NEWS

Blog post in Oikos blog about the phylosophy behind the Oikos paper "Colony size and foraging range in seabirds" Selected by R Jovani
Study Projects How Climate Change Will Affect the Functions Birds in Ecosystems Worldwide SciTech Daily (Global Change Biology paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Swift Incredible Journey Selected by R Jovani
Flowers make the menu for nearly all Galapagos birds Science News (Nature Communications paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Habitat degradation and climate shifts impact survival of the white-collared manakin EurekAlert! (Oecologia paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Birds flying in a V take turns in the top spot, study finds Los Angeles Times-Science (PNAS paper) Selected by JL Alcantara Play the caterpillar defense National geographic (American Naturalist paper) Selected by J Broggi
Darwin 2.0: Scientists shed new light on how species diverge Phys.org (Nature paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Agriculture Is Reshaping the Avian Tree of Life American Scientist (Science paper) Selected by JL Alcantara Fatal Attraction of Short-Tailed Shearwaters to Artificial Lights Science daily ( PloS One paper) Selected by J Broggi
Winter bird feeders: Get ready for a busy season Science/AAAS (Global Change Biology paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Dinosaur family tree gives fresh insight into rapid rise of birds Phys.org (Current Biology paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Migrating birds sprint in spring, but take things easy in autumn ScienceDaily (Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology paper) Selected by Jose L. Alcantara
Hummingbirds evolved a strange taste for sugar ScienceNews (Science paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Group foraging in little penguins ScienceDaily ( PLoS ONE paper) Selected by R Jovani
Mixed Genes Mix Up the Migrations of Hybrid Birds ScienceNewsline (Ecology Letters paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Dinosaurs 'shrank' regularly to become birds BBC (Science paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Parrot Who Was Among Last of Its Kind, Said to Have Inspired ‘Rio,’ Dies National Geographic Society Selected by JL Alcantara
Researchers declassify dinosaurs as being the great-great-grandparents of birds Phys.org (Journal of Ornithology paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Pristine fossil confirms Archaeopteryx as original bird United Press International (Nature paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
All gone: How erasing billions of birds shocked us Yahoo! News (PNAS paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Plants hitch a lift on migrating birds BBC Nature (PeerJ paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Mapping the evolution of a ring species Univ. British Columbbia (Nature paper) Selected by R Jovani
Closest Living Relative of Ancient Elephant Bird Is Tiny LiveScience (Science paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Identifying evolutionary distinct birds WIRED (Current Biology paper) Selected by R Jovani
Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology since Darwin Myriad Birds Selected by JL Alcantara
The 100 most distinct and rare birds BBC Nature (Current Biology paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Hummingbird Evolution Soared After They Invaded South America 22 Million Years Ago ScienceNewsline (Current Biology paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Bird’s Extinction Is Tied to the Arrival of Humans The New York Times (PNAS paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
A bird-like dinosaur called “Chicken from Hell” NPR news (PLOS One paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Wintering irruptions of Snowy owls in North America and Europe (in Spanish) SEO/BirdLife blog Selected by R Jovani
Punk Amazon pheasant is a European emigrant NewScientists (Naturwissenschaften paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Flights of Fancy in Avian Evolution American Scientist Selected by JL Alcantara Why do birds fly in a V? Endangered ibis reveals its amazing secret (VIDEO) Los Angeles Times (Nature letter) Selected by J Broggi
Sharp-toothed tigerfish jumps to eat a bird (VIDEO) (J Fish Biol paper) Nature News Selected by J Broggi
On the evolution of bird fingers. PHYS.ORG (J Exp Zool paper) Selected by R Jovani
Albatross colony shows benefits of same-sex pairing ABC Science (J Proceedings of the Royal Society B paper) Selected by JL Alcantara Swifts stay airborne for six months at a time New scientist(Nature communications paper) Selected by J Broggi
