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Ornithology - Science topic

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Questions related to Ornithology
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I am looking for data of the wavelenghts of maximum spectral sensitivities in each of the photoreceptors in any species within the sunbirds family (Nectariniidae).
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Zhe Chen, Yang Niu, Chang-Qiu Liu, Hang Sun, Red flowers differ in shades between pollination systems and across continents, Annals of Botany, Volume 126, Issue 5, 9 October 2020, Pages 837–848, https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaa103
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I am a second year student at Bangor University looking for a dissertation question for my final year.
I am mainly interested in working in the field, mainly basing my research on herpetology (Though I am not opposed to researching ornithology or entomology based questions)
I was just wondering if anybody had any good ideas for a dissertation as I am really struggling and would like expert opinions.
Thank you!
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If you don't have a definite research topic that you definitely want to investigate, it is wise to contact an institution where you would like to work (after obtaining your M.Sc. degree). In this institute, ask what questions are currently being researched and then choose one of these topics and join.
It may also be important that the location of the field work is not too far from where you live, because good field research usually requires frequent visit of the study sites.
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Dear RG community members,
I hope you are well and helthy and ready for small discussion. My question is, can we efficiently increase the population of wetfowls in wetland areas by constracting and using artificial nests suitable for specific taxa? If you also have any reference on that issue, I would be grateful.
Thank you.
Zlatko
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One of these strategies is installing artificial nests adjacent to urban gardens and agricultural farms. Nest boxes are among the artificial nests used by gardeners and farmers to attract pollinators.
Ionescu, D. T., Hodor, C. V., & Petritan, I. C. (2020). Artificial wetlands as breeding habitats for colonial waterbirds within Central Romania. Diversity, 12(10), 371.
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I found these seeds (photo attached) in the gizzards of Green-winged Teal (n=51), and I was hoping that someone on here could recognize them before I start diving into the seed manuals to identify them. I am not good with wetland seed identification but I'm pretty sure the second from the left in the middle row is Polygonum lapathifolium. If you have any book recommendations too please let me know, these were found in coastal North Carolina. Thanks!
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The best thing is where you find the bird, and photograph the aquatic as well as semi-aquatic plants of that waterbody the seed identification becomes much easier after that.
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Dear all,
The recent studies (including ours: https://1url.cz/rKhj9, https://1url.cz/WKhj8 and https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.36573.13288) highlight the importance of small farms and poultry yards (especially hens) as an important foraging site for some granivorous birds inhabiting countryside settlements. On the other hand, there are (anecdotal) observations of hens attacking and killing small passerines. Additionally, I expect competition for invertebrates, attracted to poultry-yard but eaten by hens, thus unavailable for wild birds.
I´m wondering if there is some published or even unpublished work/paper/observation of this interaction or other negative impacts of hens and poultry yards on wild birds.
Thank you.
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Suggestion: I do recommend to pay attention to the observations of zoos, where there is a search for food in their exhibitions (of presented birds, or other farmed species) by not only wild birds but also other wild animal species. I assume some experience and knowledge about interesting interactions in this area. - Pozdravujem, Miroslav
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Legumes and Ficus tree is strong candidate as reforestation starter and able to grow in harsh condition. Both are important agent for fixing soil quality.
But in term restore forest birds habitat, which one is can profide more ecological service? Which on is needed first? Ficus to support frugivores species or Legume as insect refugia to attract insectivores?
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Ficus...but Legumes can also play a great role in arid and Saharan areas.
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Hello,
we are searching for publications on the occurrence of European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) in solar parcs. Does the species breed and/or feed there? How do the photovoltaic modules affect the occurrence of the species?
Thank you for your replies.
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In the following metastudy (in german) it is stated for one area (Turnow-Prellack) that European nightjar was recorded breeding in the border areas of the solarpark. The circumference and the adjacent pine forests were used in an intensity four to eight times higher than the inner zone of the parc by hoopoe, wood lark, wheatear, tawny pipit, great grey shrike and nightjar
If you have more information on that topic, please let me know.
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Can you please identify those bird skulls and a stemum.
My oppinion
1-3. Passeriformes, length 42mm
4-5 Turdus sp, length 53mm 
6-8 Rissa tridactyla, length 86mm
9-10 Turdus stemum, length 160mm 
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Hi Lennart,
I just saw your mystery skulls and compared those with my collection. I think 1-3 is Turdus iliacus, 4-5 Dendrocopus major, 6-8 Rissa tridactyla.
You might be interested in these publications of mine:
all the best!
Gregor
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What's the best way to measure growth rates in House sparrow chicks from day 2 to day 10? Since, the growth curve from day 2 to 10 won't be like the "Logistic curve" it might not follow logistic approach. Is there any other way to measure growth rates in that case?
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See the attached paper.
Dr. Salahuddin
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Hello.
I am looking for a description of a methodology for bird counts (census), which is applicable to airport area and will allow me to collect the data about species diversity and abundance at four different objects with seasonal and daily fluctuations, in order to analyse ornithological safety of those objects and compare them in terms of this safety.
I would appreciate, if somebody shared such methodology or recommended works (papers, books), where it is described in detail.
I would also like to inquire - I am no ornithologist, nor zoologist (my specialization is environmental engineering), so would it be possible for me to make those counts (census) alone, without help from specialist?
Thank You in advance.
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For diversity, you determine the number of species by observation.
For abundance, see the attached article :)
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What would be the best method for analysing trends in species abundance in a single area in Latin America over a 15 year period? Could TRIM be used for this purpose?
