Helen L. Loffland, Lynn N. Schofield, R. Siegel, B. Christman
Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) populations have been declining across the western United States for decades. The Sierra Nevada–southern Cascades population in California is especially vulnerable, with fewer than 200 pairs remaining. Hydrologic restoration has been recommended for conserving this population. Other riparian songbirds have increased in response to restoration, but little is known about how restoration has affected the Willow Flycatcher. The Little Truckee River has long been a stronghold for the Willow Flycatcher, and the demography of the population there was studied intensively from the late 1990s through 2010. Baseline data from that study provided an opportunity to gauge the species’ response to pond-and-plug restoration projects completed at two meadows within the study area in 2009 and 2010. We aggregated and analyzed data from Willow Flycatcher surveys from 1997 through 2019 at the two restored meadows as well as nine nearby unrestored meadows with at least two Willow Flycatcher territories at some time during the demographic study. At most meadows, the number and density of Willow Flycatcher territories declined over the two-decade study period. However, losses at the unrestored meadows were significantly greater than at the restored meadows, where territory density clearly did not collapse following the disturbance caused by restoration and then remained largely stable thereafter. Within large meadows already occupied by Willow Flycatchers, meadow restoration that restores hydrologic function and increases flooding over creekbanks may be an effective strategy for stabilizing declining Willow Flycatcher populations in the Sierra Nevada.
{"title":"Sierra Nevada Willow Flycatcher Decline Continues but Losses Abate at Two Restored Meadows","authors":"Helen L. Loffland, Lynn N. Schofield, R. Siegel, B. Christman","doi":"10.21199/wb53.1.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21199/wb53.1.5","url":null,"abstract":"Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) populations have been declining across the western United States for decades. The Sierra Nevada–southern Cascades population in California is especially vulnerable, with fewer than 200 pairs remaining. Hydrologic restoration has been recommended for conserving this population. Other riparian songbirds have increased in response to restoration, but little is known about how restoration has affected the Willow Flycatcher. The Little Truckee River has long been a stronghold for the Willow Flycatcher, and the demography of the population there was studied intensively from the late 1990s through 2010. Baseline data from that study provided an opportunity to gauge the species’ response to pond-and-plug restoration projects completed at two meadows within the study area in 2009 and 2010. We aggregated and analyzed data from Willow Flycatcher surveys from 1997 through 2019 at the two restored meadows as well as nine nearby unrestored meadows with at least two Willow Flycatcher territories at some time during the demographic study. At most meadows, the number and density of Willow Flycatcher territories declined over the two-decade study period. However, losses at the unrestored meadows were significantly greater than at the restored meadows, where territory density clearly did not collapse following the disturbance caused by restoration and then remained largely stable thereafter. Within large meadows already occupied by Willow Flycatchers, meadow restoration that restores hydrologic function and increases flooding over creekbanks may be an effective strategy for stabilizing declining Willow Flycatcher populations in the Sierra Nevada.","PeriodicalId":52426,"journal":{"name":"Western Birds","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88487662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Vargas, Liliana Ortíz-Serrato, César Iván Manríquez-Castro, G. Ruiz-Campos
{"title":"First Specimen of the Nazca Booby (Sula granti) for the State of Baja California, Mexico","authors":"J. Vargas, Liliana Ortíz-Serrato, César Iván Manríquez-Castro, G. Ruiz-Campos","doi":"10.21199/wb53.1.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21199/wb53.1.7","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":52426,"journal":{"name":"Western Birds","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89126672","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Northern Cardinal Nesting in Wyoming","authors":"R. Dorn, J. L. Dorn, Calvin E. Dyer","doi":"10.21199/wb53.1.8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21199/wb53.1.8","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":52426,"journal":{"name":"Western Birds","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89636090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
L. Oliphant, I. Warkentin, Kelly Kozij, Adam Schmidt
Previous knowledge of the Merlin’s (Falco columbarius) nesting behavior was based on observation from the ground or data recorded during nest checks. Similarly, descriptions of chicks’ behavioral development were restricted to studies of captive birds. We used a webcam to observe adult Prairie Merlins (F. c. richardsonii) and their four young on an artificial nest platform located in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, from 25 April to 22 July 2020. Our observations extended from prior to egg-laying until 12 days after fledging, being most intensive after hatching. Activities revealed by the webcam largely confirmed previous ground-based observations and studies involving either nest visits or captive rearing. Eggs were laid at roughly 2-day intervals followed by a 30-day incubation period and a 31-day nestling period. The female dominated activity at the nest until the chicks achieved homeothermy (7–10 days after hatching); the male was seldom seen except when delivering prey to the female. The female stopped brooding chicks during the night after day 14 and during daylight on day 16. The male began bringing food directly to the chicks starting 17 days after hatching. The chicks’ development matched published reports with constant competition for food among chicks but also apparent efforts by the adult female to ensure that each chick received sufficient food. The webcam enabled us to gather more detailed information about the Merlin’s behavior at the nest than previously possible and provided an opportunity for citizen science involving a common but little studied falcon.
