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Rapid population declines of many long‐distance Afro‐Palaearctic migratory bird species are ongoing across Europe but the demographic drivers are often poorly understood, thereby limiting the development of appropriate conservation actions. Using long‐term population monitoring (39 years), capture–mark–recapture data and a matrix model, we estimated demographic parameters and the effect of climate variables on adult survival, and modelled the dynamics of an increasing population of Eurasian Scops Owls Otus scops in a landscape with agricultural abandonment in western France. The observed mean annual population growth rate was 1.055 (from 68 to 523 territorial males between 1981 and 2019). Over the study period, clutch size and hatching success were stable, but fledging success and breeding success showed slight negative trends, probably due to density‐dependence. Survival varied with age, with an increase during early life and evidence for rapid senescence from 4 years old. Adult survival remained stable and was positively linked to the amount of autumn rainfall in the Sahel and to the winter North Atlantic Oscillation. Survival of younger age‐classes made the largest contribution to the variance of the population growth rate, followed by clutch size, fledging success and survival of older birds. Such a long‐term population increase in a landscape where intensive agriculture has decreased by 64.6% sheds some new light on the causes of the decline of European Scops Owl and other Afro‐Palaearctic bird populations. We infer some of the possible causes of this large‐scale decline, in particular food shortage, and discuss conservation measures that could be applicable to reverse this trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haemosporidia infections may cause major damage to avian populations and represent a concern for veterinarians working in zoological parks or wildlife rescue centres. Following the fatal infection of 9 Great grey owls (Strix nebulosa) at Mulhouse zoological park, between summer 2013 and 2015, a prospective epidemiological investigation was performed in captive strigiform birds in France in 2016. The purpose was to evaluate the prevalence of haemosporidian parasites in captive Strigiformes and to estimate the infection dynamics around the nesting period. Blood samples were taken from 122 strigiform birds representing 14 species from 15 French zoological parks. Parasites were detected by direct examination of blood smears and by PCR targeting the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Haemosporidian parasites were detected in 59 birds from 11 zoos. Three distinct Haemoproteus mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences (haplotypes A and C for H. syrnii and haplotype B for Haemoproteus sp.) as well as two species of Plasmodium were detected. The overall prevalence of Haemoproteus infection was 12.8%. The percentage of birds infected by Haemoproteus varied according to the period of sampling. Nesting season seemed to be at greater risk with an average prevalence of 53.9% compared with winter season with an average prevalence of 14.8%, related to the abundance of the vectors. The prevalence of Plasmodium infection in Strigiformes did not exceed 8% throughout the year. This study confirmed how significant Haemosporidia infection could be in Strigiformes from zoological parks in France. The nesting season was identified as a period of higher risk of infection and consequently the appropriate period to apply prophylactic measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The type specimens of two Tytonidae and 34 Strigidae taxa in the collections of the MNHN were reviewed and commented upon. The material includes: (1) Holotypes of the Tytonidae (Heliodilus Soumagnei Milne-Edwards, 1877) and of the Strigidae (Scops lophotes Lesson, 1830, Athene humeralis Bonaparte, 1850, Noctua frontata Lesson, 1830, Strix superciliaris Vieillot, 1817, Strix sonnerati Temminck, 1823, Strix macrorhyncha Temmink, 1823, Bubo Dillonii Des Murs & Prévost, 1846, Bubo Ascalaphus Savigny, 1809, Bubo sultanus Lesson, 1830, Bubo sinensis Heude, 1874, Ulula fasciata Des Murs, 1846, Syrnium davidi Sharpe, 1875, Syrnium griseatum Lesson, 1830, Scops portoricensis Lesson, 1830, Strix persica Vieillot, 1817, Athene ocellata Bonaparte, 1850, Noctua zelandica Quoy & Gaimard, 1830, Ninox reyi Oustalet, 1880, Noctua punctulata Quoy & Gaimard, 1830, Athene jacquinoti Bonaparte, 1850, Athene taeniata Pucheran, 1853, Otus Wilsonianus Lesson, 1830); (2) syntypes of the Strigidae: Strix pagodarum Temminck, 1823, Scops javanicus Lesson, 1830, Scops manadensis Quoy & Gaimard, 1830, Scops rutilus Pucheran, 1849, Strix nudipes Daudin, 1800, Strix africana Temminck, 1823, Strix leptogrammica orientalis Delacour & Jabouille, 1930, Strix leptogrammica ticehursti Delacour, 1930, Strix passerinoides, 1825, Glaucidium capense etchecopari Erard & Roux, 1983, Strix numida Loche, 1867, Strix fusca Vieillot, 1817, Strix maugei Temmink, 1823, Noctua variegata Quoy & Gaimard, 1830. A lectotype has been designated for Strix macronycha Temminck, 1823 (= Bubo virginianus nacurutu (Vieillot, 1817)) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental exposure to bisphenols and benzophenone UV filters has received considerable attention due to the ubiquitous occurrence of these contaminants in the environment and their potential adverse health effects. The occurrence of bisphenols and benzophenone UV filters is well established in human populations, but data is scarce for wildlife, and especially for raptors (birds of prey, falcons and owls). In this study, concentrations of eight bisphenols and five benzophenone UV filters were determined in six raptor tissues, including muscle, kidney, liver, brain, preen gland (uropygial gland) and adipose. The tissue samples (n = 44) were taken from dead raptor species (1997-2011), including Eurasian sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus, n = 2) and long-eared owls (Asio otus, n = 2), both from France, and white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla, n = 16) from Greenland. Overall, six bisphenols and four benzophenone UV filters were found in the samples. Bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol F (BPF), benzophenone-8 (BzP-8) and 4-hydroxybenzophenone (4-OH-BzP) were the most abundant contaminants, accounting for median concentrations of 67.5, 3.01, 27.1 and 9.70 ng/g wet weight (w.w.), respectively. The potential role of the preen gland as a major excretory organ for bisphenols and benzophenone UV filters was suggested since the median sum concentration of the two contaminant classes in the white-tailed eagle tissues showed higher bioaccumulation potential in the preen gland (5.86 ng/g w.w.) than the liver (2.92) and kidney (0.71). The concentrations of these contaminants in the tissues of the three raptor species indicated a pattern of increasing detection rates and median concentrations with an increase of the species size and their expected trophic position. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first peer-reviewed study to document multiresidues of both contaminant classes in raptor tissues., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)