I don't have data about several point-counts in the area over the years. All I have is total abundace per species per year in the area.
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I think TRIM is the most common method to study trend of avian population.
This method can help you in missing data.
Good luck,
Can i help you with doc on TRIM ?
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We found a Long-eared Owl breeding in a rock face in eastern Switzerland. I never heard about such a nest site from Central Europe. But there are observations of such a behaviour from Kazakhstan (Karyakin et al. 2007), Mallorca (König, pers. comm.) and Canary islands (Scott 1997). Does anybody know further cases of Long-eared Owls breeding in rock faces?
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Thank you everyone again for your answers. Meanwhile (a bit late!) our publications appeared in Ornithologischer Beobachter 117 (4): 358-352: First cliff-breeding of Long-eared Owl in Switzerland (in German with English Abstract)
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Hi folks,
I've been googling around for quite some time trying to find papers pertaining to pilot studies on ecological/wildlife/biodiversity assessment research, but with little success. Most of them pertain to medical research only. Shall be grateful.
Thanks
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I am authoring a paper on Blanford's Laughing Thrush, Montecincla meridionalis (Blanford, 1880). On its ecology and distribution. I wanted to know of Ebird personal checklists are accepted as references in any standard Journals.
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Hi S. Kalesh,
Today I read this interesting and useful article on how data from citizen science should be cited correctly. Which also implies the full validity of said data sources:
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Greetings
I am Sachin Kumar, pursuing my Ph.D. in Ornithology, from PAU, Ludhiana. I am working on avian diversity along the River Beas. I had submitted a manuscript to a journal having keywords "
riparian zone, river, species richness, species evenness, and Ornithofauna". The journal has asked me to provide a list of reviewers from outside India. I need consent from some reviewers that they will review my manuscripts if it came to them for review. I don't know anyone outside India from the field of ornithology or Biodiversity.
If anyone can review my manuscript. I will be thankful to the person.
I will need details regarding the position, affiliation, email address, postal address, and phone number.
I hope someone accepts my request
With Regards
Sachin Kumar
Ph.D. Zoology
Department of Zoology
Punjab Agricultural University
Ludhiana, Punjab, India
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Dear Sachin Kumar,
I suggest you to contact Dr. Muhammad Altaf. He is currently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Zoology, at Women University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Bagh-Pakistan. His research work is on the avian diversity along the River Beas. He is also editor of Wildlife and Ecology journal.
Good luck!
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Any seabird folks out there have an endnote style file for Marine Ornithology? Nothing available online, trying to avoid creating one from scratch - thanks!
Perhaps we can make the file publicly available on a permanent basis so folks aren't having to waste time reinventing the wheel each time they want to submit to MO... #progress
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Interest question
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Hello, I have mapped the locations of several individuals of a certain species of bird. I have the GPS coordinates, the date and the time data every half hour for several consecutive days and I am trying to apply the Package 'mkde' to get the kernel density maps based on the movement (home range). Is there someone with experience in using this package who can help me?
Thank you very much!
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Alas, don't know that program. But there are a number of others that might serve your needs including the density analytics in, for example, the ESRI tools like ArcGIS and ArcPro.
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Would like to conduct a detailed study into vulture diversity, abundance, population density and movement patterns on the endangered Hooded vulture within Ghana as well as current threats that are leading to its reported population decline within the range. I would very much appreciate papers on similar studies and pointers on properly designing the study as well as possible funding sources. Thanks
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I wrote this same answer on another question. I dont know exactly how this methodology works, but it seams to be quite interesting. "Yula Kapetanakos a scientist at Cornell University uses a different approach to census vulture populations. You can check further information here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/decoding-feathers-for-cambodian-vulture-conservation/ "
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Hi all,
I was wondering if you know of any case in which breeder/floater ratio in birds is monitored over the years while observing changes in nest-site availability. Floaters in one of my focus populations are very abundant and I would like to discuss to what extent this could be an indicator of nest-site restriction.
Thank you,
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Hi Ulises and Michael et al. It is really unusual when raptor floaters can actually be counted in the field and compared with occupancy data. That's an interesting graph. Another example of temporal variation in territory quality and its effects on floater numbers may be the effect of jackrabbit cycles and drought on territory occupancy in golden eagles in the deserts of western North America. The idea is that some territories may become temporarily unsuitable for occupancy (no food), forcing the territory holders into the floater pool. Jim Watson et al. has an interesting recent paper that reflects a bit on that issue (Watson et al. 2020. The Journal of Wildlife Management 1–10). I think what you are both seeing what might be relatively stable populations with adults moving in and out of the floater pool depending on temporal variation in territory suitability, i.e., availability of a nest site or enough food within the territory to sustain its occupancy. In a study of a resident golden eagle population (PLoS One 2017), I radio-monitored 51 floaters over a long period and only two acquired territories. Breeder numbers were meanwhile stable.
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I am looking for the correct selection of tags to use to monitor tree swallows moving in and out of nest boxes. My impression is that full duplex tags would be more appropriate but many studies don't specify.
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Hello,
Both full and half duplex tags would work since you can get a 12mm tag in either technology. You can smaller tags (8mm) in full duplex. Full duplex is a faster read rate. If you are planning on having fixed antennas in nests or bird boxes I would go with full duplex as there are more off-the-shelf options for the antennas. A lot more conservation centered research and development has concentrated on the full duplex tags and readers. Feel free to email me directly if you want to talk further.
