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Humans become more selective with whom they spend their time, and as a result, the social networks of older humans are smaller than those of younger ones. In non-human animals, processes such as competition and opportunity can result in patterns of declining sociality with age. While there is support for declining sociality with age in mammals, evidence from wild bird populations is lacking. Here, we test whether sociality declines with age in a wild, insular bird population, where we know the exact ages of individuals. Using 6 years of sociality data, we find that as birds aged, their degree and betweenness decreased. The number of same-age birds still alive also decreased with age. Our results suggest that a longitudinal change in sociality with age may be, in part, an emergent effect of natural changes in demography. This highlights the need to investigate the changing costs and benefits of sociality across a lifetime. This article is part of the discussion meeting issue 'Understanding age and society using natural populations'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life in urban areas may alter the gut microbiota and host physiology, leading to a higher susceptibility to pathogens. In contrast, specific members of the gut microbiota community have been shown to mitigate the intensity of malaria infection. House sparrows, living in close proximity to humans, are exposed to a unique environment with human‐shaped diets emerging as a particularly influential factor. In addition, sparrows host a significant number of avian haemosporidian and other blood parasites. We examined how the gut bacterial community of house sparrows varied across two close urban sites in the city of Belgrade and the potential impact of blood parasite infection on the gut microbiota. Our results show that diversity and composition of the gut microbiota were only influenced by the sampling location, likely due to variations in food resources, particularly the availability of bird feed at one of the sites (a zoo). In summary, our results suggest the local microbial adaptations to differing levels of urbanisation habitats, in this case most likely driven by artificial alterations in food resources, but not reaching to effects on the blood parasite fauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal changes in sleep/wake cycles and behaviors related to reproduction often co‐occur with seasonal fluctuations in sex hormones. Experimental studies have established that fluctuations in circulating testosterone mediate circadian rhythms. However, most studies are performed under constant lighting conditions and fail to investigate the effects of testosterone on the phenotypic output of circadian rhythms, that is, chronotype (daily activity patterns under light:dark cycles). Here, we experimentally elevated testosterone with implants during short nonbreeding daylengths in male house sparrows (Passer domesticus) to test if observed seasonal changes in chronotype are directly in response to photoperiod or to testosterone. We fitted individuals with accelerometers to track activity across treatment periods. Birds experienced three treatments periods: short day photoperiods before manipulation (SD), followed by testosterone implants while still on short days (SD + T). Implants were then removed. After a decrease in cloacal protuberance size, an indicator of low testosterone levels, birds were then photostimulated on long days (LD). Blood samples were collected at night, when testosterone peaks, to compare testosterone levels to daily onset/offset activity for experimental periods. Our results indicate that experimentally elevated testosterone under short nonbreeding photoperiods significantly advanced daily onset of activity and total daily activity relative to daylength. This suggests that testosterone, independent of photoperiod, is responsible for seasonal shifts in chronotypes and daily activity rhythms. These findings suggest that sex steroid hormone actions regulate timing of daily behaviors, likely coordinating expression of reproductive behaviors to appropriate times of the day. Summary: Experimentally elevated testosterone advanced onset of daily activity and increased total activity during the photophase during short days.Photostimulation delayed daily onset activity and reduced total activity during the photo‐phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Acoustic Adaptation Hypothesis indicates that vocalisations will have acoustic characteristics that maximise their transmission within the habitat where they are produced. Therefore, vocalisations of the same species are expected to vary between habitats if the habitats vary in structure. We conducted a sound transmission experiment to analyse if the common songs of the White-eared ground sparrow, Melozone leucotis, an urban bird species, differ between populations because they are adapted to the characteristics of each habitat to maximise their transmission. The experiment was conducted in four isolated populations within the urban areas of Costa Rica with different habitats: secondary forests, coffee plantations, gardens and thickets. In each population, we reproduced the three common songs of each population, and we compared four song degradation measures (excess attenuation, blur ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, and tail-to-signal ratio). Contrary to our expectations, our results contradicted the Acoustic Adaptation Hypothesis, since the common songs of each population did not transmit better in their own habitat, but the songs are adapted to transmit better in the original habitat. We suggest that common songs of this bird may be selected and maintained in each population by female selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With climate change increasing not just mean temperatures but the frequency of cold snaps and heat waves, animals occupying thermally variable areas may be faced with thermal conditions for which they are not prepared. Studies of physiological adaptations of temperate resident birds to such thermal variability are largely lacking in the literature. To address this gap, we acclimated winter-phenotype house sparrows (Passer domesticus) to stable warm, stable cold, and fluctuating cold temperatures. We then measured several metrics of the oxidative stress (OS) system, including enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants and lipid oxidative damage, in brain (post-mitotic), kidney (mitotic), liver (mitotic) and pectoralis muscle (post-mitotic). We predicted that high metabolic flexibility could be linked to increases in reactive oxygen damage. Alternatively, if variation in ROS production is not associated with metabolic flexibility, then we predict no antioxidant compensation with thermal variation. Our data suggest that ROS production is not associated with metabolic flexibility, as we found no differences across thermal treatment groups. However, we did find differences across tissues. Brain catalase activity demonstrated the lowest values compared with kidney, liver and muscle. In contrast, brain glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities were higher than those in kidney and liver. Muscle GPx activities were intermediate to brain and kidney/liver. Lipid peroxidation damage was lowest in the kidney and highest in muscle tissue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution from heavy metals such as zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd) poses serious risks to human health and ecosystems. This study examines the bioaccumulation of these metals in the livers of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in Meknes, Morocco, using them as bioindicators of pollution. Fifty adult sparrows were collected from five areas: The Industrial Zone (IZ), Town Centre (TC), Sidi Said Bus Station (SS), Fes-Meknes Main Road (MR), and a Rural Site (Ref). Liver samples were analysed with Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The highest Zn concentrations were found at IZ (111.43 µg/g) and Ref (90.66 µg/g), Pb at TC (4.17 µg/g), and Cd at IZ and TC (0.70 µg/g and 0.71 µg/g). Statistical analyses revealed significant correlations between metal levels. Clustering techniques identified three distinct contamination profiles. These results highlight house sparrows as reliable bioindicators for monitoring heavy metal pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited evidence suggests that variation in phenotypic plasticity within populations may arise largely from environmental sources, thereby constraining its evolvability. This is of concern for temperature-sensitive metabolism in the face of climate change. We quantified the relative influence of the developmental environment versus genes on the metabolic plasticity of avian embryos to temperature. We partially cross-fostered 602 house sparrow eggs (Passer domesticus), measured the heart rate plasticity of these embryos to egg temperature and partitioned variance in plasticity. We found that the foster (incubation) environment was the sole meaningful source of variance in embryonic plasticity (not genes, pre-laying effects or ambient conditions). In contrast to heart rate plasticity, offspring growth was influenced by the foster environment, genes/pre-laying parental effects and ambient conditions. Although embryonic