{"title":"British Ornithologists' Union – Early Professional Award 2025","authors":"Jonathan A. Green, Ros M. W. Green","doi":"10.1111/ibi.13433","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13433","url":null,"abstract":"<p>British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) members and <i>IBIS</i> readers could be forgiven for being surprised to find that Dr Oliver (Ollie) Padget was even eligible to receive this year's BOU Early Professional Award, such has been his presence and contribution to the ornithology community. However, his multiple successes in research, community activities, mentorships and engagement have all been achieved in just a few short years. Ollie is undoubtedly a future star of UK ornithology, and this award is very well deserved.</p><p>Ollie was a birdwatcher from a very young age while growing up in Merseyside. His passion for natural history and the natural sciences led him to study zoology as an undergraduate in Nottingham, where he won both the School prize and University prize. He also started bird-ringing during this time. He graduated in 2013 before going straight on to his PhD in Oxford within the OxNav group. He continued at Oxford as a lecturer and junior research fellow, before returning to Merseyside at the University of Liverpool in 2023. This was made possible by not only landing a permanent role on the academic staff, but simultaneously through the award of a prestigious Royal Society University Research Fellowship.</p><p>It was during his time at Oxford that Ollie developed the fascination for avian cognition and navigation that underpins his portfolio of past and ongoing research. His PhD work focused on navigation in procellariform seabirds, specifically Manx Shearwaters. Here he tested longstanding ideas about avian navigation that had previously only been tested in pigeons. He demonstrated that, like pigeons, shearwaters use a sun compass and olfaction as key mechanisms when travelling vast distances over the open ocean to and from their breeding sites. His work also suggested for the first time that shearwaters maintain a map-like understanding of their location and distance from home in their navigation and decision-making.</p><p>More recently, Ollie has been working on and developing applied science projects with shearwaters. This includes ongoing work on the Balearic Shearwater, Europe's most endangered seabird, and on the potential impacts of offshore wind farms on Manx Shearwaters. He has also continued various projects and collaborations on behaviour and navigation in Manx Shearwaters. New work on the heathlands of southern England focuses on habitat use, foraging and cognition in European Nightjars, this time in the context of land-use change and development.</p><p>While pursuing his research in the field, Ollie also developed his skills and abilities as a mentor and teacher. He has co-supervised and supervised several PhD students who have gone on to research and academic roles. His infectious enthusiasm and endless patience for sharing his knowledge have already inspired a generation of new researchers, who all owe their knowledge and career development, in part, to the early support Ollie gave them on the UK's heaths and se","PeriodicalId":13254,"journal":{"name":"Ibis","volume":"167 4","pages":"1123-1124"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ibi.13433","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145101757","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alessandro Berlusconi, Giulia Castiglione, Lucas A. Wauters, Alessio Martinoli, Erminio Clerici, Andrea Mologni, Michelangelo Morganti, Adriano Martinoli, Andrea Romano, Diego Rubolini
{"title":"Habitat partitioning and spatial segregation at multiple scales promotes year-round coexistence in a guild of forest songbirds","authors":"Alessandro Berlusconi, Giulia Castiglione, Lucas A. Wauters, Alessio Martinoli, Erminio Clerici, Andrea Mologni, Michelangelo Morganti, Adriano Martinoli, Andrea Romano, Diego Rubolini","doi":"10.1111/ibi.13423","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13423","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Species of the same guild often show ecological, biological or genetic similarities, yet they should also show different micro-habitat requirements or local spatial distributions to coexist in the same area. These patterns may be fundamental in reducing interspecific competition and maintaining biodiversity across ecological and evolutionary timescales. We examined habitat differences and spatial segregation in a guild of five sympatric woodland songbirds (family Paridae) inhabiting mixed forests of south-central Europe. Specifically, we performed interspecific comparisons of habitat and space use across two phenological periods (breeding and non-breeding) and two spatial scales (home-range and foraging habitat). At the home-range scale, habitat preferences revealed two distinct and seasonally consistent subgroups within the guild, namely ‘broadleaf’ and ‘conifer’ species. During breeding, we showed that all species largely overlapped in their use of different foraging micro-habitats within the tree canopy, even within each subgroup. Yet, we detected significant spatial segregation of breeding territories among species. Conversely, during the non-breeding period, individuals of different species within mixed flocks foraged on different and complementary sectors of the canopy, potentially partitioning foraging habitats. This study suggests that the coexistence of species within the south-central European tit guild across different phenological periods is facilitated by differentiation of habitat use at the home-range and foraging habitat scales, as well as by spatial segregation of breeding territories. These findings highlight how long-term coexistence among sympatrically and ecologically similar species can be shaped by temporal shifts in space and habitat use, which differ across the annual cycle.