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The Manuscript deals on sexual ornaments and non-breeding events in a Eurasian ornamented bird. It was fisrtly unaccepted in Bird Study, Animal Behaviour, Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, Acta Ethologica.
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Dear Igancio,
Resources such as Grammarly, ProWritingAid, or Microsoft Word’s built-in tools can provide a starting point for simple grammatical corrections. They are cost-effective, user friendly, and relatively efficient.
As a next step, I would recommend engaging with a friend, local colleague, or your graduate advisor. Even if their English language proficiency is similar to yours, a second pair of eyes can often help identify issues that the original author may have inadvertently overlooked. Some schools even offer in-house editorial support via the university library or student services. Ask around, you may be surprised by the options available in your personal network.
After you’ve exhausted these resources, if your budget allows, I would suggest engaging with a professional editorial service. A professional editor can enhance the word choice, logic, and clarity of your writing, increasing the likelihood for manuscript acceptance.
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Best wishes for a smooth and successful publication journey!
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Excluding harmonics.
Excluding also echolocation which I know exist in some South American apodidae or caprimulgidae.
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Hi Jacques,
In fact, we did just these kind of playback experiments as part of a project in which we demonstrated that the Concave-eared torrent frog, Odorrana tormota, from China produces ultrasonic call components and behaviorally responds to the US components alone. See:
Feng AS, Narins PM, Xu C-H, Lin W-Y, Yu Z-L, Qiu Q, Xu Z-M and Shen J-X (2006) Ultrasonic
communication in frogs. Nature 440: 333-336.
Hope this helps-
Peter
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I have been trying to estimate rates of mortality due to human causes, but this requires estimates of population size. I have developed two methods for estimating global population size of all birds. However, I wonder if anybody has come up with an alternative estimate.
Thank you for your help.
Yours sincerely,
Anders Pape Møller
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Lots, but less every day. Great question I wish I could answer constructively.
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I want to publish a paper regarding avian biodiversity and community interactions in different habitats. I need the suggestion of good journals to publish my work
I need to publish fast as some journals take too much time to publish, so I will appreciate if someone suggests some good journal that publishes the data within 2 months
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I wish to know if there is any physiological characteristics that can distinguish the male nestlings from the females in case of Passer domesticus.
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Check this 1967 paper by Johnston: Sexual dimorphism in juvenile House Sparrows. The Auk 84 (https://sora.unm.edu/node/21626).
Bib shade is quite reliable, with little overlap between 'pale' males and 'dark' females.
Postocular spot is not as reliable. It can provide additional support: males tend to show it more often than females
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I am looking for additional data as the amount of occurrence data on gbif is very limited. In particular I look for data with little spatial uncertainty, i.e. with coordinates fixed by GPS or in the vicinity of landmarks. I would be grateful if you could point me to a database or publications containing this information!
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There are a few records with full coordinates here:
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I'm looking for a modern high definition (or close) video recording system to monitor open-cup bird nests in the field. I'm interested in a set up that will allow me to record for several hours, preferably up to 24 hrs. This will presumably require a mobile external power source. Most published examples I've found only record for a few hours at a time (until the camera battery dies) or are out-dated (poor image quality). I'd like a rain resistant set up if possible (i.e., innovative field-tested methods to keep equip dry). If anyone has experience or ideas I'd appreciate information.
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Our lab uses small HD camcorders setup on tripods, with the camera wrapped in a homemade rain-resistant cover (with a hole on the bottom where the tripod connects to the camera). So, its like the camera is wrapped in a tube. The camera is then connected to a powerbank with USB chord, and the powerbank is inside of dry bag. This setup lasts us 12 hours of HD footage no problem. Last year we had 20 cameras out filming almost every day for 4 months in humid rainforest and they all survived. The setup is small and mobile and I would often carry 4 to setup at multiple nests in the morning. Here is a picture of a setup (the white rope is not part of it)...
If you want proof of their ability to film in a downpour, check out this clip...
(the quality doesn't look as good when viewed on dropbox, but you get the idea)
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I wanted to see the difference in the food preferences or the shift in the foraging behaviour of a bird species between the individuals who solely depends on the foods available in the wild habitats (its innate food habits) and those who depends mostly on the human left overs as an alternative source of food. I also wanted to know is there any disruption to their innate foraging preferences or food preferences change because of this?
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Work on American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) in New York state suggests that urban/suburan crows may be nutrient limited (but not calorie limited) compared to their rural counterparts. Resulting in smaller nestlings with lower calcium and protein availability in the urban/suburban population.
Regards,
Andria
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I am looking for research and methodology for mapping roof-nesting seabirds in urban environments. This is for a pilot project. Any tips and articles are appreciated! Thanks.
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Dear Sari Christine,
Classic ways to map birds in urban environment are the uses of remote sensing and photographs but you now can (if allowed) use drones to map roof-resting birds and transfer your data into QGIS.
Best regards,
Guy
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Can someone help me in the identification of the birds in the attached file?
Thanks!
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Photograph 1 isJungle Babbler (Turdoides striata)
Ref. Ali, S (1974) Jungle Babblers at Pali Hills, Bandra, Bombay 400050. Newsletter for Birdwatchers . 14(11):5-6.
Photograph ii is Streaked Rosefinch (Carpodacus rubicilloides).
Ref.
Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Finches, euphonias". World Bird List Version 5.2. International Ornithologists' Union.
