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opencc-by-4.0Sep 2017View details →

Figure. Measurement data plotted for all nestlings as a function of age for the black stork: a) wing length (WL), b) head length (HL), c) bill length (BL), and d) tarsus length. in Age estimation of black stork (Ciconia nigra) nestlings from wing, bill, head, and tarsus lengths at the time of ringing

Figure. Measurement data plotted for all nestlings as a function of age for the black stork: a) wing length (WL), b) head length (HL), c) bill length (BL), and d) tarsus length.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2021View details →

Fig. 1 in The prevalence of Leucocytozoon spp. in nestlings of three wild raptor species including implications on haematological and blood chemistry values

Fig. 1. Prevalence of Leucozytozoon spp. infection in nestlings of common buzzards (Buteo buteo), red kites (Milvus milvus) and northern goshawks (Accipiter gentilis). Asterisks refer to P-values ≤0.05, determined by GLMM. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2021View details →

Fig. 3 in The prevalence of Leucocytozoon spp. in nestlings of three wild raptor species including implications on haematological and blood chemistry values

Fig. 3. Results of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) comparing 15 selected blood parameters between uninfected and infected raptor nestlings. a) Distribution of the LDA according to uninfected and infected nestlings. b) Correlation plot of the first axis of the 15 selected variables.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2021View details →

Fig. 2 in The prevalence of Leucocytozoon spp. in nestlings of three wild raptor species including implications on haematological and blood chemistry values

Fig. 2. Proportion of infected individuals of common buzzard (Buteo buteo), red kite (Milvus milvus) and northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) nestlings (n = 528) in relation to the proportion of the nestling period, determined by age and the species-specific average nestling duration. Calculated nestling periods were grouped into steps of ten percent (0.2–0.9). Each step represents the proportion of all individuals examined within this period. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

Fig. 4 in Syngamus trachea in free-ranging white stork (Ciconia ciconia) nestlings in Switzerland

Fig. 4. Egg of Syngamus trachea: ellipsoidal, with distinct bipolar opercula, 87.53 μm long and 55.28 μm wide.

Fig. 3 in Syngamus trachea in free-ranging white stork (Ciconia ciconia) nestlings in Switzerland

Fig. 3. SEM image of a female and male Syngamus trachea (A), with a large cup-shaped buccal capsule (indented arrows) in both adult nematodes (B, C) and a prominent but short copulatory bursa (arrow) in the male individual (D).

Fig. 6 in Syngamus trachea in free-ranging white stork (Ciconia ciconia) nestlings in Switzerland

Fig. 6. Histopathological lesions observed in the respiratory tract of one of the affected animals from this study. Focal-extensive erosion and ulceration of the tracheal mucosa (large arrows) with thickening of the lamina propria (arrowheads) due to a mixed cell tracheitis and focal granuloma formation in animal WS3 (A). The inset shows a larger magnification of this granuloma, which consists of a necrotic core surrounded by few multinucleated giant cells (narrow arrows), macrophages, and heterophils. H&E staining. Partially degenerated parasitic structure within the lung parenchyma (dashed line) with multifocal acute hemorrhages (indented arrows) in the bronchi and parabronchi of animal WS3 (B). The inset shows a larger magnification of the degenerated parasite with surrounding granulomatous inflammation, composed of abundant multinuclear giant cells (narrow arrows), macrophages, heterophils and acute hemorrhage. H&E staining.

Fig. 5. Haplotypes from female S in Syngamus trachea in free-ranging white stork (Ciconia ciconia) nestlings in Switzerland

Fig. 5. Haplotypes from female S. trachea nematodes collected from five different white stork nestlings (WS1-5).

Fig. 1 in Syngamus trachea in free-ranging white stork (Ciconia ciconia) nestlings in Switzerland

Fig. 1. Necropsy of a white stork nestling (WS3) showing the opened trachea with Syngamus trachea forming the typical Y-shape.

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

Data from: Tall, heterogenous forests improve prey capture, delivery to nestlings, and reproductive success for Spotted Owls in southern California

Predator-prey interactions can be profoundly influenced by vegetation conditions, particularly when predator and prey prefer different habitats. Although such interactions have proven challenging to study for small and cryptic predators, recent methodological advances substantially improve opportunities for understanding how vegetation influences prey acquisition and strengthen conservation planning for this group. The California Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) is well-known as an old-forest species of conservation concern, but whose primary prey in many regions – woodrats (Neotoma spp.) – occurs in a broad range of vegetation conditions. Here, we used high-resolution GPS tracking coupled with nest video monitoring to test the hypothesis that prey capture rates vary as a function of vegetation structure and heterogeneity, with emergent, reproductive consequences for Spotted Owls in Southern California. Foraging owls were more successful capturing prey, including woodrats, in taller multilayered forests, in areas with higher heterogeneity in vegetation types, and near forest-chaparral edges. Consistent with these findings, Spotted Owls delivered prey items more frequently to nests in territories with greater heterogeneity in vegetation types and delivered prey biomass at a higher rate in territories with more forest-chaparral edge. Spotted Owls had higher reproductive success in territories with higher mean canopy cover, taller trees, and more shrubby vegetation. Collectively, our results provide additional and compelling evidence that a mosaic of large tree forests with complex canopy and shrubby vegetation increases access to prey with potential reproductive benefits to Spotted Owls in landscapes where woodrats are a primary prey item. We suggest that forest management activities that enhance forest structure and vegetation heterogeneity could help curb declining Spotted Owl populations while promoting resilient ecosystems in some regions.

