Tracking studies are often used to inform conservation plans and actions. However, species have frequently only been tracked in one or a few localities, whereas space use can be remarkably flexible, especially in long‐lived species with advanced learning abilities. We assessed variability in space use in the Critically Endangered Hooded Vulture Necrosyrtes monachus by pooling movement data from three populations across the species’ sub‐Saharan range (in South Africa, Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, The Gambia and Mozambique). We estimated minimum convex polygons and kernel density estimators (KDEs) and compared monthly home‐range sizes between breeding and non‐breeding seasons, age‐classes and subspecies, accounting for uneven sampling within groups. Mean (± sd) monthly home‐range sizes (95% KDEs) for adult Hooded Vultures from southern (12 453 ± 21 188 km2, n = 82) and eastern Africa (3735 ± 3652 km2, n = 24) were 103 and 31 times larger than those of conspecifics from western Africa (121 ± 98 km2, n = 48). This may relate partly to subspecific differences, and individuals with small home‐ranges in western Africa and Ethiopia were trapped in urban environments. Regional variation in space use by Hooded Vultures may be linked to flexibility in feeding behaviour (degree of commensalism) which may arise in response to resource availability and persecution in different areas. Age‐class also affected monthly home‐range sizes, with immature birds generally having larger monthly home‐range size estimates than adults. Our results highlight the flexibility of Hooded Vultures in terms of their home‐range sizes and suggest that home‐range sizes differ between populations and individuals, depending on the extent of human commensalism. Our results also reaffirm the importance of international co‐operation in conservation efforts aimed at protecting this wide‐ranging, non‐migratory species.
Phenological mismatch is often cited as a putative driver of population declines in longdistance migratory birds. The mechanisms and cues utilised to advance breeding ground arrival will impact the adaptability of species to further warming. Furthermore, timing of postbreeding migration potentially faces diverging selective pressures, with earlier onset of tropical dry seasons favouring migration advancement, whilst longer growing seasons in temperate areas could facilitate delayed departures. Despite this, few studies exist of migration phenology on the non-breeding grounds or on post-breeding passage. Here, we use firstarrival and last-departure dates of 20 species of trans-Saharan migratory birds from tropical non-breeding grounds (The Gambia), between 1964 and 2019. Additionally, we use firstarrival and last-departure dates, as well as median arrival and departure dates, at an entry/departure site to/from Europe (Gibraltar), between 1991 and 2018. We assess phenological trends in pre-and post-breeding migration, as well as individual species' durations of stay in breeding and non-breeding areas. Furthermore, we assess the extent to which inter-annual variation in these timings may be explained by meteorological and ecological variables.We find significant advances in pre-breeding migration at both locations, whilst post-breeding migration is delayed. At Gibraltar, these trends do not differ between first/last and median dates of migration. The combination of these trends suggests substantial changes in the temporal usage of the two continents by migratory birds. Duration of stay (of species, not individuals) within Europe increased by 16 days, on average, over the 27-year monitoring period. By contrast, duration of species' stays on the non-breeding range declined by 63 days, on average, over the 56-year monitoring period. Taken together these changes suggest substantial, previously unreported alterations to annual routines in Afro-Palearctic migrants.
Brood‐parasitic finches Vidua spp. mimic songs of their foster species, with most Vidua species both mimicking songs and parasitizing nests of a single estrildid finch species. We describe a behavioural radiation in the Cameroon Indigobird Vidua camerunensis. Local populations are polymorphic in behaviour, each male mimicking songs of a single species, with certain males mimicking songs of one species and other males mimicking songs of another host species. The species most often mimicked in song are Black‐bellied Firefinch Lagonosticta rara and African Firefinch L. rubricata; other species mimicked in song are Brown Twinspot Clytospiza monteiri and Dybowski's Twinspot Euschistospiza dybowskii. Indigobirds in the different mimicry song populations do not differ morphologically in plumage colour or size. The lack of morphological differences between male indigobirds with different mimicry songs is consistent with a recent behavioural radiation through host shifts, perhaps facilitated by environmental change associated with prehistoric cultivation of grain. The mimicry song populations of indigobirds, behaviourally imprinted upon different host species, support the idea of a process of speciation driven by a shift to new host species.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.