</p>","PeriodicalId":13254,"journal":{"name":"Ibis","volume":"167 4","pages":"912-926"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ibi.13423","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145102316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mark C. Drever, Luis M. Bautista-Sopelana, Juan C. Alonso, Juan G. Navedo, Markus Hrachowitz
{"title":"Modelling migration dynamics of Common Cranes and Eurasian Spoonbills as hydrological flow","authors":"Mark C. Drever, Luis M. Bautista-Sopelana, Juan C. Alonso, Juan G. Navedo, Markus Hrachowitz","doi":"10.1111/ibi.13424","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13424","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The migration of birds through a stopover site may be understood as a physical process of hydrological flow through a reservoir whose water levels rise and fall over a migration period. Hydrological flow models show promise as a way of integrating information on storage (daily counts of birds), inflow/outflow (number of birds arriving/departing each day) and transit time (length of stay (LOS)) over a migration period. We used a hydrological flow model to evaluate the relationship between stopover duration and passage population sizes of migrant birds under variable wetland conditions in two case studies. First, we considered the northward migration of Common Cranes <i>Grus grus</i> at Gallocanta Nature Reserve in Spain. We calibrated the model with daily counts recorded in 1984 and 1985, and then used it to predict transit time distributions based on counts of cranes 30 years later (2015–17). The model was calibrated with a mean transit time of 6.5 days observed in 1984/85, consistent with observed values of LOS, and predicted a mean transit time of 5.2 days for the 2015–17 period. The model also predicted an ~6.2× increase of the total migratory passage population of cranes at Gallocanta, which qualitatively agreed with the large increase in the overall population from the 1980s to 2010s. Second, migration dynamics of Eurasian Spoonbills <i>Platalea leucorodia</i> were considered during southward migration at two intertidal coastal wetlands in northern Spain from 2002 to 2005. The model well captured the observed differences in transit time between Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve (median transit time of 1.1 days) and Santoña Marshes Natural Park (median transit time of 2.1 days). Transit times of both species were negatively correlated with estimates of annual population sizes. These results indicate that hydrological flow models can provide insights into the migration ecology of waterbirds (or species where regular counts during migration are available), and that LOS is a dynamic decision that can depend on the population sizes of migratory birds.</p>","PeriodicalId":13254,"journal":{"name":"Ibis","volume":"167 4","pages":"962-978"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ibi.13424","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145102315","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Robert J. Marquis, Christopher J. Whelan, Megan B. Garfinkel
{"title":"Avian top-down effects on insects and their host plants under human-driven global change","authors":"Robert J. Marquis, Christopher J. Whelan, Megan B. Garfinkel","doi":"10.1111/ibi.13419","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13419","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Insectivorous bird populations are declining globally, as are the insects upon which they depend. Furthermore, many of the plants on which those herbivorous insects depend are being displaced by the spread of agriculture and invasion by exotic species. We discuss the consequences of these declines for changes in trophic control of herbivorous insects by insectivorous birds, and the indirect effects on host plants. We first briefly review the evidence for and causes of bird and insect decline, and the current evidence for trophic control by insectivorous birds. We then hypothesize how trophic control may change under three scenarios: reduced bird populations alone, invasion by exotic insect species and conversion of native habitat to agriculture. We hypothesize that trophic control will decrease under all three scenarios, resulting in higher abundance of herbivorous insects and more frequent outbreaks, higher chronic levels of herbivory and reduced primary productivity. Because birds often specialize to some degree on certain insect species and forage preferentially in certain plant species, reduced trophic control may in turn reduce plant diversity in more native vegetation. Similarly, reduced trophic control in agriculture will require greater reliance on pesticides and, with it, the negative consequences of increased pesticide use.</p>","PeriodicalId":13254,"journal":{"name":"Ibis","volume":"167 4","pages":"1089-1112"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ibi.13419","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145101417","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Olivia Smith, Tori D. Bakley, Reed Bowman, John W. Fitzpatrick, Sahas Barve