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I have a dataset of about 100 bird surveys carried out in high-altitude ecosystems in the Andes for my Master's thesis. At this stage of the analysis, I'm planning to use GLMM's to look at the abundance of each among a few selected species, as response variable, and a number of environmental variables as explanatory variables. I have opted for GLMM's instead of regular GLM's since there are nested groupings of non-independent data in my counts: there were eight woodland patches covered, each countaining/near 5 to 10 survey points, and each survey point was surveyed twice, at different times of the day. In this case, survey point and patch would be random effect variables in the GLMM.
I'm having more trouble, however, in thinking how to model the fixed effects. Some of them (e.g. time of the day, weather condition) are specific to each survey, some of them (e.g. most vegetation/habitat variables) are specific to each point, and some of them (e.g. patch area, patch connectivity) are measured per patch. What would good practice be in writing a model in this case?
Thank you
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I'm conducting analysis of bird counts for my Master's thesis on effects of patch size and connectivity on birds of High Andean landscapes. My first goal is to use ordination analysis to figure out which bird species are associated to each of the different kinds of habitat (forest, transitional and open matrix). I have lots of environmental/spatial variables recorded, but I decided to begin with an unconstrained ordination, just labeling the sites with different colours according to habitat and checking which sites and which species seem to group together.
My data is not very good (for many reasons, one of them just not having had enough time in the field) but I'm trying to salvage it the best I can. I've ran a CA and a DCA on my species matrix, using vegan package in R, and the procrustes function shows me large (and quite chaotic) differences between the plots from one method and the other. Is this telling me that arch effects or compression of extreme scores is happening with the CA, and so I should opt for the DCA? Or is it just because the CA explains very little variation in the data (the first two axis amount to around 18% of total inertia), so sites and species will just float around with no real meaning when I do the DCA?
A little extra question - would it help me to get more variation explained if I remove from my dataset some of the rarest species or some of the ones that move around the most between the CA and the DCA?
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Hello Joao. For a multivariate analysis in this case I would recommend you to apply a PCA (Principal Component Analysis). It can show you several correlations at the same time. And I agree with Andrew, don´t take of the analysis the rare species, maybe they are the ones that can provide the most valuable information. But you always can take of outliers from a single group (or species in this case), which are simply data that, for any reason, is totally different from the normal distribution. I mean, if you have, let´s say 30 records for Species 1 corresponding to forest and 1 record of the same species in the transitional habitat, that would be clearly an outlier and, only for statistical purposes, you can remove that record from the analysis because it will influence in the resulting value, but of course you have to do this only when you are totally confident that you are dealing with an outlier. But, if you have just one record of a rare species, that maybe it´s behaving different from the rest of species into the same Family, you must use that data and try to find out the reasons for that difference. Maybe that will help you to explain why that species is so rare.
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Is there any paper on how floaters develop 'territoriality' between them in birds? As they are not territorial individuals per se, I wondering if there is some background on how they exploit resources on different ways, being some of them more associated with high-quality resources whereas others not, mainly due to agonistic behavior.
Thanks!
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Hey there,
I've attached a couple papers that hopefully address your questions. For general background in multiple taxa, here's one:
Overall, Corvids are excellent models in studies concerning non-breeding individuals as floaters and the benefits of cooperative breeding strategies, and multiple papers have addressed how non-breeding individuals have 'taken over' previously established territories. In Gayou (1986), its discussed how Green Jay floaters additionally engage in territory defense as part of a non-breeding cooperative family unit. In researching this, I found another excellent study concerning Purple Gallinules and how they change status, from floater to territoriality and back to floater status given habitat availability. I hope these help!
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I haven't found many records flood-caused nest loss for woodpeckers, and I'm curious to know how common an issue it is for the family. It seems like flood-induced nest failure is unusually high for Hispaniolan Woodpeckers nesting in live trees. The only primary account I've found so far was for Red-headed Woodpeckers (Berl et al. 2014). Wesołowski et al. (2002) provides two personal communications for two other species (Magellanic and Yellow-shafted Flicker). Other than those, I'm struggling to find info for other species.
If you have any observations of flooding or have conclusively excluded it as a cause of nest failure, I'd be very interested to know, especially if you have a paper I can cite.
Thanks!
-Josh
Berl, J. L., Edwards, J. W., Bolsinger, J. S., & Katzner, T. E. (2014). Survival of Red-headed Woodpeckers’ (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) nests in northern New York. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 126(4), 700–707. http://doi.org/10.1676/14-009.1
Wesołowski, T., Czeszczewik, D., Rowiński, P., & Walankiewicz, W. (2002). Nest soaking in natural holes - A serious cause of breeding failure? Ornis Fennica, 79(3), 132–138.
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NO
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I am looking to track within breeding season movements of a 25 g bird. The species is not philopatric, so trackers that require recapture are not an option. Trackers must be under 0.75 g per USGS regulations. I'm thinking I am going to be limited to radio transmitters but if you know of other options, I would be very interested. Do you have a favorite radio transmitter brand? Cost is a major consideration. Thank you!
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First of all you have to ask some questions. How far do the birds range in the time you want to track them? How many do you want to track at once? Will you be flying or monitoring from a car/truck? If you have funding for air, this is the best if the birds are either migrating or moving around with no roost to return to. I tracked migrating western sandpipers (about 25g) using Lotek transmitters and receiver. These are coded radios so that you only have one frequency, saving you time circling around and around to make sure that your receiver has cycled through all of the frequencies.
However, I had problems with detection of the devices at first, but I believed that they straightened that out. The receiver records the entire time so if you are distracted by something and forget to write down one of the codes, it's all there for you in the receiver.
