La flexibilidad del comportamiento puede ser un factor determinante en la invasión de un nuevo hábitat. Uno de los ejemplos más típicos de flexibilidad del comportamiento que favorece la invasión son los...

Simple Summary Invasive species can be harmful to native species, although this fact could be more complex when some natives eventually benefit from invaders. Faced with this paradox, we show how the invasive monk parakeet, the only parrot species that builds its nests with sticks, can host other species as tenants, increasing nest-site availabilit...

Diet specialisation during brood rearing has important consequences on parental reproductive success and on the recruitment rate of offspring. However, very little is known about the long-term consistency of parents when feeding their offspring. Here, we used Mediterranean Great Tits Parus major to test the hypothesis that parents show a consistent...

Una lámina de plástico fijada alrededor de los árboles puede impedir que las serpientes ataquen las cajas nido de las aves Se han diseñado varios artilugios para impedir que los mamíferos y las aves ataquen las cajas nido. A pesar de que las serpientes son uno de los depredadores más comunes de las aves que anidan en cavidades, siempre han sido dif...

Bany amb fulles a la cotorra de Kramer Psittacula krameri Una de les principals accions en la cura i neteja del plomatge a les aus és el bany. Les aus poden banyar-se en aigua, neu, pols i fins i tot formigues. S’ha descrit més rarament el bany amb fulles, en què les aus aprofiten les gotes d’aigua acumulades a les fulles per banyar-se. Aquí descr...

Urbanisation is increasing worldwide, and there is now ample evidence of phenotypic changes in wild organisms in response to this novel environment. Yet, the genetic changes and genomic architecture underlying these adaptations are poorly understood. Here, we genotype 192 great tits ( Parus major ) from nine European cities, each paired with an adj...

According to current theory, the development of different conspicuous ornaments may provide multiple, redundant or unreliable information. However, multiple visual and acoustic traits have not often been tested at the same time. In this study, we analyse whether black tie size, yellow breast colour indexes (chroma and hue) and song parameters (repe...

Identifying the molecular mechanisms involved in rapid adaptation to novel environments and determining their predictability are central questions in Evolutionary Biology and pressing issues due to rapid global changes. Complementary to genetic responses to selection, faster epigenetic variations such as modifications of DNA methylation may play a...

Rates of phenotypic change are greater in cities than in any other habitat. Consequently, urban habitats are an ideal experimental area to study contemporary evolution and adaptation. A key question related to phenotypic changes in urban animals relates to the patterns of gene flow between the city and the natural habitats surrounding cities, but t...

The genetic structure of animal populations has considerable behavioural, ecological and evolutionary implications and may arise from various demographic traits. Here, we use observational field data and molecular genetics to determine the genetic structure of an invasive population of monk parakeets, Myiopsitta monachus, at a range of spatial scal...

The integration and synthesis of the data in different areas of science is drastically slowed and hindered by a lack of standards and networking programmes. Long‐term studies of individually marked animals are not an exception. These studies are especially important as instrumental for understanding evolutionary and ecological processes in the wild...

Significance Many ecological and evolutionary processes strongly depend on the way natural selection varies over time. However, a gap remains when trying to connect theoretical predictions to empirical work on this question: Most theory assumes that adaptation involves tracking a moving optimum phenotype through time, but this is seldom estimated e...

Objectives: • Understanding the role of behavioural flexibility in the invasion success of monk parakeets in hot climates. • Testing the ‘spillover effect’ applied to monk parakeets. • Suggesting management measures based on the diet and the “spillover effect”.

BACKGROUND Nicarbazin is an anti‐coccidial product sometimes used as a contraceptive to reduce the size of feral pigeon populations. However, its effectiveness in reducing pigeon population size in cities has caused some controversy. Here, we evaluate its effectiveness in the city of Barcelona. RESULTS In 2017, the Barcelona City Council set 23 fe...

Zoological gardens are home to a large number of vertebrate species and as such are suitable sites for both mosquito breeding and maintenance. They are excellent places for entomological studies of mosquito phenology, diversity, and blood-feeding patterns, as well as for xenomonitoring. During 2016, we sampled mosquitoes in Barcelona Zoo and used m...

We studied the relationship between temperature and the coexistence of great tit Parus major and blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus, breeding in 75 study plots across Europe and North Africa. We expected an advance in laying date and a reduction in clutch size during warmer springs as a general response to climate warming and a delay in laying date and a...

