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For the sake of accomplishing the rapidity, safety and consistency of obstacle avoidance for a large-scale unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm in a dynamic and unknown 3D environment, this paper proposes a flocking control algorithm that mimics the behavior of starlings. By analyzing the orderly and rapid obstacle avoidance behavior of a starling flock, a motion model inspired by a flock of starlings is built, which contains three kinds of motion patterns, including the collective pattern, evasion pattern and local-following pattern. Then, the behavior patterns of the flock of starlings are mapped on a fixed-wing UAV swarm to improve the ability of obstacle avoidance. The key contribution of this paper is collective and collision-free motion planning for UAV swarms in unknown 3D environments with dynamic obstacles. Numerous simulations are conducted in different scenarios and the results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm improves the speed, order and safety of the UAV swarm when avoiding obstacles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organiser Rhaana Starling summarises a meeting that reflected the breadth and depth of the UK Transient community [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European starling, Sturnus vulgaris, is an ecologically significant, globally invasive avian species that is also suffering from a major decline in its native range. Here, we present the genome assembly and long‐read transcriptome of an Australian‐sourced European starling (S. vulgaris vAU), and a second, North American, short‐read genome assembly (S. vulgaris vNA), as complementary reference genomes for population genetic and evolutionary characterization. S. vulgaris vAU combined 10× genomics linked‐reads, low‐coverage Nanopore sequencing, and PacBio Iso‐Seq full‐length transcript scaffolding to generate a 1050 Mb assembly on 6222 scaffolds (7.6 Mb scaffold N50, 94.6% busco completeness). Further scaffolding against the high‐quality zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) genome assigned 98.6% of the assembly to 32 putative nuclear chromosome scaffolds. Species‐specific transcript mapping and gene annotation revealed good gene‐level assembly and high functional completeness. Using S. vulgaris vAU, we demonstrate how the multifunctional use of PacBio Iso‐Seq transcript data and complementary homology‐based annotation of sequential assembly steps (assessed using a new tool, saaga) can be used to assess, inform, and validate assembly workflow decisions. We also highlight some counterintuitive behaviour in traditional busco metrics, and present buscomp, a complementary tool for assembly comparison designed to be robust to differences in assembly size and base‐calling quality. This work expands our knowledge of avian genomes and the available toolkit for assessing and improving genome quality. The new genomic resources presented will facilitate further global genomic and transcriptomic analysis on this ecologically important species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual conflict occurs in biparental species because working together provides shared benefits while incurring individual costs. In birds, coordination of provisioning visits via turn taking has been proposed as a strategy to mitigate this conflict. However, alternation of visits requires that birds have access to reliable information on their partner's behaviour, e.g. through high synchrony of nest visits or short foraging distances (allowing for direct observation of partners). Here we investigated parental coordination in the European starling, a species that forages at considerable distances from the nest (200–1600 m), where there is no evidence that pairs forage together, and where synchrony at the nest appears to be low, so that direct access to information on partners will be variable and limited. There was some evidence that individuals were 'paying attention' to their partner's provisioning rate, adjusting their behaviour in response to their partner's behaviour. In first broods, female intervisit intervals that were preceded by a male visit (order of visits: male, female, female) were longer than those that were preceded by a female visit (order of visits: female, female, female). Females and males both responded to mate removal by decreasing their provisioning rates though these returned to preremoval levels the day after removal. This is consistent with 'matching' of parental workload not 'partial compensation'. These results suggest that birds do adjust their behaviour in relation to information about their partner's behaviour or absence/presence. However, despite this, there was no evidence of true coordination via alternation or synchrony (i.e. this was not different from random) in European starlings. • Parental coordination requires information on the partner's provisioning behaviour. • Starlings have long foraging distances and low synchrony at the nest. • Individuals appeared to 'pay attention' to their partner's provisioning rate. • Individuals appeared to adjust their behaviour relative to their partner's behaviour. • However, alternation and synchrony were not different from random. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resistance to antibiotics is well-known global phenomenon. There are places contributing to the development of antibiotic resis)tance such as waste landfills, especially ones that accept medical waste which did not undergo disinfection and livestock waste with bacteria not sensitive to antibiotics. An extensive system of transfer of antibiotic resistant microorganisms is formed on these territories (zoochory, groundwater, transport etc.). The aim of the research was to determine the species composition of bacteria isolated from birds of Derhachi municipal solid waste landfills in Kharkiv city, Ukraine. Also, we determine the sensitivity of bacterial isolates to a number of standard antibiotic drugs. We collected droppings of feral pigeons (Columba livia Gmelin, 1789; Columbidae) and starlings (Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758; Sturnidae) during the winter period in 2020/2021; both species are dominants of waste landfills. We isolated 15 bacteria species of 4 families by bacteriological methods (growing on simple and selective media and identification by biochemical properties): Enterobacteriaceae (Enterobacter asburiae, E. dissolvens, E. cancerogenus, E. cloacae, E. sakazakii, Escheri)chia coli, Klebsiella terrigena, K. ornithinolytica, Citrobacter freundii, Proteus