{"title":"Merlin Parental Behavior and Chick Development as Revealed by Webcam","authors":"L. Oliphant, I. Warkentin, Kelly Kozij, Adam Schmidt","doi":"10.21199/wb53.1.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21199/wb53.1.1","url":null,"abstract":"Previous knowledge of the Merlin’s (Falco columbarius) nesting behavior was based on observation from the ground or data recorded during nest checks. Similarly, descriptions of chicks’ behavioral development were restricted to studies of captive birds. We used a webcam to observe adult Prairie Merlins (F. c. richardsonii) and their four young on an artificial nest platform located in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, from 25 April to 22 July 2020. Our observations extended from prior to egg-laying until 12 days after fledging, being most intensive after hatching. Activities revealed by the webcam largely confirmed previous ground-based observations and studies involving either nest visits or captive rearing. Eggs were laid at roughly 2-day intervals followed by a 30-day incubation period and a 31-day nestling period. The female dominated activity at the nest until the chicks achieved homeothermy (7–10 days after hatching); the male was seldom seen except when delivering prey to the female. The female stopped brooding chicks during the night after day 14 and during daylight on day 16. The male began bringing food directly to the chicks starting 17 days after hatching. The chicks’ development matched published reports with constant competition for food among chicks but also apparent efforts by the adult female to ensure that each chick received sufficient food. The webcam enabled us to gather more detailed information about the Merlin’s behavior at the nest than previously possible and provided an opportunity for citizen science involving a common but little studied falcon.","PeriodicalId":52426,"journal":{"name":"Western Birds","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88031517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Joseph F. Di Liberto, Maya R. Stahl, Silas E. Fischer, Kathy A. Granillo
Brood parasitism can have major detrimental effects on the fitness of reproducing songbirds and often contributes to nest failure. As the Gray Vireo (Vireo vicinior) suffers high rates of brood parasitism by the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), we hypothesized that vireos might choose nest sites selectively to thwart cowbird parasitism. To investigate this question, we measured and compared vegetative and spatial attributes of nest sites in a known breeding population of the Gray Vireo on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, in 2017 and 2018. Specifically, we compared parasitized and unparasitized nests with respect to the nest’s height and the average height, diameter, and foliage density of the nest tree. We also compared the spatial attributes of the nearest neighboring nest, nearest parasitized nest, and the density of surrounding juniper trees within 50 m of a nest. Interestingly, among none of the variables measured did we find an association with the incidence of brood parasitism, suggesting that nest parasitism might be more strongly linked to other larger-scale ecological or behavioral variables.