The phenology of many species shows strong sensitivity to climate change; however, with few large scale intra-specific studies it is unclear how such sensitivity varies over a species' range. We document large intra-specific variation in phenological sensitivity to temperature using laying date information from 67 populations of two European songbi...

The integration and synthesis of the data in different areas of science is drastically slowed and hindered by a lack of standards and networking programmes. Long-term studies of individually marked animals are not an exception. These studies are especially important as instrumental for understanding evolutionary and ecological processes in the wild...

Urbanisation is currently increasing worldwide, and there is now ample evidence of phenotypic changes in wild organisms in response to this novel environment, but the extent to which this adaptation is due to genetic changes is poorly understood. Current evidence for evolution is based on localised studies, and thus lacking replicability. Here, we...

Food is a main limiting factor for most populations. As a consequence, knowledge about the diet of invasive alien species determines the design of control measures. The Monk and Rose-ringed parakeets are two typical species of successful invasive parrots that are highly appreciated by people. Although some observations suggest that Monk parakeets r...

Alien mosquito and vertebrate host species may create novel epidemiological scenarios for the transmission of pathogens naturally circulating in the invaded area. The exotic Monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) has established populations in Europe and is currently considered an invasive pest. Due to their high abundance in urban areas, Monk parakee...

Aim Nest building is widespread among animals. Nests may provide receptacles for eggs, developing offspring and the parents, and protect them from adverse environmental conditions. Nests may also indicate the quality of the territory and its owner and can be considered as an extended phenotype of its builder(s). Nests may, thus, function as a sexua...

Invasive species can have wide-ranging negative impacts, and an understanding of the process and success of invasions can be vital to determine management strategies, mitigate impacts and predict range expansions of such species. Monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) and ring-necked parakeets (Psittacula krameri) are both widespread invasive species...

Stable isotope analyses (SIAs) have been widely used in recent years to infer the diet of many species. This isotopic approach requires using diet to tissue discrimination factors (DTDFs) for each prey type and predator tissue, i.e., to determine the difference between the isotopic composition of the predator tissues and the different prey that con...

Dozens of morphologically differentiated populations, subspecies and species of crossbills (genus Loxia ) exist. It has been suggested that this divergence is due to variation in the conifer cones that each population specialises upon, requiring a specific beak size to efficiently separate the cone scales. If so, apparent survival should depend on...

Research in zoological preparation focuses on all those aspects aimed at improving protocols, and therefore requires knowledge regarding the impact of different preparation techniques on the quality of the specimen. The scientific value of the collections is intimacely related to the study in various fields of biological sciences. An example is the...

La ciudad de Barcelona, capital científica de Cataluña, ha sido, es y será cuna de naturalistas científicos ilustres. A pesar de ubicarse en una desembocadura fluvial urbanizada en un alto porcentaje, se halla rodeada por los ríos Llobregat y Besós, la sierra de Marina, la sierra de Collserola, la montaña de Montjuïc y el Mar Mediterráneo. Este enc...

Aquest article, a més de mostrar la importància dels pins en el cicle biològic de la llucareta Carduelis citrinella, té com objectiu posar en relleu el paper que té la pinassa Pinus nigra en la hivernada de l’espècie i en la reproducció extemporània, habitualment anomenada reproducció oportunista.

Biological responses to climate change have been widely documented across taxa and regions, but it remains unclear whether species are maintaining a good match between phenotype and environment, i.e. whether observed trait changes are adaptive. Here we reviewed 10,090 abstracts and extracted data from 71 studies reported in 58 relevant publications...

Breeding parameters for Monk Parakeets Myiopsitta monachus nesting in Barcelona, Spain, were collected for 651 nests over five breeding seasons. This invasive population has a high reproductive capacity compared with the species in the native range: fledging success was double, the percentage of pairs attempting second broods three times higher and...

BACKGROUND The monk parakeet Myiopsitta monachus (Boddaert), native to South America, is an invasive species in several European countries, causing crop damage and potential negative impacts on wildlife. Only Spain and Great Britain have regulations to control monk parakeets, thus fast growth and spread of populations are likely to occur on a wide...

Many species only show sexual dimorphism at the age of maturity, such that juveniles typically resemble females. Under these circumstances, estimating accurate age-specific demographic parameters is challenging. Here, we propose a multievent model parameterization able to estimate age-dependent survival using capture–recapture data with uncertainty...

Parasite-mediated competition has been reported to be one of the most harmful, although overlooked, impacts that alien species have on native ecosystems. Monk parakeets Myiopsitta monachus are successful invaders in Europe, where they have been introduced from South America. Colonial nests of these parrots may also host other species, e.g. the rock...