plasticity to temperature varied in this population, these results suggest that it is unlikely to evolve quickly. Nevertheless, the expression of this plasticity may be able to shift between generations in response to changes in the developmental environment. Whether the multidimensional plasticity of heart rate to both current temperature and the developmental environment is itself an adaptive, evolved trait allowing avian embryos to optimize their metabolic plasticity to their current environment remains to be tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macro-Micromorphological, syrinx. This study aimed to explain and compare the anatomical, histological, histochemical & histomorphometric analyses of the syrinx in different species of birds. This study includes 21 healthy birds from geese (Anser Anser Domesticus), cattle egrets (Bublucus ibis) & house sparrows (Passer domesticus), seven from each species. Results: Anatomically, the syrinx of the three studied species was tracheobronchial type composed of 2 different cartilaginous groups arranged in three parts: Tracheo-Syringeal cartilage in (cranial, intermediate part (tympanum)) and broncho-syringeal cartilage; as well as the trachea's muscles were once thought to be the syrinx's extrinsic muscles. Histologically, the lamina epithelialis of the Tracheo-Syringeal part was represented by pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium in the three investigated species with goblet cells in geese, house sparrows and lack goblet cells in cattle egrets. The pessulus in all three investigated species was triangular and positioned at the tip of the tracheal bifurcation. The bulla of house sparrow was considered the intrinsic syringeal muscles and these muscles in sparrows are not only present in geese or cattle egrets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Usutu virus (USUV) is an emerging mosquito-transmitted flavivirus with increasing incidence of human infection and geographic expansion, thus posing a potential threat to public health. In this study, we established a comprehensive spatiotemporal database encompassing USUV infections in vectors, animals, and humans worldwide by an extensive literature search. Based on this database, we characterized the geographic distribution and epidemiological features of USUV infections. By employing boosted regression tree (BRT) models, we projected the distributions of three main vectors (Culex pipiens, Aedes albopictus, and Culiseta longiareolata) and three main hosts (Turdus merula, Passer domesticus, and Ardea cinerea) to obtain the mosquito index and bird index. These indices were further incorporated as predictors into the USUV infection models. Through an ensemble learning model, we achieved a decent model performance, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.992. The mosquito index contributed significantly, with relative contributions estimated at 25.51%. Our estimations revealed a potential exposure area for USUV spanning 1.80 million km2 globally with approximately 1.04 billion people at risk. This can guide future surveillance efforts for USUV infections, especially for countries located within high-risk areas and those that have not yet conducted surveillance activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization forms one of the most drastic alterations of the environment and poses a major threat to wildlife. The human–induced modifications of the landscape may affect individual's fitness resulting in population declines. Research on how urbanization affects fitness traits has shown mixed results. However, studies typically contrasted data from a single species from few urban and non‐urban sites collected over short timeframes. Examining multiple species across a broad urbanization gradient enables a more robust comparison and understanding of how different species are impacted by urbanization‐knowledge crucial for generating population predictions, which are essential for conservation management. Here, we use data from a nation‐wide citizen science project to examine variation in survival and relative body mass and size (wing length) of common passerine birds, collected along an urbanization gradient in the Netherlands over an 8‐year period. Urbanization was measured as the distance from the city's border and the proportion of impervious surface area. Although the overall association between urbanization and survival was slightly negative, there was support for lower survival closer to the city in three species (chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita, European robin Erithacus rubecula, European greenfinch Chloris chloris) and higher survival closer to the city in two (great tit Parus major and house sparrow Passer domesticus) of the 11 species examined. The contrasting survival successes among species suggest that ongoing urbanization may lead to shifts in community structure and loss of biodiversity. Impacts of urbanization on relative mass and size also exhibited varying effects, albeit less pronounced, and these effects were not correlated with the effects on survival. This implies that body mass and size cannot be used as indicators for urban‐associated patterns of survival. Our results further imply that effective conservation management targeting bird communities should involve a range of diverse actions, as focusing on single measures is unlikely to simultaneously impact multiple species due to the variation in responses to urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of birds can be used as a biological indicator related to the quality of environmental health in development. However, the presence of pest birds is a threat to farmers. This paper employs edge machine learning regarding audio recognition of birds Lonchura Maja and the sound of birds of house sparrow, which can be applied to a low-power microcontroller. We also train another nearby bird sound of turtledove, which is often seen around the rice fields on Bangkalan, to act as noise or background sound; we test the reliability of four machine learning (ML) algorithms, then embed them in the microcontroller RP2040 and connect. The first machine learning model is a custom deep neural network (CNN) 1D with two layers, and the second model uses transfer learning-based architecture. The Edge Impulse embedded platform learning machine is used to conduct training and testing. The resulting learning model was then implemented as an Arduino Library, as an Unoptimized float (32-bit) and Optimized integer quantization (8-bit). The estimated values produced by the microcontroller are evaluated in 4 cases, using the EON compiler and Tensor Flow Lite. In this paper, the custom 1D CNN model provides the best accuracy value, with 87.4% accuracy during training and 84.59% accuracy on testing, and it uses very efficient resources, 66.2 Kbyte Flash memory and 11.8 Kbyte Peak RAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA damage can be caused by a number of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. A recent study showed that free-living house sparrows (Passer domesticus) have higher DNA damage in the summer than the winter across five different tissues. This result was consistent when house sparrows were brought into captivity and exposed to comparable light cycles, with all other variables held constant. These results generated two hypotheses: (1) seasonal variation in DNA damage is related to circadian regulation and (2) seasonal variation in DNA damage is related to the total number of active hours. To investigate these hypotheses, we first quantified erythrocyte DNA damage in wild-caught house sparrows held in captivity on a 12L:12D light cycle at six points during the day to assess a diel or circadian rhythm but did not find one. We then performed a resonance experiment, in which birds experienced unnatural light cycles, and compared DNA damage in birds held on 6L:6D and 4.5L:7.5D resonance light cycles with their natural counterparts, 12L:12D and 9L:15D, respectively. We assessed corticosterone levels and DNA damage in blood before and after the resonance light cycles and DNA damage in abdominal fat, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and liver after the resonance light cycles. While our second experiment was not able to effectively test our hypotheses, we were able to demonstrate some interesting patterns. Throughout the resonance experiment, baseline corticosterone and testes size increased, consistent with the birds being photostimulated and preparing to breed. Surprisingly, the direction of change of DNA damage throughout the resonance photoperiod differed with tissue, which is not consistent with patterns during the breeding season in the wild. Our data indicate a potential uncoupling of the breeding physiology with the effect on DNA damage due to exposure to a resonance light cycle, which the birds may have interpreted as a skeleton photoperiod. Finally, though we were unable to fully disentangle the dynamics underlying seasonal DNA damage, we show that the previously documented patterns are not simply due to diel changes or the total amount of light exposure within a 24-hour period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecologically, the presence of avifauna is a crucial indicator of ecosystem equilibrium. The diversity of bird species and their community structure serves as an essential tool for assessing