mirabilis), Yersiniaceae (Serratia ficaria, S.rubidaea, S. entomophila), Morganellaceae (Providencia stuartii) and Pseudomonadaceaе (Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Sensitivity was deter)mined by the disk-diffusion method to 18 antibiotics. Ten isolates turned out to be multiresistant-resistant to three or more classes of antimicrobial drugs. A promising direction for future research is the determination of the pathogenicity of the isolates and checking the roles of birds of Derhachi solid waste landfills as reservoirs of pathogens. Currently, it can be assumed that large concentrations of synanthropic birds (especially those that forage on solid waste landfills) with a high probability are reservoirs of many bacteria, in par)ticular those that have developed resistance to drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formulation by Starling of The Law of the Heart states that 'the [mechanical] energy of contraction, however measured, is a function of the length of the muscle fibre'. Starling later also stated that 'the oxygen consumption of the isolated heart ... is determined by its diastolic volume, and therefore by the initial length of its muscular fibres'. This phrasing has motivated us to extend Starling's Law of the Heart to include consideration of the efficiency of contraction. In this study, we assessed both mechanical efficiency and crossbridge efficiency by studying the heat output of isolated rat ventricular trabeculae performing force–length work‐loops over ranges of preload and afterload. The combination of preload and afterload allowed us, using our modelling frameworks for the end‐systolic zone and the heat–force zone, to simulate cases by recreating physiologically feasible loading conditions. We found that across all cases examined, both work output and change of enthalpy increased with initial muscle length; hence it can only be that the former increases more than the latter to yield increased mechanical efficiency. In contrast, crossbridge efficiency increased with initial muscle length in cases where the extent of muscle shortening varied greatly with preload. We conclude that the efficiency of cardiac contraction increases with increasing initial muscle length and preload. An implication of our conclusion is that the length‐dependent activation mechanism underlying the cellular basis of Starling's Law of the Heart is an energetically favourable process that increases the efficiency of cardiac contraction. Key points: Ernest Starling in 1914 formulated the Law of the Heart to describe the mechanical property of cardiac muscle whereby force of contraction increases with muscle length.He subsequently, in 1927, showed that the oxygen consumption of the heart is also a function of the length of the muscle fibre, but left the field unclear as to whether cardiac efficiency follows the same dependence.A century later, the field has gained an improved understanding of the factors, including the distinct effects of preload and afterload, that affect cardiac efficiency. This understanding presents an opportunity for us to investigate the elusive length‐dependence of cardiac efficiency.We found that, by simulating physiologically feasible loading conditions using a mechano‐energetics framework, cardiac efficiency increased with initial muscle length.A broader physiological importance of our findings is that the underlying cellular basis of Starling's Law of the Heart is an energetically favourable process that yields increased efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are animals' preferences determined by absolute memories for options (e.g. reward sizes) or by their remembered ranking (better/worse)? The only studies examining this question suggest humans and starlings utilise memories for both absolute and relative information. We show that bumblebees' learned preferences are based only on memories of ordinal comparisons. A series of experiments showed that after learning to discriminate pairs of different flowers by sucrose concentration, bumblebees preferred flowers (in novel pairings) with (1) higher ranking over equal absolute reward, (2) higher ranking over higher absolute reward, and (3) identical qualitative ranking but different quantitative ranking equally. Bumblebees used absolute information in order to rank different flowers. However, additional experiments revealed that, even when ranking information was absent (i.e. bees learned one flower at a time), memories for absolute information were lost or could no longer be retrieved after at most 1 hr. Our results illuminate a divergent mechanism for bees (compared to starlings and humans) of learned preferences that may have arisen from different adaptations to their natural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I report on the predatory interaction of Peregrine Falcons and flocks of European Starlings in British Columbia, and I review the literature of raptors hunting starlings at their roost sites in Europe. A video analysis of peregrines attacking roosting flocks of starlings over Rome is compared to my long-term observations of peregrines hunting passerines and sandpipers in Canada. The results suggest that the starling murmurations are an anti-predator strategy. My observations, and a review of historical notes in the Oxford English Dictionary, show that the term murmuration was originally inspired by the chorus song of breeding starlings and that today's common use of that term to describe their roost site flights is a misnomer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Escherichia albertii has recently been recognized as a zoonotic enteropathogen associated with food poisoning. The reservoirs and transmission routes of this bacterium to humans are still unclear. In this study, we performed a survey of E. albertii in fecal specimens of wild and safeguarded animals in Okayama Prefecture and its prefectural borders, Japan to understand its reservoir in the environment. Forty-two E. albertii were isolated from 10 and 31 droppings of 59 crows and 125 starlings, respectively. Fifty-two E. albertii were isolated from 906 mammal droppings, and out of 52 isolates, origin of 33, 6 and 1 isolates were from martens, foxes, and rabbit, respectively, however, origin of 12 isolates remained unknown. Three E. albertii were isolated from two and one feces of 159 dogs and 76 cats, respectively. Pulsed-filed gel electrophoresis analysis grouped 97 E. albertii strains into 66 pulsotypes including 36 and 30 pulsotypes of isolates from mammals and birds, respectively. E. albertii strains isolated in this study