Avian Research最新文献

{"title":"Are urbanization, biotic and social factors associated with the song frequency and song entropy attributes of three urban syntopic passerines?","authors":"Xhareni Díaz-Lezama ,&nbsp;Alejandro Ariel Ríos-Chelén ,&nbsp;Jorge Castellanos-Albores ,&nbsp;Paula L. Enríquez","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100219","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100219","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban environments have challenging characteristics for bird acoustic communication. High levels of anthropogenic noise, as well as vegetation structure (e.g., in urban parks), can potentially affect the song frequency characteristics of several bird species. An additional factor such as the abundance of conspecific and heterospecific vocalizing birds may play an important role in determining the structure of bird songs. In this study, we analyzed whether noise levels, vegetation percentage, and abundance of conspecifics and heterospecifics influence the song characteristics of three syntopic songbird species: House Finch (<em>Haemorhous mexicanus</em>), Rufous-collared Sparrow (<em>Zonotrichia capensis</em>), and House Sparrow (<em>Passer domesticus</em>) living in urban sites. We recorded songs of these species and measured the peak frequency and entropy of their songs at 14 sites in the city of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. We found that the song peak frequency of House Finch and House Sparrow's songs was negatively related to the vegetation. The peak frequency of neither of the three species correlated with the average noise level. However, the abundances of conspecific and heterospecific were related to the peak frequency of the three species' songs. The entropy of the House Finch and House Sparrow songs was positively and negatively related, respectively, to noise levels. House Sparrow song entropy was negatively related to the percentage of vegetation. Song entropy of House Finches was negatively associated to conspecific and House Sparrow abundance. Song entropy of Rufous-collared Sparrows was positively related to conspecific abundance. In conclusion, the song peak frequency and song entropy of the three songbird species were differentially related to urban noise, vegetation, and conspecific and heterospecific abundance, suggesting these factors influence bird song characteristics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":"16 1","pages":"Article 100219"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143098991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Inability of recognizing offspring underlies parental errors in the selection of offspring","authors":"Lifang Gao ,&nbsp;Wen Zhang ,&nbsp;Wenjing Zhu ,&nbsp;Yichen Wu ,&nbsp;Ran Xu ,&nbsp;Ningning Sun ,&nbsp;Yujie Wang ,&nbsp;Biyun Jia ,&nbsp;Bo Du","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100218","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100218","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Inclusive fitness theory posits that altruistic behaviors, which are directed more likely towards relatives, should be favored by natural selection. However, the prevalence of alternative parenting behaviors in offspring selection, including rejecting their own offspring and accepting the offspring of others, remains poorly understood within the context of parental care evolution. In order to investigate the factors that prompt the occurrence of alternative parenting behaviors, we designed a series of experiments in the Azure-winged Magpie (<em>Cyanopica cyanus</em>). By manipulating the nest spatial position or offspring age/number and parent-offspring familiarity, we addressed how parents provided parental care for the manipulated offspring. In the nest resettlement experiment, the probability of parents rejecting their own offspring significantly increased with nest-moving distances while decreased with offspring ages. In the cross-fostering experiments, the probability of parents provisioning unrelated young significantly decreased with the age difference between cross-fostered chicks. In the nest duplication experiments, where parents were given a choice between familiar offspring and unfamiliar unrelated chicks or between unfamiliar offspring and familiar unrelated chicks, the probability of both alternative parenting behaviors was significantly influenced by the time when parental association with their offspring was deprived. We conclude that as offspring phenotypic traits become individualized and fixed at a special developmental stage, parents gradually acquire the capacity for offspring recognition by associating with them. Any factors that disrupt parent–offspring association or introduce unrelated young into the nest prior to this critical timeline can result in the occurrence of alternative parenting behaviors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":"16 1","pages":"Article 100218"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143099474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nestlings of two parrotbill species can independently evaluate the presence of predators based on acoustic cues","authors":"Jiaojiao Wang ,&nbsp;Peng Pan ,&nbsp;Haijie Zhang ,&nbsp;Laikun Ma ,&nbsp;Qindong Zhou ,&nbsp;Longwu Wang ,&nbsp;Jianhua Hou","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100217","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100217","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nest predation is the leading cause of reproductive failure in birds and a major driving force in the evolution of anti-predation strategies. Current studies on the anti-predation strategies of birds driven by predation pressure have mainly focused on adults. However, the detection and behavioral responses of nestlings toward predation risk require further investigation. In this study, we examined nestling responses to predator sounds. Two species of nestlings, the Reed Parrotbill (<em>Paradoxornis heudei</em>) and Vinous-throated Parrotbill (<em>Sinosuthora webbiana</em>), were exposed to the Sparrowhawk (<em>Accipiter nisus</em>, less common) and Oriental Magpie (<em>Pica serica</em>, more common), which are predator species, the Oriental Turtle Dove (<em>Streptopelia orientalis</em>), which is a commonly found harmless species, and background noise. Our findings revealed that compared to pre-playback of natural begging and playback of background noise and Oriental Turtle Dove sounds, playback of the two predator types decreased the total begging time and total number of calls of the two nestlings species, with the calls of the Sparrowhawk leading to greater suppression of nestling begging behavior than those of the Oriental Magpie. Therefore, our results indicated that these nestlings were able to distinguish predators from harmless species based on auditory cues.