ecological impacts. This study aimed to evaluate the species composition, evenness, and diversity of wild bird species across different habitats in Egypt from May 2023 to February 2024. The study identified 17,387 individuals from 40 resident bird species belonging to 25 families and 10 orders. The house sparrow exhibited the highest relative abundance among resident bird species, followed by the western cattle egret, barn swallow, house crow, rock pigeon, little egret, hooded crow, laughing dove, and common myna. In terms of migratory birds, 6,050 individuals from 39 species across 22 families and 11 orders were observed. The slender-billed gull, little stint, great cormorant, common ringed plover, the European beeeater, black-winged stilt, and white wagtail had the highest relative abundances among migratory species. The distribution of bird species across different sites revealed that the coastal area (CA) and the Suez Canal & Gulf Suez (SCGS) each harbored 25% of the total number of resident species, followed by the Nile Delta (ND) with 21%, the Nile Valley (NV) with 16%, and the Faiyum (F) area with 13%. For migratory birds, the CA accounted for 48% of all migratory species, followed by the F area at 23%, ND at 13%, SCGS at 11%, and NV at 5%. The highest species richness was recorded in the CA, followed by SCGS, ND, F, and NV. The highest values for the Shannon and Simpson indices were found in the CA, NV, ND, SCGS, and F areas, respectively. It can be concluded that the Egyptian environment, especially aquatic habitats, is a valuable resource for the Egyptian avifauna by providing food sources and nesting sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a common but declining bird species in its native urban areas, partly due to reduced nesting site availability caused by modern urbanisation and loss of old architectural styles. In this study, we analysed, through a multivariate approach, the environmental factors influencing House Sparrow nest site selection in three diverse inland urban areas within the Valencian Community, Spain. We located 584 House Sparrow nests during spring 2017 and also selected 300 random points (habitat availability) in the study localities. We used Factorial Analyses of Mixed Data to assess urban feature gradients of nests and urban variables. We carried out Generalized Linear Mixed Models to compare nest locations to random points and explore variations in nesting typologies between urban zones. Specific nest site preferences vary between urban sectors, indicating that House Sparrow nests are not randomly located in urban areas. Nests are typically found near parks, schools, vacant plots, city limits, and surrounding crops, where greater vegetation cover provides abundant food sources. Low-rise terraced houses with traditional roofs and open clay tiles are consistently preferred for nesting, whereas modern architectural trends reduce nesting opportunities. Preserving green areas and old architecture with open clay tiles is essential for maintaining nesting sites and promoting House Sparrow conservation in Mediterranean urban areas. Adherence to these conservation measures may also benefit other hole-nesting species and urban wildlife reliant on green spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meiotic recombination through chromosomal crossing-over is a fundamental feature of sex and an important driver of genomic diversity. It ensures proper disjunction, allows increased selection responses, and prevents mutation accumulation; however, it is also mutagenic and can break up favorable haplotypes. This cost–benefit dynamic is likely to vary depending on mechanistic and evolutionary contexts, and indeed, recombination rates show huge variation in nature. Identifying the genetic architecture of this variation is key to understanding its causes and consequences. Here, we investigate individual recombination rate variation in wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus). We integrate genomic and pedigree data to identify autosomal crossover counts (ACCs) and intrachromosomal allelic shuffling (⁠ r ¯ i n t r a ⁠) in 13,056 gametes transmitted from 2,653 individuals to their offspring. Females had 1.37 times higher ACC, and 1.55 times higher r ¯ i n t r a than males. ACC and r ¯ i n t r a were heritable in females and males (ACC h 2 = 0.23 and 0.11; r ¯ i n t r a h 2 = 0.12 and 0.14), but cross-sex additive genetic correlations were low (r A = 0.29 and 0.32 for ACC and r ¯ i n t r a ⁠). Conditional bivariate analyses showed that all measures remained heritable after accounting for genetic values in the opposite sex, indicating that sex-specific ACC and r ¯ i n t r a can evolve somewhat independently. Genome-wide models showed that ACC and r ¯ i n t r a are polygenic and driven by many small-effect loci, many of which are likely to act in trans as global recombination modifiers. Our findings show that recombination rates of females and males can have different evolutionary potential in wild birds, providing a compelling mechanism for the evolution of sexual dimorphism in recombination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some individuals respond to new objects, foods, or environments with wariness (neophobia), whereas others are willing to approach and explore. Because novel stimuli can represent both dangers and resources, group-living species may show adaptive plasticity in neophobia in response to social cues. To better understand how conspecific calls can influence neophobia in a highly gregarious species, we exposed individual house sparrows (Passer domesticus) to either conspecific alarm calls (n = 12), conspecific contact calls (n = 12), or no playback (n = 12) and measured latency to feed in the presence of novel objects. We also measured novelty responses with no sound the week before and after the sound treatment week for all individuals. Relative to no playback and contact calls, we predicted that conspecific alarm calls would increase neophobia behavior during the acoustic trial and that these effects would persist the week after exposure. Instead, we found that individuals in the contact call and no playback groups became less neophobic as weeks progressed, while the alarm call group showed no attenuation of neophobia. There was a significant interaction between week and treatment, where neophobia responses over the three weeks were significantly different for individuals exposed to alarm calls compared to the contact and no playback groups combined. These results suggest that house sparrows learn social information about potentially threatening stimuli from conspecific alarm calls; here, that novel objects may be dangerous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explaining variation in individual fitness is a key goal in evolutionary biology. Recently, telomeres, repeating DNA sequences capping chromosome ends, have gained attention as a biomarker for body state, physiological costs, and senescence. Existing research has provided mixed evidence for whether telomere length correlates with fitness, including survival and reproductive output. Moreover, few studies have examined how the rate of change in telomere length correlates with fitness in wild populations. Here, we intensively monitored an insular population of house sparrows, and collected longitudinal telomere and life history data (16 years, 1225 individuals). We tested whether telomere length and its rate of change predict fitness measures, namely survival, lifespan and annual and lifetime reproductive effort and success. Telomere length positively predicted short‐term survival, independent of age, but did not predict lifespan, suggesting either a diminishing telomere length—survival correlation with age or other extrinsic factors of mortality. The positive association of telomere length with survival translated into reproductive benefits, as birds with longer telomeres produced more genetic recruits, hatchlings and reared more fledglings over their lifetime. In contrast, there was no association between telomere dynamics and annual reproductive output, suggesting telomere dynamics might not reflect the costs of reproduction in this population, potentially masked by variation in individual quality. The rate of change of telomere length did not correlate with neither lifespan nor lifetime reproductive success. Our results provide further evidence that telomere length correlates with fitness, and contribute to our understanding of the selection on, and evolution of, telomere dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper published by Nath et al. (Urban Ecosystems 25:1279–1295, 2022) analyzes the influence of different ecological factors and covariates on House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) abundance but criticizes previous research without explaining in depth the scientific reasons for it and reaches conclusions not supported by the authors' own data nor by existing knowledge and scientific evidence. They state that studies on the impacts of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) on birds outside laboratory conditions carried out in the past did not consider other ecological factors that could also influence the life history needs of the species. However, precisely the opposite is true; the studies carried out so far, taking into account most of the possible factors to consider, including urbanization, have not been able to solve the enigma of the House Sparrow decline in many of the world's cities. Thus, it is necessary to propose new possible causes not considered so far. Among the few that remain to be tested is the electromagnetic radiation hypothesis, which was proposed by two independent research teams in two different countries. This paper is a reply of the work developed by Nath et al. (Urban Ecosystems 25:1279–1295, 2022) that highlight their inconclusive results and methodological flaws due to the correlation observed between radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) and urbanization, complement their results showing negative correlations when testing House Sparrow abundance with electromagnetic radiation levels correcting for the percentage of builtup, and clarify some statements and misconceptions (importance of non-thermal effects). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem services (ESs) valuation is important for advancing biodiversity objectives and investing in green infrastructure (GI) establishment. Little is known about the potential of health clinic gardens (HCGs) to provide ESs and their potential values. This study sought to determine the plant and bird species composition and potential value of ESs provided by 32 HCGs in two South African district municipalities. HCG sizes range from 513.0m2 to 13531.0m2 and each had at least one micro-garden. Among the 312 plant species observed across all HCGs, 60% were exotic. The small HCGs had 31 ± 3.6 different plant species per garden, compared to the medium-sized (32 ± 3.7) and large ones (49 ± 5.2). Provisioning ESs from the observed species were prominent with 17.4 ± 1.16 species potentially used for general well-being, 13.66 ± 1.08 as potential food plants, and 11.91 ± 0.93 potentially raw materials. Trees in HCGs were estimated to sequester up to 163481.87 kg of carbon from trees covering an area of up to 9620.80m2. Approximately 1390.70 ± 427.50m2 of HCG space had the potential to provide a habitat for plants and birds, and 11 bird species were observed across all HCGs. Sixty-three bird nests encountered in 18 HCGs are believed to belong to the Passer domesticus. HCGs resemble other types of gardens like home and domestic gardens, and their rich plant biodiversity positions them as ideal ecosystems to benefit even the most vulnerable members of society. They provide an opportune platform for knowledge upscaling in the cultivation and use of plant species as a supplement of primary healthcare and food security issues in the summer months to the rural, urban, and peri-urban poor in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to understand key factors influencing the House Sparrow population across different habitat scales in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India. Correspondingly, different variables such as changes in habitat composition, sound levels, and density of mobile phone base stations were considered with reference to the occurrence of the House Sparrows across the study area. During the study period (December 2016 to November 2018), the number of House Sparrows was recorded through point count without distance estimate method. Non-parametric tests were employed to assess variations in different variables and their correlation with the presence of House Sparrows, revealing that changes in local habitat composition significantly influence their occurrence. Shrubby vegetation, cowsheds, and old/traditional structures emerged as crucial predictors positively impacting House Sparrow's presence, particularly in urban areas where suitable habitat patches are scarce due to urbanization and modern lifestyles. The decline in these habitats has significantly impacted House Sparrow populations. To counter this decline, implementing strategies like providing artificial nest sites is being considered. However, it's crucial to ensure that there are adequate shelter and food resources available to effectively conserve the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased urbanisation influences the morphometric traits of various species, often resulting in urban individuals being smaller than their non-urban counterparts. Urbanisation can affect fundamental eco-evolutionary patterns and impact species' ability to adapt to and occupy rapidly changing environments through morphological changes. We investigated the morphometric responses of two passerine species, the non-native house sparrow (Passer domesticus) and its native congener, the Cape sparrow (Passer melanurus), along gradients of spatial and temporal urbanisation in South Africa over a 52-year period. The house sparrow was significantly heavier, larger and in better condition with increasing urban infrastructure and lower urban vegetation cover, while the Cape sparrow showed opposing trends along these gradients. Temporally, the house sparrow's body mass increased consistently over the 52-year study period, suggesting changes in morphology were concomitant with increasing urbanisation over time. This study demonstrates distinct differences in the morphological responses of the non-native house sparrow and the native Cape sparrow to increasing urban development. These morphological responses may also underpin community-level changes caused by urbanisation, enhancing the capabilities of non-native species to thrive over their native counterparts in these environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only a few decades after its introduction to the United States in the mid-nineteenth century, the house sparrow was considered a pest that drove away native birds. Its downfall is representative of a story familiar to scholars of animals and technology who have studied the methods used to control or exclude unwanted species from both rural and urban areas. The case of the house sparrow, however, differs in a crucial respect: the birds made their homes in bird boxes, built technologies designed to attract avian species and bring them closer to humans. This article documents how bird boxes were used as tools to regulate avian life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the United States and argues that they should be seen as a technology that mediates and regulates our relationship with nature by promoting or controlling certain aspects of living organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cover image for this issue of Technology and Culture depicts how bird boxes became contested technologies in the United States. The early twentieth-century image shows a pair of house sparrows (Passer domesticus)— an introduced species—taking over a bird box intended for native birds. But the claim that sparrows seized bird boxes and other nesting places to the detriment of American birds was controversial. Since their mid-nineteenth-century introduction to the United States, sparrows have had both supporters and detractors who used bird boxes as tools to aid or suppress the birds. This essay argues that this image and others like it constitute a form of "biological propaganda" that supported the professionalization of ornithology in the United States. Natural history illustrations are not value neutral but show animals and technology in such a way as to support their creator's specific view of nature and what "belongs" in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Greater immune protection in the gut is associated with greater foraging risks. • High epigenetic potential (EP) in TLR4 is linked with high TLR4 expression in the gut. • High EP and TLR4 expression in the gut are related to foraging risk behaviour. • Link between behaviour and immunity may be related to house sparrow invasion success. When organisms move into new areas, they are likely to encounter novel food resources. Even if they are nutritious, these foods can also be risky, as they might be contaminated by parasites. The behavioural immune system of animals could help them avoid the negative effects of contaminated resources, but our understanding of behavioural immunity is limited, particularly whether and how behavioural immunity interacts with physiological immunity. Here, we asked about the potential for interplay between these two traits, specifically how the propensity of an individual house sparrow (Passer domesticus) to take foraging risks was related to its ability to regulate a key facet of its immune response to bacterial pathogens. Previously, we found that sparrows at expanding geographic range edges were more exploratory and less risk-averse to novel foods; in those same populations, birds tended to over-express Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), a pattern-recognition receptor that distinguishes cell-wall components of Gram-negative bacteria, making it the major sensor of potentially lethal gut microbial infections including salmonellosis. When we investigated how birds would respond to a typical diet (i.e., mixed seeds) spiked with domesticated chicken faeces, birds that expressed more TLR4 or had higher epigenetic potential for TLR4 (more CpG dinucleotides in the putative gene promoter) ate more food, spiked or not. Females expressing abundant TLR4 were also willing to take more foraging risks and ate more spiked food. In males, TLR4 expression was not associated with risk-taking. Altogether, our results indicate that behaviour and immunity covary among individual house