were genetically diverse. Although clonal relationship was not observed between mammal and bird isolates, there were intra- and interspecies relationship in mammalian isolates. All E. albertii strains were positive for eae and Eacdt virulence genes. Furthermore, 20 and 7 strains also carried Eccdt-I and stx2f genes, respectively. Taken together, the results indicate that genetically diverse and potentially virulent E. albertii are distributed among various wild and safeguarded animals in Okayama Prefecture, and the animals could also be reservoirs of E. albertii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay seeks to complicate seemingly rigid notions of instinct, agency, and survival for proximate bodies resisting violence through cooperative spatial attunement. I place the behaviors and movements of murmurating starlings (and other nonhuman animal beings in various states of fear/pain) alongside human family members in families organizing around domestic violence in order to theorize predation-evasion-induced scale-free correlation (PEISFC) as a trans-species process of "atmospheric attunement" that resists violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimal life‐history theory predicts that individuals should adjust both the number and the sex of their offspring to maximize fitness in response to environmental and social factors such as breeding density. While reductions in optimal clutch size are well‐studied in birds, the evidence for sex ratio adjustments is still equivocal and, so far, we lack a thorough understanding of how these strategies interact to maximize fitness. Here, we investigate how breeding density simultaneously affects brood sex ratio and clutch size in a sexually dimorphic and polygynous bird. We tested the prediction that mothers breeding at a higher density lay smaller clutches and overproduce daughters, the sex with less variable fitness returns and that disperses further away from their natal territory. We distributed nest boxes at either a high (HD) or a low density (LD) and monitored clutch sizes and sex ratios during five years in a wild breeding colony of spotless starlings. While mothers breeding in HD nests produced more daughters than those breeding in LD nests, the density dependence of clutch size varied among years, with a tendency to lay smaller clutches in HD nests. Our results suggest that mothers consistently adjust offspring sex ratio in response to breeding density, whereas adjustments in clutch size varied in a more complex way. These results support the role of sex allocation strategies in response to density and show that further theoretical and empirical research is required to understand the interaction between clutch size and sex ratio adjustments in animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pygmy Falcon Polihierax semitorquatus does not build its own nest but is an obligate user of the nests of colonial birds for roosting and breeding. The nests of various weavers and starlings have been listed, suggesting a wide range of hosts used by the Pygmy Falcon. A search for original references of host use, however, suggests a high degree of host specificity. The two disjunct populations of Pygmy Falcon each specialise on a single weaver host, namely the Sociable Weaver Philetairus socius in the southern population, and the White-headed Buffalo Weaver Dinemellia dinemelli in the eastern population. There are incidental records of roosting or breeding in the nests of the White-browed Sparrow-Weaver Plocepasser mahali and Red-billed Buffalo Weaver Bubalornis niger. No records of Pygmy Falcons using starling nests have been confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personality, or repeatable variation in behavior, may impact an animal's survival or reproduction. Parental aggression is one such personality trait with potentially direct implications for fitness, as it can improve offspring survival during vulnerable early life stages. We took advantage of a long‐term nest box and fledgling survival monitoring project to explore the potential fitness consequences of both repeatability and variation in parental aggression in breeding pairs of a locally endangered passerine species (Såli: Micronesian starling, Aplonis opaca) in the presence of an invasive predator, the brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis), on the island of Guam. To do so, we tested for associations between aggressive offspring defense throughout the nesting cycle and three fitness measures: hatching success, fledging success, and post‐fledging survival. Aggression varied greatly among breeding pairs and was repeatable within pairs (R =.47), providing evidence of a personality trait. Consistent with parental investment theory, nest stage was the best predictor of parental aggression, which increased with offspring age. Aggression was positively correlated with hatching success during the egg stage, but not nestling or post‐fledging survival. We propose that parental aggression was decoupled from nestling and fledgling survival because parents were unable to defend young from nocturnal, invasive brown treesnakes. More broadly, our findings demonstrate that repeatable variation in personality traits may not necessarily confer fitness benefits, particularly in the presence of invasive predators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large volume of environmental science and pollution research has focused on the contributions of various forms of energy consumption to emissions. However, little attention is given to the impact of human activities such as tourism. Hence, this study investigates the impact of tourist arrivals, energy use, and economic growth on CO2 emissions in the G7 countries for the period 1995–2018. The study employed the use of dynamic panel estimations, namely dynamic ordinary least square, fully modified ordinary least squares and panel pooled mean group-autoregressive distributed lag model (PMG-ARDL) estimation techniques to establish long-run and short-run relationships between the study variable of interest, while the Dumitrescu Hurlin non-causality test was used to test for causality direction among the variables outlined. Empirical findings from the regression revealed that economic growth, tourism and energy use are strong drivers of emission levels in the G7 bloc, while the causality analysis revealed that there is unidirectional causality from CO2 to energy use, CO2 to economic growth (GDP) and GDP to tourist arrivals. These outcomes imply that tourism, energy use and economic growth have no direct effect on emissions, but