Proper timing of events in the annual cycle is essential for successful breeding in birds, especially in long-distance migrants. In this study, the phenology of the main breeding phases, including arrival at and departure from the nesting site, is reported for a Lesser Spotted Eagle population. Most data were gathered by 12 to 22 trail cameras annually installed at eagle nests. Additional information was obtained from two web cameras and up to nine GPS-tracked birds. Arrival and departure dates fluctuated between years, but no temporal trends were detected. There was no significant sex-dependent difference in mean arrival time; however, males departed significantly later than females and thus spent longer at the nesting site. Timing of egg-laying was determined solely by the arrival of the later partner. Breeding phenology of the Lesser Spotted Eagle is rather similar across its distribution range, although breeding tends to be earlier at the southern range limit.

Animals compete for resources, and one way to ensure access to resources is by excluding competitors from the area containing the resources. Advances in tracking technology make it possible to quantify the overlap in home ranges between individuals and between populations. We present the first evidence of space partitioning between the two main Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni colonies with the highest numbers of individuals in Italy, and with the highest densities of Lesser Kestrels in inhabited areas in their Eurasian breeding range. Using GPS data loggers, we collected 41,126 GPS points of Lesser Kestrels from both colonies during the nestling period. Home range overlap between the two colonies was almost zero at both 100%- and 99%-isopleths, and zero at 95%- and 90%-isopleths. Using a randomization procedure, we could show that home ranges were more spatially-segregated than expected by chance. We did detect increased overlap in home ranges among individuals within colonies. Although our results require further confirmation, they suggest that competition for food between colonies is weaker due to this strategy of spatial segregation of foraging areas. Our study confirms the recent notion that between-colony areal segregation may be the norm in colonial central-place foragers.

This study aims to select piscivorous bird species to be used as indicators to monitor changes in fish diversity at the Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania. Such species should have a high diet diversity, low dietary overlap and data should be easy to collect. We compared the diets of five colony nesting bird species at the Banc d'Arguin: the Slender-billed Gull Chroicocephalus genei, Caspian Tern Hydroprognecaspia and Royal Tern Thalasseus maximus albididorsalis, which are part of an ongoing monitoring program, and the White-breasted Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo lucidus and Mauritanian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodiabalsaci as potential new additions. All species considerably differed in prey species composition, prey species diversity and prey size. Diet overlap indices varied between 0.05 and 0.69 with the highest overlap values between Mauritanian Spoonbill and Slender-billed Gull. There are major differences between the species in ecological and behavioural mechanisms promoting diet segregation, such as foraging habitat use, foraging ranges and prey-catching techniques. We conclude that the species investigated serve our monitoring goal well. Practical recommendations for the implementation of a monitoring program are given.

The Indian subcontinent is a major wintering area for many migrant birds from Central Asia and Russia and has experienced unprecedented landscape changes over the last two decades. The effects of these changes on the population of bird communities, especially on raptors, are unknown or poorly assessed. Migrant harriers Circus spp. that require large open grassland, savannahs or sparse scrubland to roost and forage in their wintering quarters, have become scarce in recent times. The species composition and abundance of harriers at historically documented roost sites, when monitored across years, can provide valuable information on their demographic status since data from their possible breeding locations in Russia is not readily available. Here, we collate published and unpublished information on various harrier roosts using predefined protocols to assess trends in the counts of harriers in protected and unprotected sites across the Indian subcontinent. Harrier counts across all sites, both protected and unprotected, showed a declining trend over the period 1985–2015. Limited species-specific data from two sites show a significant decline in Western Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus but not in Pallid Harrier C. macrourus and Montagu's Harrier C. pygargus. These may be early signs of population declines at a continental scale, and we urge the development of more robust systematic ways, along with the current method, to monitor harrier populations. There is a need for improvement of international collaborations with researchers in the breeding areas to conduct studies on long range migrants and to set up a national conservation plan to protects harriers and grasslands.