sparrows, particularly in females where those birds that maintain more immune surveillance also are more disposed to take foraging risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within breeding years, male birds vary in their reproductive strategy. While some maintain monogamy with a social partner, others also engage with extrapair partners, while others forgo monogamy altogether in favour of exclusively seeking extrapair paternity. Although theory predicts that extrapair paternity is beneficial to males, which sire extrapair offspring without investing in costly parental care, empirical examples from wild populations are sparse. We used 17 years of data from a closed population of house sparrows, Passer domesticus , with a complete genetic pedigree, to test the hypothesis that extrapair paternity increases male lifetime reproductive success. We compared a mixed strategy of within-pair (or social) and extrapair paternity with total genetic monogamy and total extrapair paternity. We demonstrate that males who combine within-pair and extrapair paternity have increased reproductive success against the other two groups. Our results also suggest that males that exclusively seek extrapair paternity have the lowest lifetime fitness. Overall, we provide an empirical demonstration of the theory, showing that where males can sire extrapair offspring alongside within-pair offspring, extrapair paternity is beneficial to male lifetime fitness. • Within years, male house sparrows invested in social or extrapair offspring, or both. • Within a year, reproductive strategy depended on the environmental context. • Males that had extrapair and social offspring had the highest lifetime fitness. • Floating males, which only had extrapair offspring, had the lowest lifetime fitness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the intricate web of plant–animal interactions, granivore birds can play a dual antagonist–mutualist role as seed predators and dispersers. This study delves into the ecological significance of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) as seed disperser by endozoochory. A sample of individual droppings and faecal pools were collected from a communal roost in central Spain to examine the presence of seeds. Seed viability was determined using the tetrazolium test. Our findings revealed that around 22% of the analysed droppings contained seeds, contradicting the prevalent notion of house sparrow solely as seed predator. Viability tests demonstrated that 53.9% of the defecated seeds were viable, although it varied between plant species, including those from fleshy‐fruited common fig and five species of dry‐fruited herbs. This study challenges the traditional perspectives on the ecological role of the house sparrow, and glimpses on their contribution to seed dispersal. Understanding the nuanced roles of granivore species like the house sparrow is crucial for developing holistic conservation and management strategies in urban and agricultural landscapes. Future studies are encouraged to unravel the actual role of this cosmopolitan species as disperser of a likely broad spectrum of wild, cultivated and exotic plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Wildlife has coexisted with human society for thousands of years. While there is a general consensus that nature in urban areas should be increased, the way people perceive the animals that live within cities varies greatly. Considering research on this issue, there are very few studies analyzing people's perception of urban wildlife, and the list of animals investigated is still very limited; the lowest frequency of these studies is in South America. In order to fill this gap, we aimed to identify how people perceive birds in two Brazilian cities. We observed that people can recognize the most frequent bird species and are aware of the ecological importance of birds. We also showed that most people associate most bird species with positive feelings such as beauty, joy, well-being, and peace. On the other hand, exotic species are considered pests and generate negative perceptions. Understanding how humans perceive animals plays a significant role in comprehending the contemporary human-nature relationship. Providing this knowledge is essential for planning environments where humans and animals interact and to garner broad support for biodiversity conservation in cities. Understanding how humans perceive animals is important for biodiversity conservation, however, only a few studies about this issue have been carried out in South America. We selected two Brazilian cities to assess people's perceptions of birds: Bauru (São Paulo, Brazil) and Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais, Brazil). From the available bird data for each city, we developed a questionnaire and applied it between September 2020 and June 2021. The data obtained were analyzed by simple counts, a Likert scale, and percentages. Also, human feelings related to birds were placed on the Free Word Cloud Generator website. Our study confirmed that most respondents were aware of the importance of birds to ecological balance and that respondents had a generally positive attitude towards most of the bird species. However, they disliked exotic species such as the Domestic Dove and the House Sparrow, which are associated with disease, dirt, and disgust. Respondents also underestimated the number of birds that can live in urban areas and the song of birds is still a sense less experienced and perceived by people. Understanding these human–biodiversity relationships can help guide public policies and environmental education activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has shown that songbirds that reside at low altitudes can ascend to ∼6000 m above sea level during migratory flight. Since migratory flight is aerobically demanding, whether migratory songbirds exhibit plasticity in breathing to maintain oxygen uptake in low-oxygen environments is unknown. This study investigated whether the hypoxic ventilatory response of sparrows was altered between resident house sparrows (Passer domesticus (Linneaus, 1758)) and migratory song sparrows (Melospiza melodia (A. Wilson, 1810)), and Lincoln's sparrows (Melospiza lincolnii (Audubon, 1834)) or seasonally (long daylight versus short daylight length) within a species. Breathing responses were assessed by stepwise reductions in inspired O2 tension, 21, 16, 12, 9, 7, and 5 kPa during long and short days. Ventilation increased in hypoxia in all species, although song sparrows and Lincoln's sparrows exhibited greater increases in ventilation in severe hypoxia compared to house sparrows. All species became more sensitive to hypoxia during short days compared to long days (increased breathing frequency and total ventilation), with reduced pulmonary oxygen extraction. Although all sparrows had similar ventilatory responses in moderate hypoxia, our findings suggest that migratory sparrows breathe more effectively in severe hypoxia compared to house sparrows, which would be important for maintaining oxygen uptake during migratory flights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study investigated cadmium in urban sparrows from various Meknes zones with differing industrial and traffic intensities, compared to a rural site. Forty sparrows from industrial regions and ten from rural were analysed post-capture. Cadmium extraction used acid mineralisation, quantified via ICP. Findings revealed higher cadmium in sparrows' kidneys from industrial zones than the rural site, with an average of 1.25 µg/g wet weight, indicating urban and industrial impacts on metal accumulation. The kidneys showed notable vulnerability to cadmium. Statistical data highlighted significant concentration differences between zones. This research emphasises the need for environmental monitoring and pollution strategies in urban areas for safeguarding health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

that the plants exposed to red and blue light had higher growth rates and biomass compared to those exposed to white light. Continuous light exposure also resulted in increased growth and biomass. The study suggests that manipulating light conditions can enhance the growth and development of chamomile plants, potentially improving their cultivation and production.The fifth article discusses a study on the impact of climate change on the distribution of bird species in the Carpathian Mountains. The researchers used species distribution models to predict the potential range shifts of bird species under different climate change scenarios. The results show that many bird species are projected to experience range contractions and shifts to higher elevations. The study emphasizes the need for conservation efforts to mitigate the negative effects of climate change on bird populations.Overall, these articles provide valuable insights into various aspects of biology, including mammal diversity, wolf behavior, spider fauna, plant development, and bird distribution. The studies contribute to our understanding of biodiversity, conservation, and the impacts of environmental factors on different organisms. [Extracted from the article]