{"title":"Do Attributes of Gray Vireo Nest Sites Influence Brown-headed Cowbird Brood Parasitism?","authors":"Joseph F. Di Liberto, Maya R. Stahl, Silas E. Fischer, Kathy A. Granillo","doi":"10.21199/wb53.1.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21199/wb53.1.4","url":null,"abstract":"Brood parasitism can have major detrimental effects on the fitness of reproducing songbirds and often contributes to nest failure. As the Gray Vireo (Vireo vicinior) suffers high rates of brood parasitism by the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), we hypothesized that vireos might choose nest sites selectively to thwart cowbird parasitism. To investigate this question, we measured and compared vegetative and spatial attributes of nest sites in a known breeding population of the Gray Vireo on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, in 2017 and 2018. Specifically, we compared parasitized and unparasitized nests with respect to the nest’s height and the average height, diameter, and foliage density of the nest tree. We also compared the spatial attributes of the nearest neighboring nest, nearest parasitized nest, and the density of surrounding juniper trees within 50 m of a nest. Interestingly, among none of the variables measured did we find an association with the incidence of brood parasitism, suggesting that nest parasitism might be more strongly linked to other larger-scale ecological or behavioral variables.","PeriodicalId":52426,"journal":{"name":"Western Birds","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78754285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Notes on the Breeding Biology of the Hooded Grosbeak (Coccothraustes abeillei)","authors":"R. Erickson, R. Valdes","doi":"10.21199/wb53.1.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21199/wb53.1.6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":52426,"journal":{"name":"Western Birds","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86559541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rigorous peer-reviews are the basis of high-quality academic publishing [...]
严格的同行评议是高质量学术出版的基础[…]
{"title":"Acknowledgment to Reviewers of Birds in 2021","authors":"","doi":"10.3390/birds3010005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/birds3010005","url":null,"abstract":"Rigorous peer-reviews are the basis of high-quality academic publishing [...]","PeriodicalId":52426,"journal":{"name":"Western Birds","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91236513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In recent times, there has been an unprecedented increase in usage of electrical lightning. This has led to increase in artificial light at night (ALAN), and it has been suggested as a source of environmental pollution. ALAN exposure has been reported to be associated with disruption of daily rhythms and serious health consequences, such as immune, metabolic, and cognitive dysfunctions in both birds and mammals. Given the worldwide pervasiveness of ALAN, this research topic is also important from an ecological perspective. In birds, daily timings and appropriate temporal niches are important for fitness and survival. Daily rhythms in a wide array of functions are regulated by the circadian clock(s) and endogenous oscillators present in the body. There is accumulating evidence that exposure to ALAN disrupts clock-regulated daily rhythms and suppresses melatonin and sleep in birds. Circadian clock, melatonin, and sleep regulate avian cognitive performance. However, there is limited research on this topic, and most of the insights on the adverse effects of ALAN on cognitive functions are from behavioural studies. Nevertheless, these results raise an intriguing question about the molecular underpinning of the ALAN-induced negative consequences on brain functions. Further research should be focused on the molecular links between ALAN and cognitive performance, including the role of melatonin, which could shed light on the mechanism by which ALAN exposures lead to negative consequences.
{"title":"Artificial Light at Night, Higher Brain Functions and Associated Neuronal Changes: An Avian Perspective","authors":"S. T. Taufique","doi":"10.3390/birds3010003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/birds3010003","url":null,"abstract":"In recent times, there has been an unprecedented increase in usage of electrical lightning. This has led to increase in artificial light at night (ALAN), and it has been suggested as a source of environmental pollution. ALAN exposure has been reported to be associated with disruption of daily rhythms and serious health consequences, such as immune, metabolic, and cognitive dysfunctions in both birds and mammals. Given the worldwide pervasiveness of ALAN, this research topic is also important from an ecological perspective. In birds, daily timings and appropriate temporal niches are important for fitness and survival. Daily rhythms in a wide array of functions are regulated by the circadian clock(s) and endogenous oscillators present in the body. There is accumulating evidence that exposure to ALAN disrupts clock-regulated daily rhythms and suppresses melatonin and sleep in birds. Circadian clock, melatonin, and sleep regulate avian cognitive performance. However, there is limited research on this topic, and most of the insights on the adverse effects of ALAN on cognitive functions are from behavioural studies. Nevertheless, these results raise an intriguing question about the molecular underpinning of the ALAN-induced negative consequences on brain functions. Further research should be focused on the molecular links between ALAN and cognitive performance, including the role of melatonin, which could shed light on the mechanism by which ALAN exposures lead to negative consequences.","PeriodicalId":52426,"journal":{"name":"Western Birds","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87813950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-20DOI: 10.20944/preprints202201.0314.v1
Katarzyna Bobrowicz, Samuel Greiff
Executive functions comprise top-down cognitive processes that exert control over information processing, from acquiring information to issuing a behavioural response. These cognitive processes of inhibition, working memory and shifting underpin complex cognitive skills, such as episodic memory and planning, which have been repeatedly investigated in several bird species in recent decades. Until recently, avian executive functions were studied in relatively few bird species, but have gained traction in comparative cognitive research following MacLean and colleagues’ large-scale study (2014). Therefore, in this review paper, relevant previous findings are collected and organized to facilitate further investigations of these core cognitive processes in birds. This review can assist in integrating findings from avian and mammalian cognitive research and further current understanding of executive functions’ significance and evolution.