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":"16 1","pages":"Article 100217"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143099473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"No evidence of predator odor avoidance in a North American bird community","authors":"Austin Dotta,&nbsp;Batur Yaman,&nbsp;Alex Van Huynh","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100155","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100155","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Recent advances in our understanding of avian chemical communication have highlighted the importance of olfaction in many aspects of avian life. Prior studies investigating predator avoidance behaviors in response to predator odor cues have produced mixed results across species and contexts. Here we assess if a community of birds in eastern Pennsylvania displays avoidance behaviors towards predator odor cues in a natural foraging setting. We use clay caterpillars to measure foraging activity by birds in the presence of predator (bobcat) urine, non-predator (rabbit) urine, and water controls in two different environmental contexts (field vs. forest). Although we detected a weak trend for birds to forage less at predator urine-treated sites, we found no significant difference in avian foraging between the site types. We did find that foraging rates between environmental contexts changed significantly over the course of the experiment, with forest sites showing decreasing foraging rates and field sites showing increasing foraging rates. Our results reinforce the published literature that avoidance of predator odors by birds may not be ubiquitous across contexts and species.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":"15 ","pages":"Article 100155"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716623000816/pdfft?md5=c2b46d03288600cadeb669ee9ee4b7fb&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716623000816-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139064053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Habitat preferences and nest site selection by sympatric populations of Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) and Syrian Woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus) in natural mountain forests of Southwest Iran","authors":"Arya Shafaeipour ,&nbsp;Jerzy Michalczuk ,&nbsp;Behzad Fathinia","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100167","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100167","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We examined habitat preferences and nesting requirements of sympatric populations of Middle Spotted Woodpecker (<em>Dendrocoptes medius</em>) and Syrian Woodpecker (<em>Dendrocopos syriacus</em>). We carried out our study in 2015–2018 in natural mountain forests of Southwest Iran. We compared selected features of nesting, territory, and outside territory tree stands of the studied woodpeckers. The Middle Spotted Woodpecker occupied only oak forests, but the Syrian Woodpecker inhabited heterogenic forests that included the preferred tree of this species, the Mount Atlas Mastic. We recorded that in the breeding territories of the Middle Spotted Woodpecker, a greater area covered by tree crowns, as well as a larger number of trees, and a larger trunk basal area were observed in comparison to the territories occupied by the more plastic Syrian Woodpecker. Different habitat preferences demonstrated by both species could be a result of the selection of tree stands that provide the necessary food resources for each woodpecker species. Adaptation of Syrian Woodpecker to use heterogenic forest stands including tree species that produce fruits and as Mount Atlas Mastic trees, which likely allowed this species to colonise in Asia and Europe non-forest tree stands as orchards or gardens. Our results showed that poor tree condition and large tree trunk dimensions had a positive impact on the selection of nesting sites by both species. The presence of trees with large trunk dimensions was associated with multiple years of use of woodpecker breeding sites in the studied forests. Maintaining habitats in suitable condition for both studied woodpeckers can be achieved by preserving natural forests in the mountain regions of Iran.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":"15 ","pages":"Article 100167"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716624000100/pdfft?md5=46fe83dc592f3b4c6143aac835e9d073&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716624000100-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140004741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Do brood parasitic Common Cuckoos develop brood patches during the breeding season?","authors":"Jun-Seo Go ,&nbsp;Hae-Ni Kim ,&nbsp;Sue-Jeong Jin ,&nbsp;Myeong-Chan Cha ,&nbsp;Heesoo Lee ,&nbsp;Jin-Won Lee","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100197","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100197","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Many birds develop brood patches on their ventral apterium under hormonal regulation to effectively transmit body heat to eggs during incubation. The developed patch has several characteristics, including de-feathering, vascularization, and edema. However, little is known about whether avian brood parasites that do not incubate their