The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a small passerine known to be highly sedentary. Throughout a 30‐year capture–mark–recapture study, we have obtained occasional reports of recoveries far outside our main metapopulation study system, documenting unusually long dispersal distances. Our records constitute the highest occurrence of long‐distance dispersal events recorded for this species in Scandinavia. Such long‐distance dispersals radically change the predicted distribution of dispersal distances and connectedness for our study metapopulation. Moreover, it reveals a much greater potential for colonization than formerly recorded for the house sparrow, which is an invasive species across four continents. These rare and occasional long‐distance dispersal events are challenging to document but may have important implications for the genetic composition of small and isolated populations and for our understanding of dispersal ecology and evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The utilization of fauna and fauna-based byproducts in ethnomedicinal usages has been a longstanding human activity, practiced across various cultures worldwide. This study focuses on investigating the utilization of animal-based traditional medicine by the people of Pakistan, specifically in the Gujranwala area. Methods: Data collection took place from January to September 2019 through interviews with local communities. Ethnomedicinal applications of animal products were analyzed using several indices, including Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Relative Popularity Level (RPL), Folk Use Value (FL), and Relative Occurrence Percentage (ROP). Results: The study identified the use of different body parts of 54 species of animals in treating various diseases and health issues. These include but are not limited to skin infections, sexual problems, pain management (e.g., in the backbone and joints), eyesight issues, immunity enhancement, cold, weakness, burns, smallpox, wounds, poisoning, muscular pain, arthritis, diabetes, fever, epilepsy, allergies, asthma, herpes, ear pain, paralysis, cough, swelling, cancer, bronchitis, girls' maturity, and stomach-related problems. Certain species of fauna were noted by informers with high "frequency of citation" (FC), ranging from 1 to 77. For instance, the black cobra was the most frequently cited animal for eyesight issues (FC= 77), followed by the domestic rabbit for burn treatment (FC= 67), and the Indus Valley spiny-tailed ground lizard for sexual problems (FC= 66). Passer domesticus and Gallus gallus were noted to have the highest ROP value of 99. Discussion: The findings of this study provide valuable preliminary insights for the conservation of fauna in the Gujranwala region of Punjab, Pakistan. Additionally, screening these animals for medicinally active compounds could potentially lead to the development of novel animal-based medications, contributing to both traditional medicine preservation and modern pharmaceutical advancements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comprehensive characterization of structural variation in natural populations has only become feasible in the last decade. To investigate the population genomic nature of structural variation, reproducible and high-confidence structural variation callsets are first required. We created a population-scale reference of the genome-wide landscape of structural variation across 33 Nordic house sparrows (Passer domesticus). To produce a consensus callset across all samples using short-read data, we compare heuristic-based quality filtering and visual curation (Samplot/PlotCritic and Samplot-ML) approaches. We demonstrate that curation of structural variants is important for reducing putative false positives and that the time invested in this step outweighs the potential costs of analyzing short-read–discovered structural variation data sets that include many potential false positives. We find that even a lenient manual curation strategy (e.g. applied by a single curator) can reduce the proportion of putative false positives by up to 80%, thus enriching the proportion of high-confidence variants. Crucially, in applying a lenient manual curation strategy with a single curator, nearly all (>99%) variants rejected as putative false positives were also classified as such by a more stringent curation strategy using three additional curators. Furthermore, variants rejected by manual curation failed to reflect the expected population structure from SNPs, whereas variants passing curation did. Combining heuristic-based quality filtering with rapid manual curation of structural variants in short-read data can therefore become a time- and cost-effective first step for functional and population genomic studies requiring high-confidence structural variation callsets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban expansion has increased pollution, including both physical (e.g., exhaust, litter) and sensory (e.g., anthropogenic noise) components. Urban avian species tend to increase the frequency and/or amplitude of songs to reduce masking by low-frequency noise. Nevertheless, song propagation to the receiver can also be constrained by the environment. We know relatively little about how this propagation may be altered across species that (1) vary in song complexity and (2) inhabit areas along an urbanization gradient. We investigated differences in song amplitude, attenuation, and active space, or the maximum distance a receiver can detect a signal, in two human-commensal species: the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) and house finch (Haemorhous mexicanus). We described urbanization both discretely and quantitatively to investigate the habitat characteristics most responsible for propagation changes. We found mixed support for our hypothesis of urban-specific degradation of songs. Urban songs propagated with higher amplitude; however, urban song fidelity was species-specific and showed lowered active space for urban house finch songs. Taken together, our results suggest that urban environments may constrain the propagation of vocal signals in species-specific manners. Ultimately, this has implications for the ability of urban birds to communicate with potential mates or kin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parasitism results in substantial costs to hosts, which can manifest in a variety of ways. Ectoparasites, especially those that are hematophagous, can deplete the host's nutritional resources and induce costly immunological responses. Such costs can be especially relevant to neonatal animals, who also have to invest in growth and development. We used a cavity-nesting songbird species (House Sparrows; Passer domesticus) to address three main objectives related to the costs of ectoparasitism. First, we examined how abundance of ectoparasitic taxa in nests varied as a function of season. We found that fleas and blowflies were the primary ectoparasites, and were found nearly exclusively in the first or second half of the breeding season, respectively. Second, we used the insecticide permethrin to manipulate ectoparasite abundance and measured nestling body mass, circulating levels of nutrients (i.e., glucose, glycerol, and triglycerides), oxidative damage (i.e., d-ROMs), antibody levels (i.e., IgY), survival during the nestling stage, and detection of juveniles after they left the nest (i.e., post-fledging). An experimental reduction of parasites resulted in nestlings that circulated higher levels of hemoglobin and IgY, and were also likely to fledge earlier. Third, we tested if metrics collected during the nestling period predicted probability of detection post-fledging. We found a positive correlation between nestling triglyceride levels and likelihood of detection during the post-fledging stage. Thus, ectoparasitic taxa vary seasonally and have a measurable impact on nestling physiology. However, short-term survival or dispersal may be shaped predominately by nutrition, rather than ectoparasitism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, published in the Florida Field Naturalist, discusses the presence of minute black scavenger flies (Diptera: Scatopsidae) on birds in Vaca Key, Florida. The authors collected and identified various species of scatopsid flies, including Holoplagia guamensis, Coboldia fuscipes, and Scatopse notata, from bird nests, feces, and plumage. The article explores the distribution and potential mechanisms of dispersal for these flies, including transport by birds and accidental transport with bamboo. The authors note that little is known about the biology and immature forms of most scatopsid species. [Extracted from the article]