{"title":"Executive Functions in Birds","authors":"Katarzyna Bobrowicz, Samuel Greiff","doi":"10.20944/preprints202201.0314.v1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202201.0314.v1","url":null,"abstract":"Executive functions comprise top-down cognitive processes that exert control over information processing, from acquiring information to issuing a behavioural response. These cognitive processes of inhibition, working memory and shifting underpin complex cognitive skills, such as episodic memory and planning, which have been repeatedly investigated in several bird species in recent decades. Until recently, avian executive functions were studied in relatively few bird species, but have gained traction in comparative cognitive research following MacLean and colleagues’ large-scale study (2014). Therefore, in this review paper, relevant previous findings are collected and organized to facilitate further investigations of these core cognitive processes in birds. This review can assist in integrating findings from avian and mammalian cognitive research and further current understanding of executive functions’ significance and evolution.","PeriodicalId":52426,"journal":{"name":"Western Birds","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89566324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
False alarm flighting in avian flocks is common, and has been explained as a maladaptive information cascade. If false alarm flighting is maladaptive per se, then its frequency can only be explained by it being net adaptive in relation to some other benefit or equilibrium. However, I argue that natural selection cannot distinguish between false and true alarm flights that have similar energetic costs, opportunity costs, and outcomes. False alarm flighting cannot be maladaptive if natural selection cannot perceive the difference between true and false alarm flighting. Rather, the question to answer is what false and true alarm flighting both have in common that is adaptive per se. The fire drill hypothesis of alarm flighting posits that false alarm flights are an adaptive investment in practicing escape. The fire drill hypothesis predicts that all individuals can benefit from practicing escape, particularly juveniles. Flighting practice could improve recognition of and response time to alarm flighting signals, could compensate for inter-individual and within-day weight differences, and could aid the development of adaptive escape tactics. Mixed-age flocks with many juveniles are expected to false alarm flight more than adult flocks. Flocks that inhabit complex terrain should gain less from escape practice and should false alarm flight less. Behavioural ecology framings can be fruitfully complemented by other research traditions of learning and behaviour that are more focused on maturation and motor learning processes.
{"title":"Why Do Birds False Alarm Flight?","authors":"M. Root-Bernstein","doi":"10.3390/birds3010002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/birds3010002","url":null,"abstract":"False alarm flighting in avian flocks is common, and has been explained as a maladaptive information cascade. If false alarm flighting is maladaptive per se, then its frequency can only be explained by it being net adaptive in relation to some other benefit or equilibrium. However, I argue that natural selection cannot distinguish between false and true alarm flights that have similar energetic costs, opportunity costs, and outcomes. False alarm flighting cannot be maladaptive if natural selection cannot perceive the difference between true and false alarm flighting. Rather, the question to answer is what false and true alarm flighting both have in common that is adaptive per se. The fire drill hypothesis of alarm flighting posits that false alarm flights are an adaptive investment in practicing escape. The fire drill hypothesis predicts that all individuals can benefit from practicing escape, particularly juveniles. Flighting practice could improve recognition of and response time to alarm flighting signals, could compensate for inter-individual and within-day weight differences, and could aid the development of adaptive escape tactics. Mixed-age flocks with many juveniles are expected to false alarm flight more than adult flocks. Flocks that inhabit complex terrain should gain less from escape practice and should false alarm flight less. Behavioural ecology framings can be fruitfully complemented by other research traditions of learning and behaviour that are more focused on maturation and motor learning processes.","PeriodicalId":52426,"journal":{"name":"Western Birds","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80615522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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