{"title":"Reproductive success of Florida Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) pairs without helpers correlates with habitat variables and female breeding experience","authors":"Olivia Smith, Tori D. Bakley, Reed Bowman, John W. Fitzpatrick, Sahas Barve","doi":"10.1111/ibi.13422","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13422","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Extensive research has focused on effects of non-breeding helpers on the reproductive success of cooperatively breeding birds, yet in the cooperatively breeding Florida Scrub Jay <i>Aphelocoma coerulescens</i> about half of breeding pairs do not have helpers in any given year. We tested for effects of breeder experience and environmental variables (acorn abundance, fire history and territory size) on reproductive output of breeding pairs that lacked helpers. In generalized linear mixed models, explanatory variables that best explained variation in reproductive output included female breeder experience, time since fire, territory size and acorn crop. Our results emphasize that active habitat management through prescribed fire enhances the reproductive success of this declining bird across a diversity of social group compositions.</p>","PeriodicalId":13254,"journal":{"name":"Ibis","volume":"167 4","pages":"1073-1079"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145101263","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Robert E. Wilson, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Alyn J. Walsh, Anthony D. Fox
{"title":"Adoption of non-related goslings and intergenerational family cohesion among Greenland White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons flavirostris)","authors":"Robert E. Wilson, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Alyn J. Walsh, Anthony D. Fox","doi":"10.1111/ibi.13427","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13427","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Greenland White-fronted Geese <i>Anser albifrons flavirostris</i> exhibit prolonged parent–offspring and sibling–sibling associations, suggesting fitness advantages to such behaviour, so we used reduced representation genome sequence data to determine the degree to which marked flock members observed associating in apparent parent–offspring and sibling–sibling relationships in the field were genetically related. Among 50 bled, marked and released geese, we genetically identified members of 11 different family groups, confirming all observed male parent–offspring relationships as genetically predicted, but only 10 out of 12 (83%) possible female parent–offspring relationships (i.e. two offspring were not genetically related to the adult female in their family groups observed in the field); these two ‘adopted’ offspring were responsible for four (15%) of the cases where observed ‘siblings’ were not genetically related to other family-member first-winter birds with which they associated. One multigenerational family consisted of three genetically confirmed grandmother–mother–sibling offspring relationships, not previously reported in arctic-nesting geese, as well as one of the two ‘adopted’ first-winter geese.</p>","PeriodicalId":13254,"journal":{"name":"Ibis","volume":"167 4","pages":"1080-1088"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ibi.13427","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145101264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Grace Blackburn, Mylene Dutour, Benjamin J. Ashton, Alex Thornton, Amanda R. Ridley
{"title":"Western Australian Magpies alter the rate, but not the amplitude, of their territorial song in anthropogenic noise","authors":"Grace Blackburn, Mylene Dutour, Benjamin J. Ashton, Alex Thornton, Amanda R. Ridley","doi":"10.1111/ibi.13421","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13421","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Anthropogenic noise is considered one of the most serious forms of pollution globally and has been shown to have negative effects on the distribution, behaviour, cognition and reproductive success of animal species worldwide. Among the most commonly reported impacts of anthropogenic noise are its effects on acoustic communication. Animals may adjust the rate, amplitude, duration and/or frequency of their acoustic signals to better maintain communication when anthropogenic noise is present. One of the most commonly reported vocal adjustments in noisy conditions, an increase in amplitude known as the Lombard effect, has been reported in almost all animal species tested to date. In this study, we combine behavioural focals and amplitude measurements to investigate whether female Western Australian Magpies <i>Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis</i> alter the rate and amplitude of their territorial song (known as a carol) when unmanipulated levels of anthropogenic noise are present. Magpies reduced the rate at which they carolled when loud anthropogenic noise (>50 dB) was present but, contrary to our prediction, we found no evidence that magpies adjusted the amplitude of their carols under these conditions. Reduced carolling rates during anthropogenic noise may minimize the energetic expense associated with vocalizing when it is likely that such vocalizations will be masked by anthropogenic noise. However, a reduction in carolling rate may negatively affect the sociality and territoriality of magpies, as carols are important for these aspects of life. Our study adds to the growing body of literature documenting changes to the vocal behaviour of wildlife in the presence of anthropogenic noise.