A hallmark of the vertebrate stress response is a rapid increase in glucocorticoids and catecholamines; however, this does not mean that these mediators are the best, or should be the only, metric measured when studying stress. Instead, it is becoming increasingly clear that assaying a suite of downstream metrics is necessary in stress physiology. One component of this suite could be assessing double‐stranded DNA damage (dsDNA damage), which has recently been shown to increase in blood with both acute and chronic stress in house sparrows (Passer domesticus). To further understand the relationship between stress and dsDNA damage, we designed two experiments to address the following questions: (1) how does dsDNA damage with chronic stress vary across tissues? (2) does the increase in dsDNA damage during acute stress come from one arm of the stress response or both? We found that (1) dsDNA damage affects tissues differently during chronic stress and (2) the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis influences dsDNA damage with acute stress, but the sympathetic‐adreno‐medullary system does not. Surprisingly, our data are not explained by studies on changes in hormone receptor levels with chronic stress, so the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Research Highlights: DNA damage is a promising integrative addition to the stress physiologist's toolboxDNA damage increases with chronic stress, but not uniformly across tissuesWith acute stress, corticosterone may have a causal role [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global contamination of environments with lead (Pb) poses threats to many ecosystems and populations. While exposure to Pb is toxic at high concentrations, recent literature has shown that lower concentrations can also cause sublethal, deleterious effects. However, there remains relatively little causal investigation of how exposure to lower concentrations of environmental Pb affects ecologically important behaviors. Behaviors often represent first-line responses of an organism and its internal physiological, molecular, and genetic responses to a changing environment. Hence, better understanding how behaviors are influenced by pollutants such as Pb generates crucial information on how species are coping with the effects of pollution more broadly. To better understand the effects of sublethal Pb on behavior, we chronically exposed adult wild-caught, captive house sparrows (Passer domesticus) to Pb-exposed drinking water and quantified a suite of behavioral outcomes: takeoff flight performance, activity in a novel environment, and in-hand struggling and breathing rate while being handled by an experimenter. Compared to controls (un-exposed drinking water), sparrows exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of Pb exhibited decreases in takeoff flight performance and reduced movements in a novel environment following 9–10 weeks of exposure. We interpret this suite of results to be consistent with Pb influencing fundamental neuro-muscular abilities, making it more difficult for exposed birds to mount faster movements and activities. It is likely that suppression of takeoff flight and reduced movements would increase the predation risk of similar birds in the wild; hence, we also conclude that the effects we observed could influence fitness outcomes for individuals and populations altering ecological interactions within more naturalistic settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis coordinates an organism's response to environmental stress. The responsiveness and sensitivity of an offspring's stress response may be shaped not only by stressors encountered in their early post‐natal environment but also by stressors in their parent's environment. Yet, few studies have considered how stressors encountered in both of these early life environments may function together to impact the developing HPA axis. Here, we manipulated stressors in the parental and post‐natal environments in a population of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) to assess their impact on changes in DNA methylation (and corresponding gene expression) in a suite of genes within the HPA axis. We found that nestlings that experienced early life stress across both life‐history periods had higher DNA methylation in a critical HPA axis gene, the glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1). In addition, we found that the life‐history stage when stress was encountered impacted some genes (HSD11B1, NR3C1 and NR3C2) differently. We also found evidence for the mitigation of parental stress by post‐natal stress (in HSD11B1 and NR3C2). Finally, by assessing DNA methylation in both the brain and blood, we were able to evaluate cross‐tissue patterns. While some differentially methylated regions were tissue‐specific, we found cross‐tissue changes in NR3C2 and NR3C1, suggesting that blood is a suitable tissue for assessing DNA methylation as a biomarker of early life stress. Our results provide a crucial first step in understanding the mechanisms by which early life stress in different life‐history periods contributes to changes in the epigenome of the HPA axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dispersal affects evolutionary processes by changing population size and genetic composition, influencing the viability and persistence of populations. Investigating which mechanisms underlie variation in dispersal phenotypes and whether populations harbour adaptive potential for dispersal is crucial to understanding the eco‐evolutionary dynamics of this important trait. Here, we investigate the genetic architecture of dispersal among successfully recruited individuals in an insular metapopulation of house sparrows. We use an extensive long‐term individual‐based ecological data set and high‐density single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes for over 2500 individuals. We conducted a genome‐wide association study (GWAS), and found a relationship between dispersal probability and a SNP located near genes known to regulate circadian rhythm, glycogenesis and exercise performance, among other functions. However, this SNP only explained 3.8% of variance, suggesting that dispersal is a polygenic trait. We then used an animal model to estimate heritable genetic variation (σA2), which composes 10% of the total variation in dispersal probability. Finally, we investigated differences in σA2 across populations occupying ecologically relevant habitat types (farm vs. non‐farm) using a genetic groups animal model. We found different adaptive potentials across habitats, with higher mean breeding value, σA2, and heritability for the habitat presenting lower dispersal rates, suggesting also different roles of environmental variation. Our results suggest a complex genetic architecture of dispersal and demonstrate that adaptive potential may be environment dependent in key eco‐evolutionary traits. The eco‐evolutionary implications of such environment dependence and consequent spatial variation are likely to become ever more important with the increased fragmentation and loss of suitable habitats for many natural populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Wild birds are considered reservoirs of poultry pathogens although transmission routes have not been conclusively established. Here we use camera trapping to study wild bird communities on commercial layer and red-legged partridge farms over a one-year timeframe. We also analyze direct and indirect interactions of other bird species with the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), a potential bridge host. Methods: We conducted camera trapping events between January 2018 and October 2019, in two caged layer farms, one free-range layer farm, and two red-legged partridge farms in South-Central Spain. Results and Discussion: We observed wild bird visits on all types of farms, with the significantly highest occurrence on red-legged partridge farms where food and water are more easily accessible, followed by commercial caged layer farms, and free-range chicken farms. The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) followed by spotless starlings (Sturnus unicolor) was the most encountered species on all farms, with the highest frequency in caged layer farms. On partridge farms, the house sparrow accounted for 58% of the wild bird detections, while on the free-range chicken farm, it made up 11% of the detections. Notably, the breeding season, when food and water are scarce in Mediterranean climates, saw the highest number of wild bird visits to the farms. Our findings confirm that the house sparrow, is in direct and indirect contact with layers and red-legged partridges and other wild birds independent of the type of farm. Contacts between house sparrows and other bird species were most frequent during the breeding season followed by the spring migration period. The species most frequently involved in interactions with the house sparrow belonged to the order Passeriformes. The study provides a comparative description of the composition and seasonal variations of bird communities in different types of layer/ poultry farms in Southern Spain i.e. a Mediterranean climate. It confirms the effectiveness of biosecurity measures that restrict access to feed and water. Additionally, it underscores the importance of synanthropic species, particularly the house sparrow, as potential bridge vector of avian pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring parental care behaviour in the wild is central to the study of animal ecology and evolution, but it is often labour‐ and time‐intensive. Efficient open‐source tools have recently emerged that allow animal behaviour to be quantified from videos using machine learning and computer vision techniques, but there is limited appraisal of how these tools perform compared to traditional methods. To gain insight into how different methods perform in extracting data from videos taken in the field, we compared estimates of the parental provisioning rate of wild house sparrows Passer domesticus from video recordings. We compared four methods: manual annotation by experts, crowd‐sourcing, automatic detection based on the open‐source software DeepMeerkat, and a hybrid annotation method. We found that