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Colleagues and I are weighing options on how to fit GPS transmitters to adult Black Swans in New Zealand. Adults weigh ~4-7 kg. We're apprehensive about using collars as they may get caught in vegetation while foraging. Also concerned about satellite uplink capabilities down here (collars are only available from overseas companies). Another option is a dorsal attachment, but we've been advised against using any type of harness. We're leaning towards tail-mounting ~40g transmitters (Sirtrack PinPoint Iridium) to tail feather(s) just after moult. We should be able to get ~3 fixes per day for 9 months, which would cover winter and the following breeding season. However, we're concerned about whether these will stay attached. Tail-mounting has been done on gannets, penguins, gulls... but I haven't seen this on swans or other large waterfowl. Curious if anyone has any suggestions.
Thanks in advance.
Mark
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Hi Mark,
My answer is probably a bit late for you, but have a look at this:
An inexpensive satellite-download GPS receiver for wildlife: field trial on black swans
Rebecca M. Lehrke, Lizzie McGregor, John Dyer, Margaret C. Stanley, and Todd E. Dennis. Wildlife Research 2017 44 (6-7), 558-564
Hope the citation helps!
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I would like to investigate whether there is genetic diversity between different population of Guinea fowl, what is the proper way.
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Hello
Recently, sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers have been developed, which are used to amplify coding regions of DNA with primers targeting open reading frames. These markers have proven to be robust and highly variable, on par with AFLP, and are attained through a significantly less technically demanding process. SRAP markers have been used primarily for agronomic and horticultural purposes, developing quantitative trait loci in advanced hybrids and assessing genetic diversity of large germplasm collections.
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I want to make a QGIS database for my ringing activity. I would like to add my ringing data to ringing place points in a way that more individually ringed birds ringed on a specific location (1 point) would correspond with the point. Can I make a simple shape file with points, or sqlite database? Does anybody have some basic instruction manuals that I could use for this?
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Many users still follow and visit this thread. If you are interested in database framework for biodiversity data and/or ringing data, don't hesitate to contact me! I think I found one of the best solutions.
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Are there any (new) studies dealing with how banding affects bird fitness (e.g., disturbance induced stress, foraging and flight behavior, partner choice, predation susceptibility, thermoregulation)?
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D'Amico et al 2017. Physiologic parameters and their response to handling stress in a neotropical migratory shorebird during the nonbreeding season. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 53(3):437-446
Harms et al 2016. Blood gas, lactate and hematology effects of venipuncture timing and location after mist-net capture of mourning doves (Zenaida macroura), Boat-tailed grackles (Quiscalus major) and house sparrows (Passer domesticus). Journal of Wildlife Diseases 52(2)S54-S64
Constantini, D & Moller, A.P. 2013. A meta-analysis of the effects of geolocator applications on birds. Current Zoology 59(6):697-706
Spotswood et al 2012. How safe is mist netting? evaluating the risk of injury and mortality to birds. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 3(1):29-38
Anybody who has experience in bird banding knows that there is a toll in the bird when it is manipulated. We should do all possible to keep the risk of stress at minimum.
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A six-year old asks me, and I only know of Caledonian crows making and using tools.
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There is a short note by McCormick (2007, Notornis 54:116-117) in which she reports on possible tool use by an Australian Magpie. On one occasion she observed an individual adult Magpie using a stick to probe into a hole in a tree and speculated that the bird was possibly using the stick as a foraging tool.
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sex ratio, fertility, hatchability, Japanese quails
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Many studies showed this point, but from our research found that the best results for fertility and hatchability were 1 male : 2 female or 1 male : 3 female in cage production system.
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Dear Fruit-dove biologists, I try to gather data for a Population Viability Analysis of Ptilinopus coralensis. Do you have such data: maximum age reproduction, sexual maturity, mortality %, etc. for other Ptilinopus sp. This is for a conservation project. Thanks for your knowledge!
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or from other pigeons, doves, etc. I realize that nothing is available for fruit-doves.
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I need data about Lesser Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna javanica) for my research work. Any data regarding their defecation rate, fecal N and P content, feeding habit daily migration pattern is welcomed.
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thank you
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In my research activities on Phillip Island off Norfolk, South Pacific, I have recorded an example of cross-fostering with a species of Pterodroma incubating and rearing an Ardenna (Puffinus) species.  This nest was followed (several visits then surveillance camera) from incubation until the near-fledged chick left the nest area following abandonment of breeding pair. I am seeking examples of other burrowing species doing the same.  If unpublished material of similar extent, I and my co-authors are happy to work towards a joint note in an ornithological publication.
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We have seen this on Marion Island (Prince Edward Islands), where chicks (Pterodroma species) were attended by two other burrowing petrel species. However, the birds only attended the chicks for several hours up to several days and not up to fledging.
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There has been many new changes in taxonomic names of plants and animals. I am curious about what this means for prior studies that have documented species richness, diversity and biodiversity?
E.g., The Auk 134(3):751-773. 2017 https://doi.org/10.1642/AUK-17-72.1 Fifty-eighth supplement to the American Ornithological Society's Check-list of North American Birds.
Any thoughts?
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This is not so much an answer but a talking point.
The taxonomic/nomenclature process is artificial and created by humans for the sole use by humans. It is a relative measure that is dependent on the knowledge of the time (imagine the changes since Linneaus or even the fanciful "Bestiary" by M. S. Bodely).