100 years ago bird lovers were encouraged to use the field glasses rather than the gun The Guardian Selected by R Jovani
Trees send distress signals that birds use to find insects Sinc(Ecol Lett paper) Selected by R Jovani
I’m singing in the rainforest Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (journal of interdisciplinary music studies paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Fossil Poo Reveals Where Ancient Giant Bird Ate Discovery News (PNAS paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Colonizing songbirds lost sense of syntax e! Science News (Current Biology paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Songbirds may have 'borrowed' DNA to fuel migration Phys.org (Evolution paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Collision Course ScienceNews (ScienceNews paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Social learning of migratory performance PhysOrg (Science paper) Selected by R Jovani
Evolution of parasitic egg colouration: parasites also select. Not Exactly Rocket Science blog(Biol Lett paper) Selected by R Jovani
European birds adjust their flight initiation distance to road speed limits BBC News(Biol Lett paper) Selected by R Jovani
The secret of male beauty (in turkeys) UCL News (PLOS Genetics paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Bird hunters 'emptying Afghan skies' BBC News Asia Selected by JL Alcantara
Secrets of the world’s toughest little bird Griffith U. News (Nature Communications paper) Selected by JL Alcantara Outdoor Cats: Single Greatest Source of Human-Caused Mortality for Birds and Mammals American Bird Conservancy (Nature communications paper) Selected by J Broggi
Hiding in plain sight: New species of bird discovered in capital city e! Science News (Forktail paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Foraging space partitioning without territoriality in a seabird ScienceDaily (Science paper) Selected by R Jovani
Bird extinction leads to rapid evolution of seed size The Red Notebook (Science paper) Selected by R Jovani
Bird song changes in translocated birds ScienceDaily (J Appl Ecol paper) Selected by R Jovani
Why penguins lost their wings ABC Science (PNAS paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Simulated patternity uncertainty: Males care about intruders but feed nestlings regardless of patternity uncertainty ScienceDaily (PLoS ONE paper) Selected by R Jovani
Seabird Bones Reveal Changes in Open-Ocean Food Chain Science Daily(PNAS paper) Selected by F Mateos-Gonzalez
New fossil brings new light on the evolution of hummingbirds and swifts Science NOW(Proc R Soc B paper) Selected by R Jovani
Testosterone vs. audience on the regulation of bird fights and social status ScienceDaily (Hormones and Behavior paper) Selected by R Jovani
Lead bullet fragments poison rare US condors BBC News Selected by JL Alcantara
Avoiding cuckoo parasitism by breeding indoors Live Science(Beh Ecol Sociobiol paper) Selected by R Jovani
Why I study duck genitalia... or... why basic science matters Slate Selected by R Jovani
A study about play in cranes BBC Nature(Ibis paper) Selected by R Jovani
Pretty great tits make better mothers Discover (Frontiers in Zoology paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Humans wiped out Pacific island birds ABC Science (PNAS paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
The Rise and Fall of Four-Winged Birds Not Exactly Rocket Science (Science paper) Selected by R Jovani
Sex role reversal: Female shorebirds rule the roost BBC News (Nature Communications paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Birds communicate their size through song ScienceDaily(PLoS ONE paper) Selected by R Jovani
How Birds of Different Feathers Flock Together ScienceDaily (Animal Behaviour paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
The Owl Comes Into Its Own The New York Times-Science Selected by JL Alcantara
On the evolution of UV vision in birds ScienceDaily(BMC Evol Biol paper) Selected by R Jovani
A great tit predating upon a common redpoll (video; Finnish) Ilta Sanomat Selected by R Jovani
Killing Barred Owls To Save the Spotted Owl CNN Selected by JL Alcantara
New dinosaur fossil challenges bird evolution theory e! Science News (Nature paper) Selected by JL Alcantara
Fractal geometry of a plumage pattern changes with physical condition in partridges ScienceNow(Proc R Soc B paper) Selected by I Galván
As Andean condors decline, tradition draws critics Reuters Selected by JL Alcantara