the data collected by the automatic method correlated with expert annotation (r = 0.62) and further show that these data are biologically meaningful as they predict brood survival. However, the automatic method produced largely biased estimates due to the detection of non‐visitation events, while the crowd‐sourcing and hybrid annotation produced estimates that are equivalent to expert annotation. The hybrid annotation method takes approximately 20% of annotation time compared to manual annotation, making it a more cost‐effective way to collect data from videos. We provide a successful case study of how different approaches can be adopted and evaluated with a pre‐existing dataset, to make informed decisions on the best way to process video datasets. If pre‐existing frameworks produce biased estimates, we encourage researchers to adopt a hybrid approach of first using machine learning frameworks to preprocess videos, and then to do manual annotation to save annotation time. As open‐source machine learning tools are becoming more accessible, we encourage biologists to make use of these tools to cut annotation time but still get equally accurate results without the need to develop novel algorithms from scratch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of why socially monogamous females engage in extra‐pair behaviour is long‐standing in evolutionary biology. Due to a lack of empirical support among passerine birds, recent work has moved away from the indirect‐benefits hypothesis to explain extra‐pair mating behaviour by females, instead favouring the hypothesis that this is the result of a pleiotropic effect. That is, a trait under strong positive selection in either or both sexes are genetically linked with another, potentially unrelated, trait. For example, genes beneficial to female fecundity (that promote within‐pair solicitation of mating from a male partner) might also lead to extra‐pair behaviour (by also promoting solicited copulations from extra‐pair males). Here, we test two predictions from this hypothesis: We test the prediction that female divorce, measured as the number of social mates within a given year, is linked with 1) the number of extra‐pair males engaged by the female and 2) the proportion of the female's offspring that are extra‐pair. Our results show that females who divorce their social partner are more likely to produce extra‐pair offspring than those who maintain social monogamy, supporting the pleiotropy hypothesis. However, those females did not also have a higher proportion of extra‐pair offspring. The number of broods initiated was also positively correlated with the number of extra‐pair males that sired a female's offspring, probably through increased opportunity for extra‐pair males to sire offspring over a longer breeding season. Our results support the intrasexual pleiotropy hypothesis as a driver of female extra‐pair behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aves are unique in having a coat of feathers and in balancing on the hind limbs alone. They are known as the feathered bipeds. Roosting, nest building in birds has been considered a remarkable behaviour in aves. The nesting ecology of birds is likely the most important component of its life history and it is affected by several ecological and environmental factors. Guwahati city, a rapidly growing city in northeast India inhabits a lot of species of birds. It is located between the Brahmaputra River's southern bank and the Shillong plateau's foothills. Total of the 57 nests, 28% were discovered in the rolling shop shutters, followed by 27% in the tin sheet roofs of homes, followed by 19% in building crevices, 9% in building holes, 7% in advertisement hoarding and 5% in AC outdoor units and 5% in unused building pipes. It is also observed that 49% of the nests are located at a height between 2-4 metres from the ground level, 70% of the nests are located between 1-5 metres from the nearest food source, and 58% of the nests are located between 1-5 metres from the nearest water source. Out of the 57 nests observed, 50 were found to be solitary, 5 were found to be Pair, and 2 were found to be cluster type. The study found that choosing a nest is influenced directly by the location of the nearest food source and nearest water source in Guwahati city. The study presents the merit and needs for studying the nesting ecology of birds in India, also suggests best practices to conserve bird's nest specific to the Indian context which might provide important information for the nesting ecology of House Sparrows (Passer domesticus). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When organisms respond behaviorally to a stimulus, they exhibit plasticity, but some individuals respond to the same stimulus consistently differently than others, thereby also exhibiting personality differences. Parent house sparrows express individual differences in how often they feed offspring and how that feeding rate changes with nestling age. Mean feeding rate and its slope with respect to nestling age were positively correlated at median nestling ages but not at hatching, indicating that individuality is primarily in plasticity. Individual differences could arise because of (1) interactions between environmental variables, (2) differences in underlying state or "quality," or (3) differences in the ability to update cues of changing nestling demand. Individual slopes were modestly repeatable across breeding attempts, hinting at the likely action of additional environmental variables, but only brood size was important. I also found few correlates suggesting quality differences. I used short-term brood size manipulations at two nestling ages to test divergent predictions between the three hypotheses. The pattern of correlations between response to the manipulation and individual slope did not fit any single hypothesis. Patterns of sparrow parental care reveal that personality and plasticity are not cleanly separable, and their biology is likely intertwined. New thinking may be needed about the factors parents use in decisions about care and the relevant fitness consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a highly successful introduced species, house sparrows (Passer domesticus) respond rapidly to their new habitats, generating phenotypic patterns across their introduced range that resemble variation in native regions. Epigenetic mechanisms likely facilitate the success of introduced house sparrows by aiding particular individuals to adjust their phenotypes plastically to novel conditions. Our objective here was to investigate patterns of DNA methylation among populations of house sparrows at a broad geographic scale that included different introduction histories: invading, established, and native. We defined the invading category as the locations with introductions less than 70 years ago and the established category as the locations with greater than 70 years since introduction. We screened DNA methylation among individuals (n  = 45) by epiRADseq, expecting that variation in DNA methylation among individuals from invading populations would be higher when compared with individuals from established and native populations. Invading house sparrows had the highest variance in DNA methylation of all three groups, but established house sparrows also had higher variance than native ones. The highest number of differently methylated regions were detected between invading and native populations of house sparrow. Additionally, DNA methylation was negatively correlated to time-since introduction, which further suggests that DNA methylation had a role in the successful colonization's of house sparrows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triazoles are among the most widely used fungicides in the world due to their efficacy against fungal crop diseases and their broad spectrum of action. Intensive use of triazoles has resulted in residual contamination in different compartments of agroecosystems and exposes non-target species to potential sublethal effects. Triazoles are known to be immunomodulators in medicine and therapeutic treatments, but very little data is available on their potential effect on immune parameters of non-target vertebrate species living in agroecosystems. In this study, we experimentally examined the impact of tebuconazole on three immune biomarkers (haemagglutination titre (HA), haemolysis titre (HL), and haptoglobin concentration (Hp)), as well as on the body condition of house sparrows (Passer domesticus). Our results suggest that tebuconazole had very little, if any, effect on the studied immune parameters. However, further studies are needed to better assess the effect of tebuconazole on bird immunity because (1) experimental individuals were kept under optimal conditions and the impact of tebuconazole on immunity may occur under suboptimal conditions, (2) only one concentration of tebuconazole was tested and its effect could be dose-dependent and (3) other complementary immunological biomarkers should be studied, given the complexity of the vertebrate immune system. Current knowledge on the potential effects of triazoles on the immunity of wild farmland vertebrates is still largely insufficient. Further physiological and immune studies should be conducted to better understand the effect of triazole fungicides on farmland birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]