rather emissions predict economic growth and energy use. Furthermore, tourist arrivals predict energy use; economic growth predicts tourism. Overall based on the study of empirical outcomes, we suggest that to achieve more significant results in reducing emissions, governments of the G7 countries should continue to emphasize green tourism as well as increase the share of renewable energy in their regional energy mix. More policy direction was outlined in the concluding section of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is a cavity-nesting species that aggressively competes with other cavity nesters, such as woodpeckers, and usurps their nest cavities. Interspecific parental care among birds is uncommon and scarcely reported for European Starlings and woodpeckers. Here, we report an observation of a clutch of 3 Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus) nestlings being fed by both an adult female Hairy Woodpecker and at least 1 adult European Starling in southern Ontario, Canada. There are differences in parental behavior observed between the starling and female Hairy Woodpecker, namely only the starling entered the cavity (7.0 times/h) and removed fecal sacs (4.2 times/h) while the female Hairy Woodpecker never showed these behaviors during our observation period, but she fed nestlings 7.4 times/h compared to 4.9 times/h by the starling. Although proximate causes of this behavior are unclear, nest site competition, overlap of the timing of breeding and preferred habitat, or the loss of the male woodpecker may have triggered this behavior. Received 15 February 2021. Accepted 22 July 2021. Key words: cavity-nesting birds, interspecific feeding, nest sanitation, starling, woodpecker. L'Etourneau Sansonnet (Sturmis vulgaris) est une espèce cavernicole qui rivalise de façon agressive avec d'autres oiseaux cavernicoles, tels que les pics, et usurpe leurs cavités de nidification. Les soins parentaux interspécifiques chez les oiseaux sont rares et à peine signalés pour les Étourneaux Sansonnets et les pics. Ici, nous rapportons une observation d'un Pic Chevelu femelle adulte (Dryobates villosus) et au moins un Étourneau Sansonnet adulte nourrissent une couvée de trois oisillons de Pic Chevelu dans le sud de l'Ontario, Canada. Il y a des différences de comportement parental observées entre l'étourneau et le Pic Chevelu femelle, à savoir que seul l'étourneau entrait dans la cavité (7,0 fois/h) et retirait les sacs fécaux (4,2 fois/h) alors que la femelle Pic Chevelu ne montrait jamais ces comportements lors de notre observation période, mais elle nourrissait les oisillons 7,4 fois/h par comparaison avec 4,9 fois/h par l'étourneau. Bien que les causes immédiates de ce comportement ne soient pas claires, la compétition entre les sites de nidification, le chevauchement de la période de nidification et de l'habitat préféré, ou la perte du pic mâle peuvent avoir provoqué ce comportement. Mots clés : assainissement du nid, étourneau, nourrissage interspécifique, pic oiseaux cavernicole., Interspecific parental care in birds occurs when young are provisioned by a heterospecific individual, through actions such as feeding nestlings and/or removing fecal sacs. This rare behavior has been described [...]

Cooperatively breeding vertebrates are common in unpredictable environments where the costs and benefits of providing offspring care fluctuate temporally. To balance these fitness outcomes, individuals of cooperatively breeding species often exhibit behavioural plasticity according to environmental conditions. Although individual variation in cooperative behaviours is well-studied, less is known about variation in plasticity of social behaviour. Here, we examine the fitness benefits, plasticity and repeatability of nest guarding behaviour in cooperatively breeding superb starlings (Lamprotornis superbus). After demonstrating that the cumulative nest guarding performed at a nest by all breeders and helpers combined is a significant predictor of reproductive success, we model breeder and helper behavioural reaction norms to test the hypothesis that individuals invest more in guarding in favourable seasons with high rainfall. Variation in nest guarding behaviour across seasons differed for individuals of different reproductive status: breeders showed plastic nest guarding behaviour in response to rainfall, whereas helpers did not. Similarly, we found that individual breeders show repeatability and consistency in their nest guarding behaviour while individual helpers did not. Thus, individuals with the potential to gain direct fitness benefits exhibit greater plasticity and individual-level repeatability in cooperative behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Small birds such as European starlings respond rapidly to environmental challenges by losing or gaining weight. Laboratory studies of these birds are therefore useful for understanding how the environment affects body weight. However, practical constraints including the need to catch birds frequently for weighing has meant that birds are often housed alone in small cages for such studies. Such conditions are unnatural and are likely to cause stress. Consequently, the data obtained from these studies are unrepresentative of wild birds. Here, we describe a novel technology based on smart feeders that permits continuous recording of foraging behaviour and body masses from starlings housed in groups in large indoor aviaries that permit more natural behaviour. We show that the birds quickly learn to use the feeders and that the system delivers detailed real-time data on foraging behaviour and body mass, without the need for frequent catching. The data obtained allowed us to study how the foraging decisions that a bird makes within a single day affect its body weight that day. These improvements in the quality of the data that we are able to collect will help inform our understanding of the environmental causes of weight gain and obesity. Laboratory experiments on passerine birds have been important for testing hypotheses regarding the effects of environmental variables on the adaptive regulation of body mass. However, previous work in this area has suffered from poor ecological validity and animal welfare due to the requirement to house birds individually in small cages to facilitate behavioural measurement and frequent catching for weighing. Here, we describe the social foraging system, a novel technology that permits continuous collection of individual-level data on operant foraging behaviour and body mass from group-housed European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). We