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Friday 12 December 2008

Competidors útils

Botxins (Lanius excubitor) i escorxadors (Lanius senator) són rapinyaires en miniatura. A Polònia, els botxins són residents i els escorxadors arriben cada primavera des d’Àfrica i han de decidir en poc temps on criar. No tots els llocs són iguals, i criar en un mal lloc pot ser nefast.

Els botxins són més grans però mengen coses semblants als escorxadors; és a dir: són competidors. Per tant, instal•lar-se a prop d’un botxí pot semblar una mala idea, però Hromada i col•laboradors han vist que els escorxadors prefereixen territoris a prop dels botxins. Per què? Hi ha dues possibilitats: (1) els escorxadors busquen la presència dels botxins, per exemple, per defensar-se de depredadors; o (2) la presència dels botxins és un indicador de la qualitat de l’hàbitat. El mètode que van utilitzar aquests investigadors per discernir entre aquestes possibilitats va ser força enginyós.

Abans, però, cal dir que els botxins creen rebosts com els de la fotografia, empalant les seves preses en arbustos espinosos y filats. Un ratolí enfilat a un arbust és quelcom vistós (una potencial senyal), y se sap que mascles amb rebosts més grans atreuen a més femelles. Però també podria ser que altres espècies utilitzin aquesta informació. Hromada i col•laboradors van crear artificialment rebosts en territoris no ocupats per botxins empalant preses en arbustos.

Van veure que creant rebosts artificials atreien a escorxadors a nidificar allà on havien posat els rebosts. A més, van veure que els escorxadors preferien territoris a prop de botxins. Per tant, conclouen que els escorxadors no estan buscant, per se, la presència dels botxins sinó que busquen els territoris dels botxins perquè saben que si hi ha un botxí és que hi ha un bon territori amb aliment. Sembla una mica enrevessat, però, a vegades, en les sotileses està la bellesa de la natura.

>Hromada M, Antczak M, Valone TJ, Tryjanowski P (2008) Settling Decisions and Heterospecific Social Information Use in Shrikes. PLoS ONE 3(12): e3930. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003930 ARTICLE DE LLIURE ACCÉS!!!
Photo by Marek Szczepanek (Wikipedia; GNU Free Documentation License) and Sergey Yeliseev (Flickr; Creative Commons)



------------------------------- ESPAÑOL ---------------------------------------


Competidores útiles


Los alcaudones reales (Lanius excubitor) i los alcaudones comunes (Lanius senator) son rapaces en miniatura. En Polonia, los alcaudones reales son residentes y los alcaudones comunes llegan cada primavera desde África y tienen que decidir en poco tiempo dónde criar. No todos los sitios son iguales, y criar en un mal lugar puede ser nefasto.

Los alcaudones reales son más grandes pero comen cosas parecidas a los alcaudones comunes; es decir: son competidores. Por lo tanto, instalarse cerca de un alcaudón real puede parecer una mala idea, pero Hromada y colaboradores han visto que los alcaudones comunes prefieren territorios cerca de los alcaudones reales. ¿Por qué? Hay dos posibilidades: (1) los alcaudones comunes buscan la presencia de losalcaudones reales, por ejemplo, para defenderse de depredadores; o (2) la presencia de los alcaudones reales es un indicador de la calidad del hábitat. El método que utilizaron estos investigadores para discernir entre estas posibilidades fue bastante ingenioso.
Antes, sin embargo, hay que decir que los alcaudones reales crean despensas como los de la fotografía, empalando sus presas en arbustos espinosos. Un ratón enhebrado en un arbusto es algo vistoso (una potencial señal), y se sabe que machos con despensas mayores atraen en más hembras. Pero también podría ser que otras especias utilicen esta información.
Hromada y colaboradores crearon artificialmente despensas en territorios no ocupados por alcaudones reales, empalando presas en arbustos.Vieron que, creando despensas artificiales, atraían a los alcaudones comunes a nidificar allí donde habían puesto las despensas. Además, vieron que los alcaudones comunes preferían territorios cerca de alcaudones reales. Por lo tanto, concluyen que los mataderos no están buscando, per se, la presencia de los alcaudones reales, sino que buscan los territorios de los alcaudones reales porque saben que si hay un alcaudón real es que hay un buen territorio con alimento. Parece un poco enrevesado, pero, a veces, en las sutilezas está la belleza de la naturaleza.
ARTICULO DE LIBE ACCESO!!! Foto de Marek Szczepanek (Wikipedia; GNU Free Documentation License) y Sergey Yeliseev (Flickr; Creative Commons)

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