opencc-zeroMar 2023View details →

Disentangling relationships between physiology, morphology, diet, and gut microbial diversity in American Kestrel nestlings

Gut microbiota are increasingly recognized as important drivers of host health and fitness across vertebrate taxa. Given that gut microbial composition is directly influenced by the environment, gut microbiota may also serve as an eco-physiological mechanism connecting host ecology, such as diet, and physiology. Although gut microbiota have been well-studied in mammalian systems, little is known about how gut microbial diversity and composition impact morphological and physiological development in wild birds. Here, we characterized both diet and gut microbial diversity of free-living American kestrel (Falco sparverius) nestlings throughout development to test whether gut microbial diversity predicts host morphological and physiological traits in either contemporary or time-lagged manners. Gut microbial alpha diversity on day 21 of nestling development was positively correlated with diet alpha diversity representative of the majority of nestling development (days 5–20). Gut microbial alpha diversity early in development was negatively correlated with body mass in both contemporary and time-lagged manners. Gut microbial alpha diversity early in development was positively correlated with blood glucose later in development. As nestlings experience rapid growth demands in preparation to fledge, these time-lagged associations may indicate that gut microbial diversity at early critical developmental windows may determine the future trajectory of morphological and physiological traits underlying metabolism that ultimately impact fitness.

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

Data from: Developmental stress does not induce genome-wide DNA methylation changes in wild great tit (Parus major) nestlings

The environment experienced during early life is a crucial factor in the life of many organisms. This early life environment has been shown to have profound effects on morphology, physiology and fitness. However, the molecular mechanisms that mediate these effects are largely unknown, even though this is essential for our understanding of the processes that induce phenotypic variation in natural populations. DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that has been suggested to explain such environmentally induced phenotypic changes early in life. To investigate whether DNA methylation changes are associated with experimentally induced early developmental effects, we cross-fostered great tit (Parus major) nestlings and manipulated their brood sizes in a natural study population. We assessed experimental brood size effects on pre-fledging biometry and behaviour. We linked this to genome-wide DNA methylation levels of CpG sites in erythrocyte DNA, using 122 individuals and an improved epiGBS2 laboratory protocol. Brood enlargement caused developmental stress and negatively affected nestling condition, predominantly during the second half of the breeding season, when conditions are harsher. Brood enlargement, however, affected nestling DNA methylation in only one CpG site and only if hatch date was taken into account. In conclusion, this study shows that nutritional stress in enlarged broods does not associate with direct effects on genome-wide DNA methylation. Future studies should assess whether genome-wide DNA methylation variation may arise later in life as a consequence of phenotypic changes during early development.

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

The delayed effect of climatic conditions on pre-fledging nestling haematocrit in a suboscine species in Patagonia

Haematocrit, the proportion of blood comprising erythrocytes, is often used as a proxy of individual condition. Nestling haematocrit is influenced by several factors, but ambient temperature is generally agreed as a key driver. It is unclear which day(s) in embryonic or nestling development are most influential in determining pre-fledgling haematocrit. This is important, because if we are able to identify what day(s) nestlings are physiologically most vulnerable to climatic conditions, this may inform future conservation management and help mitigate the effects. We investigated the effect of ambient temperature, precipitation, body size, brood size, age, food abundance and habitat on nestling haematocrit in Aphrastura spinicauda (thorn-tailed Rayaditos). We collected this data from two climatically different locations in Chile: Northern Patagonia (Pucón) and Sub-Antarctic Patagonia (Navarino Island), located ~1800 km further south. We aimed to identify the key drivers of nestling haematocrit and find when nestlings are physiologically most vulnerable to climatic conditions. We confirm that ambient temperature is the key driver of nestling haematocrit, with increasing ambient temperatures nestling haematocrit decreased. However, precipitation also affected haematocrit in the late incubation stage. At low and high precipitation, nestling haematocrit was low and is optimal in light rainfall. Our results show a delayed effect of ambient temperature and precipitation in late incubation and on the day of hatching which can determine pre-fledgling haematocrit, which may cause lower post-fledgling fitness. We found that climatic conditions on the day haematocrit was collected were not important in determining haematocrit. We found that haematocrit was higher in the sub-Antarctic area and that higher temperatures and precipitation on the day of hatching will result in lower nestling haematocrit and poorer pre-fledgling condition. As atmospheric temperatures rise, nestling fitness is at risk. This is a threat to many bird species, especially those in locations vulnerable to climate breakdown.

opencc-by-sa-4.0May 2019View details →

Potentilla davurica Nestl. (BR0000012448623)

Belgium Herbarium image of <a href="https://www.plantentuinmeise.be">Meise Botanic Garden</a>.

opencc-by-sa-4.0May 2019View details →

Potentilla davurica Nestl. (BR0000020294694)

Belgium Herbarium image of <a href="https://www.plantentuinmeise.be">Meise Botanic Garden</a>.