report on the rapid acquisition of operant key pecking, followed by foraging and body mass data from two groups of six birds maintained on a fixed-ratio operant schedule under closed economy for 11 consecutive days. Birds gained 6.0 ± 1.2 g (mean ± sd) between dawn and dusk each day and lost an equal amount overnight. Individual daily mass gain trajectories were non-linear, with the rate of gain decelerating between dawn and dusk. Within-bird variation in daily foraging effort (key pecks) positively predicted within-bird variation in dusk mass. However, between-bird variation in mean foraging effort was uncorrelated with between-bird variation in mean mass, potentially indicative of individual differences in daily energy requirements. We conclude that the social foraging system delivers refined data collection and offers potential for improving our understanding of mass regulation in starlings and other species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Speed fluctuations of individual birds in natural flocks are moderate, due to the aerodynamic and biomechanical constraints of flight. Yet the spatial correlations of such fluctuations are scale-free, namely they have a range as wide as the entire group, a property linked to the capacity of the system to collectively respond to external perturbations. Scale-free correlations and moderate fluctuations set conflicting constraints on the mechanism controlling the speed of each agent, as the factors boosting correlation amplify fluctuations, and vice versa. Here, using a statistical field theory approach, we suggest that a marginal speed confinement that ignores small deviations from the natural reference value while ferociously suppressing larger speed fluctuations, is able to reconcile scale-free correlations with biologically acceptable group's speed. We validate our theoretical predictions by comparing them with field experimental data on starling flocks with group sizes spanning an unprecedented interval of over two orders of magnitude. Bird flocks are known to adjust the orientation and speed of individual birds giving rise to correlations that extend across very large groups. The authors show that marginal control provides an explanation of scale-free correlations of speed fluctuations in natural bird flocks of any sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal coloration results from pigments, nanostructures, or the cosmetic use of natural products, and plays a central role in social communication. The role of cosmetic coloration has traditionally been focused in scenarios of sexual selection, but it could also take place in other contexts. Here, by using spotless starlings (Sturnus unicolor) as a model system, we explore the possibility that nestlings cosmetically use their intensely yellow-colored uropygial secretion to signal their genetic and/or phenotypic quality. In agreement with the hypothetical cosmetic use of the uropygial secretion, (i) video recorded nestlings collected secretion with the bill at the age of feathering, (ii) cotton swabs turned to the color of secretion after rubbing with them nestlings' gape, and (iii) gape and skin colorations correlated positively with that of secretion. Furthermore, we found that (iv) secretion coloration has a genetic component, and (v) associated positively with Vitamin E supplementation and (vi) with plasma carotenoid concentration, which highlights the informative value of nestling secretion. Finally, (vii) coloration of begging-related traits and of secretion of nestlings predicted parental feeding preferences. Consequently, all these results strongly suggest that the cosmetic use of colored uropygial secretion might also play a role in parent-offspring communication, complementing or amplifying information provided by the flamboyant colored gapes and skin of nestlings. The use of makeups by offspring for communication with relatives has been scarcely explored and we hope that these results will encourage further investigations in birds and other taxa with parental care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Park of American Samoa (NPSA) was surveyed in 2011 and 2018 using point-transect distance sampling to estimate trends in landbird distribution, composition, population density, and abundance. Surveys were conducted within the Ta'ū Unit and Tutuila Unit, each on separate islands of American Samoa. We detected a total of 14 species during surveys and there were sufficient detections of seven species to allow for density estimation and abundance within each unit. We assessed differences in density between surveys with a twosample z -test and found significant declines of Blue-crowned Lorikeets (Vini australis) in the Ta'ū Unit, and of Samoan Starlings (Aplonis atrifusca) in the Tutuila Unit. Density estimates of the Crimson-crowned Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus porphyraceus), Pacific Kingfisher (Todiramphus sacer), Polynesian Wattled Honeyeater (Foulehaio carunculatus), and Samoan Starling (in the Ta'ū Unit) were also lower in 2018 than 2011, but differences were inconclusive because of relatively large variance estimates. Densities of the Polynesian Starling (Aplonis tabuensis) and Pacific Imperial Pigeon (Ducula pacifica) in the Ta'ū Unit were higher in 2018 than 2011, but differences were similarly inconclusive. Lower 2018 densities could be due to Tropical Cyclone Gita that struck the islands just four months before the surveys. We provide indices of relative occurrence and abundance for the remaining seven species detected, which include the Manycolored Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus perousii) and the rarely detected Spotless Crake (Zapornia tabuensis)—both of which are species of concern in American Samoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patterns of covariation between phenotype and environment are presumed to be reflective of local adaptation, and therefore translate to a meaningful influence on an individual's overall fitness within that specific environment. However, these environmentally driven patterns may be the result of numerous and interacting processes, such as genetic variation, epigenetic variation, or plastic non-heritable variation. Understanding the relative importance of different environmental variables on underlying genetic patterns and resulting phenotypes is fundamental to understanding adaptation. Invasive systems are excellent models for such investigations, given their propensity for rapid evolution. This study uses reduced representation sequencing data paired with phenotypic