-
Article
Open AccessEnergy supply during nocturnal endurance flight of migrant birds: effect of energy stores and flight behaviour
Migrating birds fly non-stop for hours or even for days. They rely mainly on fat as fuel complemented by a certain amount of protein. Studies on homing pigeons and birds flying in a wind-tunnel suggest that th...
-
Article
Open AccessWhich birds participate in mass concentrations of Bramblings Fringilla montifringilla?—Ring recoveries, biometry, age and sex composition
The Brambling Fringilla montifringilla combines several special features of migration and wintering: differential migration according to age and sex groups, large differences in winter densities as a response to ...
-
Article
Baseline and stress-induced corticosterone levels are heritable and genetically correlated in a barn owl population
The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis is responsible for the regulation of corticosterone, a hormone that is essential in the mediation of energy allocation and physiological stress. As a continuous so...
-
Article
Acute and Chronic Lead Exposure in Four Avian Scavenger Species in Switzerland
Despite irrefutable evidence of its negative impact on animal behaviour and physiology, lethal and sublethal lead poisoning of wildlife is still persistent and widespread. For scavenging birds, ingestion of am...
-
Article
Prospects and pitfalls of using feathers as a temporal archive of stress events and environmental pollutants: a review and case study
Methods to assess environmental pollution and stress responses in birds with scarcely invasive or non-invasive sampling are highly sought after in ecology and conservation. For several years now, feathers have...
-
Article
Variable decline of Alpine Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta helvetica) in Switzerland between regions and sites
Alpine species adapted to mountain climate are particularly vulnerable to environmental changes and have recently come under multiple environmental pressures, such as climate change associated with habitat los...
-
Article
Social huddling and physiological thermoregulation are related to melanism in the nocturnal barn owl
Endothermic animals vary in their physiological ability to maintain a constant body temperature. Since melanin-based coloration is related to thermoregulation and energy homeostasis, we predict that dark and p...
-
Article
The frequency distribution of lead concentration in feathers, blood, bone, kidney and liver of golden eagles Aquila chrysaetos: insights into the modes of uptake
Several cases of acute lead poisoning of golden eagles Aquila chrysaetos have been documented in the Alps. The question, however, remains how often golden eagles take up lead (once, chron...
-
Article
Agricultural land use and human presence around breeding sites increase stress-hormone levels and decrease body mass in barn owl nestlings
Human activities can have a suite of positive and negative effects on animals and thus can affect various life history parameters. Human presence and agricultural practice can be perceived as stressors to whic...
-
Article
Microclimate and microhabitat selection by the Alpine Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta helvetica) during summer
The Alpine Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta helvetica)—which is adapted to arctic and alpine environments—is suspected to be vulnerable to climate warming, but direct evidence is limited. Microclimates within a lands...
-
Article
Modulation of the adrenocortical response to acute stress with respect to brood value, reproductive success and survival in the Eurasian hoopoe
Reproducing parents face the difficult challenge of trading-off investment in current reproduction against presumed future survival and reproduction. Glucocorticoids are supposed to mediate this trade-off beca...
-
Article
Conservation through connectivity: can isotopic gradients in Africa reveal winter quarters of a migratory bird?
Conservation of migratory wildlife requires knowledge of migratory connectivity between breeding and non-breeding locations. Stable isotopes in combination with geographical isotopic patterns (isoscapes) can p...
-
Article
Corticosterone Promotes Scramble Competition Over Sibling Negotiation in Barn Owl Nestlings (Tyto alba)
In species with parental care, siblings compete for access to food resources. Typically, they vocally signal their level of need to each other and to parents, and jostle for the position in the nest where pare...
-
Article
Individual behavioural variability of an ecological generalist: activity patterns and local movements of Mallards Anas platyrhynchos in winter
Common and widespread species often show a large variability in behaviour and habitat use. Such variability at the species level may result from individuals themselves being very variable or, alternatively, va...
-
Article
The demographic drivers of local population dynamics in two rare migratory birds
The exchange of individuals among populations can have strong effects on the dynamics and persistence of a given population. Yet, estimation of immigration rates remains one of the greatest challenges for anim...
-
Chapter
Fasting in Birds: General Patterns and the Special Case of Endurance Flight
Birds undergo among the most extraordinary fasting events which may last up to several months as in breeding or moulting penguins during the subantarctic winter or more than 100 h during the migratory flight o...
-
Article
Numbers, foraging and refuelling of passerine migrants at a stopover site in the western Sahara: diverse strategies to cross a desert
Twice a year, songbirds breeding in the Western Palaearctic cross the largest desert of the world, the Sahara, to reach their African winter quarters. Recently, a radar study quantified this migration and demo...
-
Article
Habitat structure versus food abundance: the importance of sparse vegetation for the common redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus
As many other birds breeding in agricultural areas, the common redstart declined strongly in many Central European countries over the last 60 years. The destruction of traditionally managed orchards, an import...
-
Article
Migration patterns of Hoopoe Upupa epops and Wryneck Jynx torquilla: an analysis of European ring recoveries
For many bird species, recovery of ringed individuals remains the best source of information about their migrations. In this study, we analyzed the recoveries of ringed European Hoopoe (Upupa epops) and the Euras...
-
Article
Within-winter movements: a common phenomenon in the Common Pochard Aythya ferina
Waterbirds are often observed to move between different wintering sites within the same winter—for example, in response to food availability or weather conditions. Within-winter movements may contribute to the...