Metrics such as diversity and richness indices are stochastic. They will be altered by not only "natural" environmental factors but and also extraneous (e.g., anthropomorphic) factors, including the taxonomic norms of the time, in ways that will expand our knowledge of these systems.
So the role of the researcher is to continue making these measurements and to plot and describe the variable nature of these systems within the context of the time of their study. Unfortunately, this level of uncertainty is not something that is easily handled within decision making (i.e., management), policy and politics. People want certainty where there cannot be any and see that as a weakness in the science rather than a lack of understanding on theirs.
The easiest resolve is to construct guidelines that apply to the development of policy and management. The following are the first three environmental principals taken the “Statement of Environmental Principles, Factors and Objectives”, Environmental Protection Authority, Western Australia, 2016 (http://www.epa.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Policies_and_Guidance/Statement%20of%20Environmental%20Principles%2C%20factors%20and%20objectives_Dec16_1.pdf):
1. The precautionary principle
Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation.
In the application of the precautionary principle, decision should be guided by:
a. careful evaluation to avoid, where practicable, serious or irreversible damage to the environment; and
b. an assessment of the risk-weighted consequences of various options.
2. The principle of intergenerational equity
The present generation should ensure that the health, diversity and productivity of the environment is maintained or enhanced for the benefit of future generations.
3. The principle of the conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity
Conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity should be a fundamental consideration.
Essentially, all that is being promoted is to think in terms of the dynamism of the environment, to understand the context in which the research was undertaken and to apply principles to allow for the stochastic nature of the systems. Most of all, be aware that new research may always overturn current thinking so nothing at all is set in stone.
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We are setting up a bird monitoring programme (for all species) over an area of 93,000 ac or ~38,000 ha in savanna, grassland and forest habitats in Kenya.  Time constraints are a major issue and surveys will only be done twice/yr for a period of 4-days per survey.  We plan to set up point counts in as many of the different and/or unique habitats as possible.  We need to capture both resident and seasonal migrants.  We have big challenges with the driving distances involved and I am wondering how best to maximize our limited survey time and how much time to allocate to each point count?  Would 15 min be appropriate per count?  What are the costs and benefits to allocating more or less time per count, clustering points to eliminate driving times, etc?  I realize that it will be difficult to detect changes, especially in the immediate timescale, given how large an area it is and how relatively few points we will have. But basically I am asking for advice about key factors to consider when setting up the points and the methodology given the large area and time constraints.
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We did back of the vehicle bird surveys in Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa which is a big 5 park. We used set 1km road transects with a point survey count at the start and end. We used a set speed of 40kms. We also combined this with incidental counts whilst driving to and from the survey transects. We recorded everything we could see and hear even from the point surveys to give us the greatest dataset, given the constraints of being in a vehicle. This seemed to work quite well. Interestingly however, the greatest bird list can from the incidentals and not the set surveys.
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Do you have recommendations of artificial burrows for these seabirds, that you experienced:
Polynesian Storm-petrel: Nesofregetta fuliginosa
Herald Petrel: Pterodroma heraldica
Murphy’s Petrel: Pterodroma ultima
Tahiti Petrel: Pseudobulweria rostrata
We would like to attract these species on a new remote nest site.
Literature exist but maybe you discovered something new.
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Hi.
There is also the classic example of use of artificial burrows to promote breeding of the highly endangered Bermuda Petrel (Pterodroma cahow). See these links:
Best regards, and good luck in your work. 
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greetings. i am doing research on factors that influence skin color. i have seen all environmental factors and also Charles Darwin theory of natural selection has helped me. your answers will open my ideas on genetic influences to skin color.
Thank you
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Calliste:
Yes, skin color is influenced by genetic factors. Kindly see this link for insights:
Best
Syed
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Hello everyone: I would like to know about how to evaluate the ornithological value (or importance) of a series of wetlands; or the conservation value of a series of wetlands for birds. Imagine you have the list of bird species inhabiting two wetlands, A and B. And you also have the abundance values of each species at each wetland. If you restrict your study to birds, how can you assess the conservation value of wetland A vs. wetland B?
I guess something like an Index of Biological Integrity (IBI) could work...
Any help from you will be welcome. Thanks in advance:
Jose.
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Hi Jose,
You might look at:
Bryce SA, Hughes RM, Kaufmann PR. 2002. Development of a bird integrity index: using bird assemblages as indicators of riparian condition. Environmental Management 30(2):294-310.
There are other bird IBIs in the literature as well.
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I cannot find the exact reference(s) regarding the split of the famous Larus argentatus complex. I need scientific reference showing what species were formed after the complex got split and when exactly that happened. Thanks in advance to those who will help.
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Blease, my article tilteled " Developmental stability in chickens local to warm climatic region 2. Variation in blood metabolitesbdue to genetic selection and crossing" is cited by article "Haematological and biochemical profiles of Gallus indigenous, exotic and hybrid chicken breeds (Gallus domesticus l.) from Rajshahi, Bangladesh‏" please add this cited to my citation
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Citations are created automatically by Research Gate. There are many mistakes like the one you told in this procedure.
Please contact the administration of Research Gate.
Best wishes
Rudolf Ritt
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I found that SODA is rarely used in recent papers but I don't see how others account for the problem that minimum stopover length (as directly estimated by ringing data) can dramatically differ from real stopover.
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Hi Michelangelo,
I recommend you to read the following paper:
Guérin, S., Picard, D., Choquet, R., & Besnard, A. (2017). Advances in methods for estimating stopover duration for migratory species using capture‐NDASH‐recapture data. Ecological Applications.