data to examine whether important phenotypic traits in invasive starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) within Australia appear to be highly heritable (presumably genetic) or appear to vary with environmental gradients despite underlying genetics (presumably non-heritable plasticity). We also sought to determine which environmental variables, if any, play the strongest role shaping genetic and phenotypic patterns. We determined that environmental variables—particularly elevation—play an important role in shaping allelic trends in Australian starlings and may also reinforce neutral genetic patterns resulting from historic introduction regime. We examined a range of phenotypic traits that appear to be heritable (body mass and spleen mass) or negligibly heritable (e.g. beak surface area and wing length) across the starlings' Australian range. Using SNP variants associated with each of these phenotypes, we identify key environmental variables that correlate with genetic patterns, specifically that temperature and precipitation putatively play important roles shaping phenotype in this species. Finally, we determine that overall phenotypic variation is correlated with underlying genetic variation, and that these interact positively with the level of vegetation variation within a region, suggesting that ground cover plays an important role in shaping selection and plasticity of phenotypic traits within the starlings of Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans easily recognize "transposed" musical melodies shifted up or down in log frequency. Surprisingly, songbirds seem to lack this capacity, although they can learn to recognize human melodies and use complex acoustic sequences for communication. Decades of research have led to the widespread belief that songbirds, unlike humans, are strongly biased to use absolute pitch (AP) in melody recognition. This work relies almost exclusively on acoustically simple stimuli that may belie sensitivities to more complex spectral features. Here, we investigate melody recognition in a species of songbird, the European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), using tone sequences that vary in both pitch and timbre. We find that small manipulations altering either pitch or timbre independently can drive melody recognition to chance, suggesting that both percepts are poor descriptors of the perceptual cues used by birds for this task. Instead we show that melody recognition can generalize even in the absence of pitch, as long as the spectral shapes of the constituent tones are preserved. These results challenge conventional views regarding the use of pitch cues in nonhuman auditory sequence recognition.

Cooperative breeding, where individuals other than the parents help to raise offspring, occurs in only ~9% of bird species. Although many starlings (Sturnidae) are cooperative breeders, the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) has rarely been observed exhibiting this behavior. Only two other records exist, one of which was limited to a juvenile giving food to chicks that had already been collected by a parent (and hence providing limited help). Herein, we report a case of cooperative breeding by a juvenile European starling, which represents the second with any evidence of the juvenile collecting food independently and the first to document the extent of such help in the form of feeding rates. Over a period of at least 3 days, a juvenile starling assisted two parents to feed their second brood of the year, and it fed the chicks at the same rate as the adults (~3.5 feeds per hour). In considering potential explanations for this behavior, we conducted an ancestral state estimation of cooperative breeding across starlings and were able to eliminate the possibility that this is a rarely expressed behavior inherited from cooperatively breeding ancestors. Instead, we propose that our observations point to a behavioral innovation, which may be in response to environmental change such as climate change (which has previously been associated with cooperative breeding). Researchers working on birds should be alert to such behavior to determine whether this apparently new breeding strategy will increase as a potential adaptation to environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observations of birds from previously unknown and apparently overlooked forest remnants at Oloitokitok in southeast Kenya are presented. Several forest specialists reported have very limited ranges in Kenya, such as Bar-throated Apalis Apalis thoracica, Stripe-faced Greenbul Arizelocichla striifacies and Kenrick’s Starling Poeptera kenricki while the guttifer subspecies of White-stared Robin Pogonocichla stellata and Broad-ringed White-eye Zosterops eurycricotus, both formerly endemic to Tanzania, are documented in Kenya for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cavity nests are safer than open nests and they uniquely allow a defence from inside. We studied the rates of nest defence from inside/outside the cavity with respect to nesting stage and number of responding parents in the Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) against its dominant nest intruder, the Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Undisturbed behaviour before Starling exposure (a control level) included high inside cavity attentiveness during incubation that decreased in subsequent nesting stages, while outside cavity attentiveness remained low in all nesting stages. Both inside and outside cavity attentiveness mostly increased after Starling exposure (caged individual). During Starling exposure, the pattern of inside cavity attentiveness was similar in singly and pair-responding parents. In vulnerable stages of incubation and young nestlings, singly-responding parents predominantly defended the cavity from inside, but this was not simply a consequence of parent´s initial position; they defended the cavity from outside as late as in the stage of old nestlings, while increased outside cavity attentiveness in the stages of incubation and young nestlings was a product of mate presence. Moreover, parents that defended the nest from outside behaved more aggressively in the presence of a mate, regardless of nesting stage. We consider the inside defence a priority tactics of nest protection; intruders probably pose a threat particularly to unattended cavity. These findings call attention to different (context-dependent) effectiveness of inside and outside cavity defence, which are often combined into general nest defence scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Night-brooding