Journal of Avian Biology 

About: Journal of Avian Biology is an academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Population & Nest. It has an ISSN identifier of 0908-8857. Over the lifetime, 2252 publications have been published receiving 74400 citations.

A simple and universal method for molecular sexing of non-ratite birds

Abstract: Molecular sexing is an attractive means to determine the sex of sexually monomorphic birds, e.g. chicks of most species. A universal approach for molecular sexing of birds would require that a conserved W chromosome-linked sequence could be analysed, but no single gene has previously been known from any avian W chromosome. The recent discovery of the CHD1W gene, apparently W-linked in all non-ratite birds, has opened new possibilities in this direction, although there is a problem in that the gene also exists in a very similar copy on the Z chromosome (CHD1Z). Here we describe a universal method for molecular sexing of non-ratite birds which is based on the detection of a constant size difference between CHD1W and CHD1Z introns. Using highly conserved primers flanking the intron, PCR amplification and agarose electrophoresis, females are characterised by displaying one (CHD1W) or two fragments (CHD1W and CHD1Z), while males only show one fragment (CHD1Z) clearly different in size from the female-specific CHD1W fragment. With one particular pair of primers (2550F and 2718R) we applied this test to 50 bird species from 11 orders throughout the avian phylogeny, successfully sexing 47 of the species. Using an alternative pair of primers, the three failing species could be reliably sexed. This means that a simple, rapid and cheap universal system for molecular sexing of non-ratite birds is now available.

Glacial history and colonization of Europe by the blue tit Parus caeruleus

Abstract: Mitochondrial control region sequences from European populations of the blue tit Parus caeruleus were used to reveal the Pleistocene history and the post-glacial recolonization of Europe by the species. The southern subspecies, P. c. ogliastrae was found to represent a stable population with isolation-by-distance structure harboring a lot of genetic variation, and the northern subspecies P. c. caeruleus a recently bottlenecked and expanded population. We suggest that after the last Ice Ages, the subspecies have colonized Europe from two different southern refuges following previously proposed general recolonization routes from the Balkans to northern and Central Europe, and from the Iberian Peninsula north- and eastwards. The two subspecies form a wide secondary contact zone extending from southern Spain to southern France.

Life history evolution in tropical and south temperate birds : What do we really know ?

Abstract: ity in driving life history evolution (e.g., Cole 1954, Murphy 1968, Charlesworth 1980, Reznick and Bryga 1987, Curio 1989, Reznick et al. 1990). Yet, food is thought to be more important in birds (Lack 1948, 1968, Murphy and Haukioja 1986, Martin 1987). Nest predation is a theoretical alternative to food limitation (Slagsvold 1982, Lima 1987, Martin 1992) and recent evidence suggests that nest predation may exert a greater influence on life history evolution than previously thought (Slagsvold 1982, Martin 1993a, b, 1995, Martin and Clobert 1996, McCleery et al. 1996). However, nest predation may often interact with food limitation to influence life history traits (Lima 1987, Martin 1992, 1995). These contrasting and interacting roles of food limitation versus mortality (nest predation) make birds an intriguing system for examining ecological and evolutionary causes of life history variation.

Flying, fasting, and feeding in birds during migration: a nutritional and physiological ecology perspective

Abstract: Unlike exercising mammals, migratory birds fuel very high intensity exercise (e.g., flight) with fatty acids delivered from the adipose tissue to the working muscles by the circulatory system. Given the primary importance of fatty acids for fueling intense exercise, we discuss the likely limiting steps in lipid transport and oxidation for exercising birds and the ecological factors that affect the quality and quantity of fat stored in wild birds. Most stored lipids in migratory birds are comprised of three fatty acids (16:0, 18:1 and 18:2) even though migratory birds have diverse food habits. Diet selection and selective metabolism of lipids play important roles in determining the fatty acid composition of birds which, in turn, affects energetic performance during intense exercise. As such, migratory birds offer an intriguing model for studying the implications of lipid metabolism and obesity on exercise performance. We conclude with a discussion of the energetic costs of migratory flight and stopover in birds, and its implications for bird migration strategies.