Ornithology - Science topic

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Ficus...but Legumes can also play a great role in arid and Saharan areas.

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.

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

See the attached paper.

Dr. Salahuddin

For diversity, you determine the number of species by observation.

For abundance, see the attached article :)

Hi Alejandra Hurtado-Giraldo

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 ?

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)

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:

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!

Interest question

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.

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/ "

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.

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.

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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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

Lots, but less every day. Great question I wish I could answer constructively.

Journal of Avian Biology (https://www.researchgate.net/journal/1600-048X_Journal_of_Avian_Biology)

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

There are a few records with full coordinates here:

Please take a look at the following references.

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)

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

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

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.

This may help you with thinking about the structures that you have

the online resources are free to use.

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.

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!

NO

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

or from other pigeons, doves, etc. I realize that nothing is available for fruit-doves.

thank you

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.

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

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.

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.

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. 

Calliste:

Yes, skin color is influenced by genetic factors. Kindly see this link for insights:

Best

Syed

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.

These papers may help

Best regards

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

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

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

It is definitely possible. See: J. Raptor Research, 25 (2): 36–39, HYBRIDIZATION BETWEEN A PEREGRINE FALCON AND A PRAIRIE FALCON IN THE WILD :)

 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

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

https://www.researchgate.net/.../What_are_the_feathers_called_which... -

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. 

Thanks a lot

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.

Try contacting James Adelman at Iowa State University for advice: http://www.nrem.iastate.edu/people/james-adelman

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.

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

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.. 

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.

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 .... 

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. 

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. 

Hi Ian

No idea why I'm listed

Regards

Tim

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:

Tinbergen <http://www.freethoughtlebanon.net/2012/02/tinbergen-the-four-questions-super-stimulus/>

Lorenz <http://www.animalbehavioronline.com/lorenz.html>

Ethology <http://www.dictionary.com/browse/ethology>

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

 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.

Please don't post commercial market surveys here! This is a research forum, not a market place.