of nestlings in cavity-nesting avian species carries predation risks to parents. Anecdotally, several species are known to shift from constant adult night-brooding behaviour to leaving nestlings unattended at night during offspring development but the timing, speed of change and sex-specific differences between parents, and the factors shaping this behaviour have rarely been described. Moreover, the location and nature of night roosts used by adults whilst provisioning nestlings has received little research attention. We studied breeding Common Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and hypothesised that, in such a cavity-nesting species, 1) nestlings would only be night-brooded until they achieved thermal independence, 2) since the species is frequently polygynous, female parents would most likely exclusively night-brood offspring despite provisioning by both sexes and 3) night-brooding would be more likely during nights with lowest temperatures. Nightly video recordings throughout the nestling phase at eight Starling nests together with data from 18 Starlings fitted with GPS-loggers during 26 nights provided support for hypotheses 1) and 2), while we found no support for hypothesis 3). All tagged male Starlings always roosted far from the nesting site (up to 8 km) independent of nestling age; all females brooded nestlings, usually up to the first seven-nine days after hatching (when the nestlings achieve thermoregulation), but roosted with males after day 10, when all tagged Starlings from the same nesting 'colony' roosted together. These results confirm differential sex-related parental effort in provisioning Starlings, suggesting females only night-brood until young achieve homeothermy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization is noticed across the globe often leading to biotic homogenization. Birds that are able to exploit novel urban conditions to their benefit usually flourish (urban exploiters), some species are tolerant to moderate levels of urbanization (urban adapters) while others avoid and gradually decline in urban areas (urban avoiders). However, studies on the influence of habitat features on urban exploiters, adapters and avoiders are still very few. So, we made this comparative assessment of habitat-wise and seasonal patterns of abundance of common myna (urban exploiter), Asian pied starling (urban adapter) and jungle myna (urban avoider) in an urban landscape, and assessed the relationship between habitat features and weather parameters with their respective abundance. Fixed radius (50 m) point count was carried out in five different habitats (i.e. roadside habitat, residential area, market area, open fields and waterbodies) of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Surveys were carried out twice a month from May 2019 to March 2020, wherein the number of individuals of common myna, pied starling and jungle myna were recorded for 10 min. We found that the abundance of common myna was highest followed by pied starling and jungle myna. Three species of mynas are influenced by different habitat features within an urban area. Our findings might be useful to foster sustainable management plan for many urban areas across the globe where all three species are still thriving. This study might be replicated in many urban areas across the globe for other avian species of urban exploiter, urban adapters and urban avoiders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Starlings have tremendous economic and environmental impacts because they can spread pathogens to livestock and poultry. These birds act as mechanical and biological carriers for different types of pathogens from and to their original habitat. The goal of this study was to ascertain the presence of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) in the starlings’ lungs and confirm their diagnosis using the PCR technique. We altered the supplements that were added to Mycoplasma culture media by using calf serum instead of horse serum and sulphadimidine plus trimethoprim with nystatin instead of thallous acetate. Eighty-five starlings were bought from hunters in the spring of 2019, and their lungs were harvested and divided into two portions, one for Mycoplasma cultivation and the other for DNA extraction. Fifty-nine (69.4%) samples were positive for Mycoplasma colonies, thereby yielding accurate results using alternative supplements in the culture media. PCR revealed the presence of Mycoplasma in 78.8% lung samples, while MG was detected in only 43.3% of the positive samples, indicating the presence of other species of Mycoplasma too. The current study is the first of its kind not only in Iraq but also in the world, investigating the presence of MG in the lungs of starling birds. This study revealed that MG is significantly prevalent in starlings and also suggests that other Mycoplasma species may be present in starlings.

During the last decade at NASA Plum Brook Station (PBS), Erie County, Ohio, United States, there has been a nearly 50% decrease in European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) occupancy (nests with [greater than or equal to]1 egg) of nest boxes designed to be used by starlings. Increased availability of natural cavities, from invertebrate pests, might have altered nest box occupation rates. It was hypothesized that starling nest box occupation rates would be a function of an index of potentially suitable tree cavities for nesting starlings, the semi-colonial nature of breeding starlings, and access to foraging areas (e.g., mowed lawns near buildings). Specifically, it was predicted that starling occupancy of nest boxes would correlate positively with a low density of potentially suitable tree cavities (calculated from a constructed index based on characteristics preferred by nesting starlings), and proximity of other starling occupied nest boxes and anthropogenic structures or mowed lawns. The objective was to quantify landscape factors around nest boxes with known starling occupation rates. Potentially suitable tree cavities were readily available near nest boxes. However, starling nest box occupation was instead a function of proximity to buildings, a factor associated with additional nesting sites and preferred foraging areas (mowed lawns). Nesting starlings in this study were influenced by anthropogenic structures and associated resources., INTRODUCTION Cavity nesting birds can be separated into 3 guilds: (1) primary excavators, (2) weak cavity excavators, and (3) secondary cavity nesters (Martin et al. 2004). Nest site selection by [...]