Cheers
Hugo
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I'm doing a research paper about the morphological, and behavioral differences of urban and rural populations of Bolbopsittacus lunulatus and I want to know the ideal number of individuals to sample. 
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Normally,  there is formula to calculated the sample size determination.
I think you have to ask statistician as per the formula he will calculate and tell you
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In a numbers of occasions I have seen in Bulgaria Common Kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) with prominent differences in the size of the black spots on the back of the male individuals - from 'normal' (large) to very tiny and narrow ones. The localities of the male birds with very narrow black markings coincident only with the areas, of occurence of the Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni).   
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It is definitely possible. See: J. Raptor Research, 25 (2): 36–39, HYBRIDIZATION BETWEEN A PEREGRINE FALCON AND A PRAIRIE FALCON IN THE WILD :)
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Hi all,
I am searching for any data on the density of a birds’ beak (g/cm3). I have so far found one paper on the density of toucan and hornbill beaks (Seki et al. 2010, Acta Biomaterialia 6 (2010) 331–343), showing that the density of these beaks ranges from 0.1 to 0.4 g/cm3, but I suspect these beaks may not be too representative of the ‘average’ bird beak (as far as an average bird beak density makes sense…).
Any suggestions on literature with bird beak density data for other species are highly appreciated!
All the best,
Diederik
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 Van Gils, J.A., Lisovski, S., Lok, T., (...), Piersma, T., Klaassen, M. Climate change: Body shrinkage due to Arctic warming reduces red knot fitness in tropical wintering range Science 352(6287), pp. 819-821
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Please help me identify those feathers. All are collected from Estonia.
1&2 Columba sp. - collected from forest near is moor and futher little village.
Tail feather is too short for C. palumbus, might it be C. oenas?
3. Accipiter gentilis? - collected from moor
4&5. Turdus sp.? - collected from moor
6&7. Cyanistes caeruleus? - collected near forest
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Hi Lennart,
1 and 2 are from racing (feral) pigeon.
3 is from a cuckoo.
4 and 5 are indeed a thrush, probably fieldfare
6 and 7 are indeed blue tit.
here are more links to feather and wing sites: https://forum.waarneming.nl/smf/index.php?topic=14132.0
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 the feathers called which cover the base of the primary and secondary wing
and main tail feathers?
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Hello. What are non-lethal ways or trapping methods that may be used to capture birds, both in an urban setting and in the wild? The purpose mainly is for a comparison of the morphological differences, among others, of the birds relative to their habitat. Also, what is the ideal number of specimens to obtain for such a task? Several journal articles of similar studies used varying numbers of individual birds for their observation, and comparison. 
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In terms of sample size, you may want to think about looking at some historical data for the species you're interested in (for example, Birds of North America accounts often have averages +/- SD for various morphological traits), then using these in calculating needed sample sizes - there are good resources here to identify the test you need to use: http://www.biostat.ucsf.edu/sampsize.html
And as for low-impact capture methods, Potter traps are an excellent option for those species suited for it - but you should always check on the methods recommended by whatever ethics organization oversees your work - in Canada, it's the Canadian Council on Animal Care, but elsewhere in the world there are similar bodies that set standards for animal capture and handling. 
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It is a domestic duck. Generally domestic ducks are result of interbreeding of wild duck species. I snapped this image from Santiniketan, West Bengal, India today. Colour is quite similar to Lesser whistling duck, which is common here. Please tell me is it close to Lesser Whistling Duck?
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Thanks a lot
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I'm looking for alternative methods to diagnose seasonal disease outbreaks in waterfowl. It has been difficult to find a lab available to perform the mice bioassay, so I'd like to know if there are other options. Thank you.
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see these papers for use of qPCR
Anza I., Skarin H., Vidal D., Lindberg A., Baverud V. & Mateo R. (2014). The same clade of Clostridium botulinum strains is causing avian botulism in southern and northern Europe. Anaerobe, 26, 20-23.
Anza I., Vidal D. & Mateo R. (2014). New insight in the epidemiology of avian botulism outbreaks: necrophagous flies as vectors of Clostridium botulinum type C/D. Env Microbiol Rep, 6, 738-743.
Vidal D., Anza I., Taggart M.A., Perez-Ramrez E., Crespo E., Hofle U. & Mateo R. (2013). Environmental Factors Influencing the Prevalence of a Clostridium botulinum Type C/D Mosaic Strain in Nonpermanent Mediterranean Wetlands. Appl Environ Microb, 79, 4264-4271.
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I plan on conducting playback surveys at points for Owls along an urban-to-rural gradient in Western Massachusetts. Some sites are pretty rural, but others need to be in more urban areas (e.g., just outside of forested parks). In a perfect world, Owl surveys should be conducted from 1 hour after sunset until about 3 a.m., but this presents unique safety challenges in urban areas (along with permitting issues). How would one go about surveying for Owls in these urban sites with undergraduate field technician safety in mind? The owls I will be surveying for are Northern Saw-whet, Eastern Screech, Barn, Barred, Great Horned. Thanks much!
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Try contacting James Adelman at Iowa State University for advice: http://www.nrem.iastate.edu/people/james-adelman
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I'm interested in exploring the use of conservation dogs for detecting cryptic bird nests. Any insights regarding experiences, costs, advice, things to consider etc. would be greatly appreciated.