eggs exhibit brood patch development during the breeding season. In this study, we measured the size of the ventral apterium in 114 Common Cuckoos (<em>Cuculus canorus</em>) captured in the field throughout the breeding season and examined the appearance of the ventral apterium to confirm the development of brood patches. We also examined whether morphological traits and various factors correlated with the size of the ventral apterium (sternal apterium and abdominal apterium) and how it changed during the breeding season. We found no clear signs of brood patch development in Common Cuckoos captured throughout the breeding season, indicating that they likely did not develop brood patches on the ventral apterium during this period. We also found that ventral apterium size was positively correlated with wing length and body weight. In addition, Common Cuckoos with newly growing feathers on the boundary of the ventral apterium with pteryla were frequently observed as seasons progressed to the end. In conclusion, Common Cuckoos exhibit neither brood patch development nor the vestigial characteristics of ancestral brood patches, except for the growth of feathers on boundary the ventral apterium. Further studies examining brood patches across different groups of avian brood parasites are valuable for enhancing our understanding of the developmental and physiological adaptations of avian brood parasites.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":"15 ","pages":"Article 100197"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716624000409/pdfft?md5=382536d58068010d17ea699479a6ae6c&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716624000409-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141851920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Weak influence of natural vegetation in urban green spaces compared to agricultural ecosystems on House Martin populations: Insights from nationwide citizen science data in the Czech Republic","authors":"Denisa Dvořáková,&nbsp;Jan Šipoš,&nbsp;Josef Suchomel","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100186","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100186","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The House Martin (<em>Delichon urbicum</em>) is a common farmland bird species in the European landscape, yet its population numbers are currently in decline. However, it is not yet sufficiently explained why this long-term decline occurs. To fill this gap in our knowledge, we investigated how land cover composition affects the abundance of House Martins on the landscape scale by using nationwide citizen science data. Utilizing a generalised linear mixed-effect model (GLMM), we evaluated 12,094 records from the Czech Republic spanning 2009–2017. Our analysis underscores the significance of land cover type in shaping House Martin abundance. More specifically, our results indicate that within agricultural land covers “naturally managed arable lands” exhibited significant positive effect, while forests, orchards, and vineyards were deemed less favourable for House Martin populations. Within urban land covers, we found a clear distinction in the impact on House Martin populations, with a positive effect observed in urban infrastructure, development areas, and post-industrial sites (i.e., UrbanAreas), while an indifferent impact was noted within urban green spaces and landscaped areas (i.e., GreenUrban). Notably, our findings suggest that the simple spatial, age, and species structure typical of forests in Europe, and similarly, the uniform structure of parks and gardens, may be responsible for the decline in the abundance of the House Martin. We advocate for the preservation or enhancement of urban greenery, expansion of natural vegetation in rural areas and adoption of ecological management practices in orchards and vineyards to mitigate further declines in House Martin populations.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":"15 ","pages":"Article 100186"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S205371662400029X/pdfft?md5=4ef3878f4d654120ceebbddeb7408b4e&pid=1-s2.0-S205371662400029X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141276675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Changes in the adult sex ratio of six duck species breeding populations over two decades","authors":"Monika Homolková ,&nbsp;Petr Musil ,&nbsp;Diego Pavón-Jordán ,&nbsp;Dorota Gajdošová ,&nbsp;Zuzana Musilová ,&nbsp;Šárka Neužilová ,&nbsp;Jan Zouhar","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100187","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100187","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Despite all efforts, long-term changes in the adult sex ratios of breeding duck populations are still unclear; this uncertainty is especially true for male-bias populations, which are often under the scrutiny of researchers lacking convenient results for the active protection of endangered species. Species with male-bias populations are usually strongly affected by a decline in population size that leads to a higher extinction risk. In this study, we examined our long-term data of the abundance of breeding populations in six duck species (Mallard <em>Anas platyrhynchos</em>, Gadwall <em>Mareca strepera</em>, Red-crested Pochard <em>Netta rufina</em>, Common Pochard <em>Aythya ferina</em>, Tufted Duck <em>Aythya fuligula</em>, and Common Goldeneye <em>Bucephala clangula</em>) from fishponds in South Bohemia, Czechia, between 2004 and 2022. This evidence was used to assess long-term changes in the adult sex ratio in these breeding populations and investigate the possible effects of the NAO index (North Atlantic Oscillation index) on them, indicating climate conditions in winter. We determined a long-term decrease of the proportion of females in the breeding season in two of the six examined species: Common Pochard and Red-crested Pochard, which is driven by the long-term increase in the number of males in contrast to the decreasing or stable number of females likely caused by different migration behaviours between females and males. In the case of Common Pochard, in breeding populations, we estimated 60–65% of males in the early 2000s rising to 75–80% in the early 2020s. However, we establish no significant effects linked to climate conditions of the previous winter in these species as a crucial cause of the changes of the proportion of females in the breeding population.