The provision of anthropogenic food undoubtedly influences urban bird fitness. However, the nature of the impact is unclear, with both benefits and costs of urban diets documented. Moreover, the influence of short-term fluctuations in food availability, linked to urban weekday/weekend cycles of human presence, is largely unknown. We explored whether breeding red-winged starlings Onychognathus morio in Cape Town, South Africa, altered foraging and provisioning behaviour between days with high human presence (HHP) and days with low human presence (LHP)—i.e. weekdays versus weekends and vacation days. We investigated the relationship between starling diet, adult body mass and nestling development. Breeding adults consumed and provisioned the same quantity of food, but a significantly greater proportion of anthropogenic food on HHP compared to LHP days. Adults apparently benefited from the anthropogenic diet, experiencing significantly greater mass gain on HHP days. However, nestlings experienced a cost, with the number of HHP days during the nestling period associated negatively with nestling size. Adults may, therefore, benefit from the high calorie content of anthropogenic food, while nestlings may be negatively affected by nutrient limitation. The quantity of food available in urban environments may, therefore, benefit adult survival, while its quality imposes a cost to nestling growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foraging behavior of Brown Rats (Rattus norvegicus) is commonly thought to be guided by olfactory cues. Here we tested the hypothesis that foraging Brown Rats eavesdrop on bird vocalizations to locate prey. We recorded calls of nestling Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) with microphones sensitive in the sonic and ultrasonic range, respectively, and compiled clear begging calls into a single sound file (2-min long) which included the entire recorded sound range (0–100 kHz; Audio File 1). Sound analyses revealed a fundamental two-tone modulated sound centered around 3 kHz, a first and second harmonic at, respectively, 9 and 16 kHz, and bands of ultrasonic frequency components at 20, 25, and 37 kHz. We subjected Audio File 1 to low- and highpass-filtering, thereby producing a sonic-range only file (< 20 kHz; Audio File 2), and an ultrasonic-range only file (20–100 kHz; Audio File 3). In binary-choice large arena bioassays, we then tested the behavioral responses of single Brown Rats to paired trap boxes each fitted with a speaker, one of which emitting a white noise control and the other playing back Audio File 1 (Exp. 1), Audio File 2 (Exp. 2), or Audio File 3. In each of experiments 1–3, female and male rats (i) significantly more often entered first the trap box broadcasting an Audio File, and (ii) spent significantly more time in the arena quadrant with an Audio File trap box. Our data support the conclusion that foraging Brown Rats, as opportunistic omnivores, exploit begging calls of nestling Starlings, and possibly other birds, as cues to obtain a proteinaceous meal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from recent experimental observations of starlings and jackdaws, we propose a minimal agent-based mathematical model for bird flocks based on a system of second-order delayed stochastic differential equations with discontinuous (both in space and time) right-hand side. The model is specifically designed to reproduce self-organized spontaneous sudden changes of direction, not caused by external stimuli like predator’s attacks. The main novelty of the model is that every bird is a potential turn initiator, thus leadership is formed in a group of indistinguishable agents. We investigate some theoretical properties of the model and we show the numerical results. Biological insights are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language is uniquely human, but its acquisition may involve cognitive capacities shared with other species. During development, language experience alters speech sound (phoneme) categorization. Newborn infants distinguish the phonemes in all languages but by 10 months show adult-like greater sensitivity to native language phonemic contrasts than non-native contrasts. Distributional theories account for phonetic learning by positing that infants infer category boundaries from modal distributions of speech sounds along acoustic continua. For example, tokens of the sounds /b/ and /p/ cluster around different mean voice onset times. To disambiguate overlapping distributions, contextual theories propose that phonetic category learning is informed by higher-level patterns (e.g., words) in which phonemes normally occur. For example, the vowel sounds /Ι/ and /e/ can occupy similar perceptual spaces but can be distinguished in the context of "with" and "well." Both distributional and contextual cues appear to function in speech acquisition. Non-human species also benefit from distributional cues for category learning, but whether category learning benefits from contextual information in non-human animals is unknown. The use of higher-level patterns to guide lower-level category learning may reflect uniquely human capacities tied to language acquisition or more general learning abilities reflecting shared neurobiological mechanisms. Using songbirds, European starlings, we show that higher-level pattern learning covertly enhances categorization of the natural communication sounds. This observation mirrors the support for contextual theories of phonemic category learning in humans and demonstrates a general form of learning not unique to humans or language.

Birds exposed to food insecurity—defined as temporally variable access to food—respond adaptively by storing more energy. To do this, they may reduce energy allocation to other functions such as somatic maintenance and repair. To investigate this trade-off, we exposed juvenile European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris, n = 69) to 19 weeks of either uninterrupted food availability or a regime where food was unpredictably unavailable for a 5-h period on 5 days each week. Our measures of energy storage were mass and fat scores. Our measures of somatic maintenance were the growth rate of a plucked feather, and erythrocyte telomere length (TL), measured by analysis of the terminal restriction fragment. The insecure birds were heavier than the controls, by an amount that varied over time. They also had higher fat scores. We found no evidence that they consumed more food overall, though our food consumption data were incomplete. Plucked feathers regrew more slowly in the insecure birds. TL was reduced in the insecure birds, specifically, in the longer percentiles of the within-individual TL distribution. We conclude that increased energy storage in response to food insecurity is achieved at the expense of investment in somatic maintenance and repair.