En aquest article s’aporten dades històriques sobre l’origen i el tarannà del Grup Bages d’Anellament (GBA) i del paper que aquest ha jugat en l’estudi de l’ornitologia de muntanya. Alhora, completa alguns aspectes sobre la recent història de l’ornitologia catalana de l’últim terç del segle XX. El Grup Bages d’Anellament és un dels grups pioners qu...

Solapamiento de nichos isotópicos entre el ruiseñor del Japón, invasivo, y los posibles competidores nativos Analizamos el solapamiento de nichos entre el ruiseñor del Japón, Leiothrix lutea, que es un ave exótica invasiva en expansión, y el petirrojo europeo, Erithacus rubecula, y la curruca capirotada, Sylvia atricapilla, que son especies nativas...

Bird plumage is often very colourful and can communicate the quality of the bearer to conspecifics. These plumage-based signals of quality are composed of multiple pigments (e.g., melanin and carotenoids). Therefore, sex and age classes, which often show marked differences in plumage colouration, may have different dietary needs for the different p...

La finalidad del presente informe es dotar a la administración local de información precisa y veraz sobre la situación de los cotorras invasoras en el municipio de Málaga. Para ello se ha cuantificado la población, localizado los nidos o zonas de reproducción y se han analizado la evolución temporal de cada especie, para dotar a la administración d...

La finalidad del presente informe es dotar a la administración local de información precisa y veraz sobre la situación de los cotorras invasoras en el municipio de Málaga. Para ello se ha cuantificado la población, localizado los nidos o zonas de reproducción y se han analizado la evolución temporal de cada especie, para dotar a la administración d...

Environmental change associated with urbanization is considered one of the major threats to biodiversity. Some species nevertheless seem to thrive in the urban areas, probably associated with selection for phenotypes that match urban habitats. Previous research defined different “copying styles” in distress behavior during the handling of birds. Th...

Interspecific interactions between invasive and native fauna are poorly studied. Here we report six fatal attacks by Rose-ringed Parakeets Psittacula krameri, one of the most successful invasive avian species in Europe, on House Sparrows Passer domesticus and Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Sparrows and tits were attac...

Zoological gardens are areas potentially affecting the transmission of vector-borne pathogens as they concentrate a high diversity of animals, including animals maintained in captivity, wildlife and people, and provide environmental resources for mosquito breeding and maintenance. Here, we identified the relevance of both native and invasive mosqui...

The monk parakeet Myiopsitta monachus is an invasive species widely distributed across the world. Invasive populations have been reported from several European countries, but data on population sizes and trends are scarce and often outdated. From 2015 to 2017, we have conducted a census across Europe to update monk parakeet population sizes and ana...

Epigenetic modifications can respond rapidly to environmental changes and can shape phenotypic variation in accordance with environmental stimuli. One of the most studied epigenetic marks is DNA methylation. In the present study, we used the MSAP technique to investigate the natural variation in DNA methylation within and among subspecies of the ho...

The ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri) is an exotic, invasive pest species that has established feral populations worldwide. Estimating their juvenile and adult survival rates is important to understand their dynamics but young and adult females cannot be distinguished by plumage. We developed a multi-event capture-recapture model, accountin...

Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2016.11.004 The diet of wild animals has been studied using many different strategies, approaches and methods in recent decades. In this regard, stable isotopes analysis (SIA) is becoming a widespread tool, but no study has yet, to our knowledge, compared diet estimations from SIA with direct observati...

Aim Effective policy and management responses to the multiple threats posed by invasive alien species ( IAS ) rely on the ability to assess their impacts before conclusive empirical evidence is available. A plethora of different IAS risk and/or impact assessment protocols have been proposed, but it remains unclear whether, how and why the outcomes...

Most examples of adaptation to the urban environment relate to plasticity processes rather than to natural selection. Personality, however, defined as consistent individual differences in behaviour related to exploration, caution, and neophobia, is a good behavioural candidate character to study natural selection in relation to the urban habitat du...

Carotenoid-based ornaments have been proposed to signal the ability to find food. The good-parent hypothesis suggests that females may rely on these carotenoid-based traits to assess male parental quality. A key question is whether the quality of these ornaments correlates with their performance at the moment of breeding. In this study, we assessed...

The increase in size of human populations in urban and agricultural areas has resulted in considerable habitat conversion globally. Such anthropogenic areas have specific environmental characteristics, which influence the physiology, life history, and population dynamics of plants and animals. For example, the date of bud burst is advanced in urban...