</p>","PeriodicalId":13254,"journal":{"name":"Ibis","volume":"167 4","pages":"1043-1052"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ibi.13421","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145100928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Geneviève M. Gauthier, Emily M. Burt, Rodger D. Titman, Natalie J. Thimot, Kyle W. Wellband, Kyle H. Elliott, Shawn R. Craik
{"title":"Nest clustering correlates with breeding phenology rather than female relatedness in Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator)","authors":"Geneviève M. Gauthier, Emily M. Burt, Rodger D. Titman, Natalie J. Thimot, Kyle W. Wellband, Kyle H. Elliott, Shawn R. Craik","doi":"10.1111/ibi.13420","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13420","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Fine-scale spatial and temporal genetic structuring of nests is possible in colonial birds that return to breed at their natal sites, and notably in waterfowl for which females are more philopatric than males. We genotyped female Red-breasted Mergansers <i>Mergus serrator</i> breeding colonially on a coastal archipelago in eastern New Brunswick, Canada, during 2015 and calculated pairwise kinship coefficients using 4270 single nucleotide polymorphisms to assess whether related hens nest near each other and initiate their nests around the same time. We found no spatial or temporal genetic structure across islands; however, nesting was relatively synchronous between hens nesting close together. Red-breasted Mergansers initiating their nests at the same time may select nearby nest-sites based on the availability of dense vegetation that conceals nests, limiting opportunities for kin to nest near one another in this population.</p>","PeriodicalId":13254,"journal":{"name":"Ibis","volume":"167 4","pages":"1065-1072"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ibi.13420","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145100974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Susana Requena, Hervé Lormée, Alison E. Beresford, Graeme M. Buchanan, Cyril Eraud, Christopher J. Orsman, Marcel Rivière, Juliet A. Vickery, John W. Mallord
{"title":"Riparian forests and open landscapes in the West African Sahel are key wintering habitats for the threatened European Turtle-dove (Streptopelia turtur)","authors":"Susana Requena, Hervé Lormée, Alison E. Beresford, Graeme M. Buchanan, Cyril Eraud, Christopher J. Orsman, Marcel Rivière, Juliet A. Vickery, John W. Mallord","doi":"10.1111/ibi.13416","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13416","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The European Turtle-dove <i>Streptopelia turtur</i> is globally threatened, with populations experiencing substantial declines in recent years. On the breeding grounds, the habitat associations and main causes of decline have been identified, but little is known about the species across its Sahelian non-breeding (wintering) areas. To identify environmental correlates of its wintering distribution, a priority action in the International Species Action Plan, we fitted 42 birds with satellite devices on the breeding grounds in France and the UK between 2012 and 2016. We related the best accuracy class locations of those 14 birds reaching the wintering grounds to environmental data derived from satellite remote sensing at a landscape scale and core areas scale. The tagged birds spent the winters in Senegal, The Gambia, Mali and Mauritania. Eleven showed a distinct southward shift in home-range between early and late winter, moving from areas with low rainfall the preceding summer (< 600 mm) to areas with higher summer rainfall and which had a broader range of normalized difference vegetation index values. In both time periods and at both landscape and core areas scales, birds were consistently associated with proximity to water sources in a mixed landscape of open forests, shrubs, natural grasslands and croplands: a typical mix of habitats in the Sahelian and Sudanian-Sahelian seasonally flooded basins with riparian forests of <i>Acacia nilotica</i>. These persistent habitat associations throughout the winter are likely to reflect individuals tracking resources required for food, water, and places to roost and shelter. Increasing human-related pressure on this landscape may well be reducing the extent of available habitat and could be a contributory factor in the decline of this species. Conservation and regeneration of riparian forests and floodplains could offer significant benefits to biodiversity and potentially contribute to the livelihoods and well-being of local communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":13254,"journal":{"name":"Ibis","volume":"167 4","pages":"895-911"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145101040","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}