Study species: American Woodcock
Study site: New Jersey, USA
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Sorry I never saw your question until now. Several states (most notably Michigan and Minnesota) use volunteers with pointing dogs to locate American woodcock broods in the spring, for banding and other research (radio transmitter projects). Hunting dogs already know the species, it is just a matter of selecting dogs that are steady to flush and finding volunteers willing to dedicate the time. There is a learning curve for both dog and handler for the spring work, and some dogs are just plain better at it than others. I coordinate the Minnesota banding program - feel free to contact me with questions.
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requesting bird experts and ornithologists kindly suggest me, how to count small birds like sparrows and swallows when they were together and constantly flying. suggest me if any electronic aid which helps me!
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Hi Devendra,
to achieve accurate data, I would recommend to produce a sharp, high-resolution photograph of the bird flock (fast shutter speed required!) and then apply a particle counting software.
More information here:
Cheers, Christian
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I can identify to species beetle fragments from Little Owl pellets, especially from Britain or Western Europe. I think this will inform feeding habits/ foraging sites of the birds, as well as giving data on the distribution of the beetles. Any birders want to collaborate? 
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My working hypothesis, as revealed by recent discoveries of Cymindis and Calosoma beetle populations from bird pellets that had escaped the notice of generations of entomologists- is that the birds are better collectors than we are. My purpose of doing this is to generate records of species not recorded by ordinary collecting techniques, and in exchange the ornithologist will get list of what the bird eats, and by inference from the behaviour of those beetles, where and when it forages.. 
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I´m working on a comparative study of the reproductive behaviour of Chlorocyphidae and in the last years I could study most genera of chlorocyphids in field. Unfortunately, I know the two clear-winged Cyrano species only from some single males. Can someone give me information about the reproductive behaviour of these species?
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The only person working on Odonata in the Philippines is R. J. Villanueva. There are other enthusiasts who may be able to help you and are members of the facebook group Tutubi.
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A lot of birds sounds databases exist. There is also a lot of publications comparing sonograms of different species. Have anybody know one publication concentrating all sound frequencies of European common bird species?
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bird songs and calls serve several functions; bird sounds can't be differentiated and recognized simply by their frequency. In very few species with stereotyped simple songs you can use just the main fundamental frequency. Most species use frequency modulated sounds spanning many kHz and they can be recognized by the shape of the modulations and by the sequence pattern of differently modulated notes. Many species can be recognized easily by the frequency-time patterns shown by spectrograms. For other species it may be difficult ..... many species also show high geographical variations .... 
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Not seen since for years , possibly extinct
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Yes, indeed. Pockets of its habitat still remains in some difficult to reach and unbirded locations and possibility exists. There have rumours of sightings. Male pink headed duck would be unmistakable if seen. But until credible evidence is presented, we have to keep looking. 
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Although some of the larger-beaked tits can act as predators on medium sized seeds, many (all?) tit species in East and Southeast Asia also eat soft, small-seeded fruits, such as figs. I presume a small seed is safe if it is swallowed intact by a tit, but has anyone checked their feces for intact seeds?
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Hi again.
Thanks for your response. I think you're right, probably they obtain from such fleshy fruits the pulp...
Best regards, and good luck in your research. 
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Interested to know if you have any results yet? Or a hypothesis and literature review?  Regards Ian
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Hi Ian
No idea why I'm listed
Regards
Tim
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I would like to know how these systems work in birds. 
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In general, an individual bird's or other organism's behavior is based on the interaction of its nature (genes) and its nurture (experiential learning).
In other words, the well-known "nature vs. nurture" concept is not an "either-or" dichotomy; it expresses a continuum of behavioral influences.
Individual organisms vary in their genetic makeup and their experiential learning ability. In short, animal behavior is a complex mix of instinctive and learned behavior.
You might look up N. Tinbergen and K. Lorenz, two ethologists who greatly influenced the study of animal behavior:
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I have been working on many aspects of grebe flight, particularly eared grebes (or black-necked grebes) migratory flight.
Unfortunately, there is very little documentation of grebes flying available in the internet (Youtube, Flirck, etc.). Moreover most of these videos do not have the necessary quality to do any kinematic analysis.
Therefore, I would be very thankful if anyone can point me into the direction where to find good videos or share contacts that I could make further enquiries.
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I would contact the authors of this paper. It's possible they may have captured some flight videos that were not the focus of their paper, but may be useful to you: 
I would check out their methods of kinematic analysis as well, some of which are quite new (wand calibration for field based locomotion studies): http://jeb.biologists.org/content/217/11/1843
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I am using crowd sourced data on bird observations. (species presence/absence, abundance, time and location) I hope to supplement with in situ point count surveys along transects that represent development and habitat variation. habitat will be detected with remote sensing and multispectral imagery.
I am using R and Tableau.
any recommendations on finding the correlations between
1 species and the changes in habitat?
Multiple species and a single representative species?
functional groups and the habitat?
please share references on statistical treatments.
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 I would strongly suggest a very significant data quality and error detection phase to your analysis. That is, you need to visualize your data in geographic dimensions using a GIS and in environmental dimensions using two and three dimensional plots. You will find lots of errors, which need to be winnowed out before you proceed to your actual analysis.
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We are three students and need your support for our project about the equipment for Nature Observation and Hunting in Scandinavia.
Its mostly about binoculars and scopes.
As we do it in Scandinavia, it turned out to be pretty hard for us to find people.
That´s why we would be so pleased if you can support us! It would help us a lot!! 
Just fill out this survey:
Thanks a lot!
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Please don't post commercial market surveys here! This is a research forum, not a market place.