A large part of the world is urbanised, and the process of urbanisation is ongoing. This causes dramatic alterations of species' habitat such as increased night light, sound levels and temperature, along with direct disturbance by human activity. We used eight years of citizen science data from ten common bird species breeding in nest boxes throughout The Netherlands to study the relationship between urbanisation and a key life history trait, timing of breeding. We used nightly light levels in the form of sky brightness and light emission as a proxy for urbanisation as the dramatic change of the night-time environment is a prominent effect of urbanisation. We expected birds to lay earlier in areas with more light at night, i.e. in more urbanised areas. We found, however, no relationship between light levels and seasonal timing in the ten species studied. A limitation of our study is that there was only limited data for the areas that were urbanised most (e.g. inside cities). Most nest box study areas are located in areas with a limited level of urbanisation, and hence with relatively low light levels of light at night. The lack of data on breeding birds in more urbanised environments, which is a rapidly expanding habitat for an increasing number of species worldwide, should be the focus of attention and citizen science would be highly suitable to also provide data for such areas.

Blood sampling from the brachial vein and sub-cutaneous implantation of PIT-tags (‘passive integrated transponders’) are techniques widely practiced in ornithological research. Longer-term consequences of these procedures (across months or years) have been studied in detail. However, it remains largely unknown how blood sampling and PIT-tagging affect birds during and immediately following the procedure. Here, we test the impact of these procedures on respiration rate and on behavioural correlates of avian pain, stress, and discomfort in the Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus. Ten wild-caught Blue Tits were divided in two groups: five were measured, ringed, blood sampled and implanted with a PIT tag (‘treatment birds’); the other five were handled in the same way, but blood sampling and PIT-tagging were conducted as a sham-procedure (‘control birds’). Treatment and control birds did not differ in respiration rates during handling, but treatment birds showed behaviours indicative of an acute stress event associated with brief and moderate pain. Following release in an aviary, treatment and control birds did not differ in behaviour. Birds showed no indication of pain or stress. Instead, they foraged, preened and explored the aviary immediately after handling. Individuals spent much of their time pecking at their new rings. Our results suggest that blood sampling and implantation of PIT-tags have limited short-term effects on Blue Tits. However, the process of handling and ringing itself may have substantial behavioural consequences, which may be relevant for animal welfare and the quality of collected data.

The Dobrogea region in southeastern Romania, which is part of the Eurasian-East African Flyway, is listed as one of the important migration corridors for soaring birds on the western coast of the Black Sea. However, our knowledge regarding migration intensity, phenology and geographical patterns of soaring birds over the area is poor. To determine the migration intensity and phenology of soaring birds, we recorded the autumn migration in the Măcin Mountains (northern Dobrogea) from mid-August to the end of October between 2002–2007. To describe the geographical patterns of migration at a regional scale, we recorded migration intensity in the second half of September in 2010 and 2011, simultaneously from 15 and 13 counting points, respectively, covering the entire region of Dobrogea. In the Măcin Mountains we recorded a mean number (±SD) of 11,297 ± 2333.5 (CV = 20.7%) migrating raptors per year, and of 21,367 ± 10,949.3 (51.2%) and 455.6 ± 43.6 (9.6%) migrating White Storks Ciconia ciconia and Black Storks Ciconia nigra, respectively. Migration phenology parameters varied across raptor and non-raptor species. Migration occurred over a broad front, covering all of Dobrogea. However, migration intensity was more pronounced in the western, central and eastern parts of the region, and was less intensive in the northern central areas. Overall, we recorded 30 migrating raptor species and three non-raptor species. The most abundant raptors were Common Buzzard Buteo buteo, European Honey Buzzard Pernis apivorus, Lesser Spotted Eagle Clanga pomarina, Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus and Western Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus. The three non-raptor species were White Stork, Black Stork and Great White Pelican Pelecanus onocrotalus. Our study provides the first general overview of the autumn passage of soaring birds over Dobrogea, highlighting the importance of this area as part of a global migration network.

The identity of Azara's No. 240 “Cola aguda cola de canela obscura” and the name Sylvia ruficollisVieillot, 1817 which is based on it has been widely discussed, but never convincingly elucidated. Azara obtained the specimen from the “barbarians of Paraguay” and the distinctive tail pattern that he described narrows the identity down to three species in the Paraguayan avifauna, two in the genus Asthenes and Phacellodomus sibilatrix. Much confusion about the identity of Azara's birds has been previously caused by Vieillot's tendency to omit the morphometrics provided in the original description. In this case, it is possible to confirm the identity of Sylvia ruficollis as Phacellodomus sibilatrix. In order to maintain nomenclatural stability, it is recommended that the older name Sylvia ruficollis be suppressed.