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In this paper we present a report about the birds of the southern part of the Algerian Sahara. A total of 62 species were recorded with direct observations in nine different localities of two regions (from Tamanrasset city to In Guezzam city), belonging to 29 families and 12 orders in 2021. Three species were recorded for the first time in Algeria, White-throated Bee-eater (Merops albicollis), Cut-throat Finch (Amadina fasciata) and Village Indigobird (Vidua chalybeata). The latter two were probably escaped from captivity. The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) were observed for the first time in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under different environmental conditions, hybridization between the same species might result in different patterns of genetic admixture. Particularly, species pairs with large distribution ranges and long evolutionary history may have experienced several independent hybridization events over time in different zones of overlap. In birds, the diverse hybrid populations of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) and the Spanish sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis) provide a striking example. Throughout their range of sympatry, these two species do not regularly interbreed; however, a stabilized hybrid form (Passer italiae) exists on the Italian Peninsula and on several Mediterranean islands. The spatial distribution pattern on the Eurasian continent strongly contrasts the situation in North Africa, where house sparrows and Spanish sparrows occur in close vicinity of phenotypically intermediate populations across a broad mosaic hybrid zone. In this study, we investigate patterns of divergence and admixture among the two parental species, stabilized and nonstabilized hybrid populations in Italy and Algeria based on a mitochondrial marker, a sex chromosomal marker, and 12 microsatellite loci. In Algeria, despite strong spatial and temporal separation of urban early‐breeding house sparrows and hybrids and rural late‐breeding Spanish sparrows, we found strong genetic admixture of mitochondrial and nuclear markers across all study populations and phenotypes. That pattern of admixture in the North African hybrid zone is strikingly different from i) the Iberian area of sympatry where we observed only weak asymmetrical introgression of Spanish sparrow nuclear alleles into local house sparrow populations and ii) the very homogenous Italian sparrow population where the mitogenome of one parent (P. domesticus) and the Z‐chromosomal marker of the other parent (P. hispaniolensis) are fixed. The North African sparrow hybrids provide a further example of enhanced hybridization along with recent urbanization and anthropogenic land‐use changes in a mosaic landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the epidemiology of Flaviviruses has been extensively studied in most of the Mediterranean basin, little is known about the current situation in Algeria. In order to detect the circulation of West Nile (WNV) and Usutu viruses (USUV) in Kabylia, 165 sera were collected from two wild birds species, namely the long distance migrant Turdus philomelos (song thrush) (n = 92) and the resident Passer domesticus (house sparrow) (n = 73). A total of 154 sera were first analyzed by commercial competition ELISA. WNV and USUV micro-neutralization tests were performed on all c-ELISA positive sera and all samples with poor volume. Overall, 7.8 % (CI95 %: 3.5–11.9) were positive by c-ELISA. Positive results were detected in 12.5 % (CI95 %:5.6–19.4) of song thrushes and 1.5 % (CI95 %: 0.0–4.5) for sparrow. Micro-neutralization tests revealed an overall seroprevalence of 6.7 % for WNV (CI95 %: 2.9–10.3), Neutralizing antibodies were found in 8.7 % (CI95 %: 3.0–14.4) for song thrushes and in 4.1 % (CI95 %: 0.0–8.7) of sparrows. The current study demonstrates significant seroprevalence of WNV antibodies in wild birds in Algeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]