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":"15 ","pages":"Article 100187"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716624000306/pdfft?md5=1df12b2afb6cc8acc30ce5531cbe4f12&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716624000306-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141313855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Individual consistency in spatiotemporal characteristics of migratory Whimbrels in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway","authors":"Siwei An ,&nbsp;Fenliang Kuang ,&nbsp;Wei Wu ,&nbsp;Chris J. Hassell ,&nbsp;Jonathan T. Coleman ,&nbsp;Zijing Gao ,&nbsp;Xuena Sun ,&nbsp;Yue Yuan ,&nbsp;Grace Maglio ,&nbsp;Kar-Sin K. Leung ,&nbsp;Xuesong Feng ,&nbsp;Zhijun Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100191","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100191","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Many migratory birds exhibit interannual consistency in migration schedules, routes and stopover sites. Detecting the interannual consistency in spatiotemporal characteristics helps understand the maintenance of migration and enables the implementation of targeted conservation measures. We tracked the migration of Whimbrel (<em>Numenius phaeopus</em>) in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway and collected spatiotemporal data from individuals that were tracked for at least two years. Wilcoxon non-parametric tests were used to compare the interannual variations in the dates of departure from and arrival at breeding/nonbreeding sites, and the interannual variation in the longitudes when the same individual across the same latitudes. Whimbrels exhibited a high degree of consistency in the use of breeding, nonbreeding, and stopover sites between years. The variation of arrival dates at nonbreeding sites was significantly larger than that of the departure dates from nonbreeding and breeding sites. Repeatedly used stopover sites by the same individuals in multiple years were concentrated in the Yellow Sea coast during northward migration, but were more widespread during southward migration. The stopover duration at repeatedly used sites was significantly longer than that at sites used only once. When flying across the Yellow Sea, Whimbrels breeding in Sakha (Yakutia) exhibited the highest consistency in migration routes in both autumn and spring. Moreover, the consistency in migration routes of Yakutia breeding birds was generally higher than that of birds breeding in Chukotka. Our results suggest that the northward migration schedule of the Whimbrels is mainly controlled by endogenous factors, while the southward migration schedule is less affected by endogenous factors. The repeated use of stopover sites in the Yellow Sea coast suggests this region is important for the migration of Whimbrel, and thus has high conservation value.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":"15 ","pages":"Article 100191"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716624000343/pdfft?md5=98f38cb3424dcbe0c39b09eded713928&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716624000343-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141481730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Feeding ecology and interactions with mammal hosts in a symbiotic genus of birds (Buphagus spp.) in Namibia","authors":"Michael S. Lukubwe ,&nbsp;Daniel Velarde-Garcéz ,&nbsp;Fernando Sequeira ,&nbsp;Susana Lopes ,&nbsp;Adrian J.F.K. Craig ,&nbsp;Vanessa A. Mata","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100200","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100200","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>As the sole obligate symbiotic birds in Africa, oxpeckers offer a unique model for studying symbiotic relationships. Due to the multitrophic level they occupy and the context dependent foraging behavior they exhibit, the type of symbiotic relationship can be variable. In addition to providing a cleaning service to the host by removing ticks, oxpeckers frequently feed on blood, mucus, and saliva, inflicting potential damage on the host. Here, we used DNA metabarcoding on faecal samples to analyze the taxonomic composition of the trophic interactions of the Yellow-billed Oxpecker (<em>Buphagus africanus</em>) and Red-billed Oxpecker (<em>B</em>. <em>erythrorhynchus</em>) in northeastern Namibia. In contrast to conventional methods, DNA metabarcoding allows for a detailed identification of dietary resources encompassing both mammal hosts and consumed arthropods within the same samples. With this information, we examined differences in the diet composition between oxpecker species and localities, as well as the co-occurrence between host and arthropod species. Our findings revealed that oxpeckers predominantly source their diet from mammals, ticks, and flies; however, ticks and flies rarely co-occur in the diet of an individual. We observed variability among individuals in their feeding ecology, which is strongly correlated with locality and, to a lesser extent, with the mammal host. We noted a high degree of mobility between hosts within relatively short periods, with 32% of the samples showing traces of at least two mammal hosts. This study illustrates the dynamic foraging behavior of these specialized symbiotic birds, shedding light on their potential role in pest control services and disease transmission.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":"15 ","pages":"Article 100200"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716624000434/pdfft?md5=5ecbf36ebaf397bf6ade8579cad787ae&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716624000434-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142013128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}