The checklist of birds of Rajkot district, Gujarat, India with a note on probable local extinction

Rajkot District in Gujarat, India harbours abundant avifauna, yet systematic checklists of this region are lacking. Here we present a checklist of bird in key habitats both natural and man-made, including grasslands, open lands with scattered scrub forests, wetlands (urban lakes) and reservoirs in Rajkot District. We report 348 species of birds belonging to 74 families and 22 orders, of which 281 species were observed by us during the survey and 67 species were compiled from published literature. Species recorded were from the orders Passeriformes (140), Charadriiformes (50), Accipitriformes (28), Anseriformes (19), and Pelecaniformes (19); 316 species were classed as  Least Concern (LC), 18 Near Threatened (NT), eight Vulnerable (VU), two Endangered (EN), and four Critically Endangered (CR) as per IUCN. One-hundred-and-forty-six species are resident, 138 winter visitors, 13 monsoon migrants, 12 vagrants, 12 local migrant, and the rest have multiple migratory status. With regards to habitat suitability, 116 species are aquatic (wetland dependant), 67 open land, 66 forest, 19 grassland, and the remainder show overlaps in habitat preference. A total of 124 species are found to breed in Rajkot District. It is important to note that 17 species have not been sighted in and around Rajkot District since 1990, hence they are listed as locally extinct, along with four Data Deficient species. 

Evidence for high inter-generational individual quality in yellow-eyed penguins

Longitudinal studies focusing on lifetime reproductive success (LRS) have been used to measure individual breeding performance and identify commonalities among successful breeders. By extending the focus to subsequent generations we identify a proportion of high-quality individuals that contribute disproportionately to the population over multiple generations. We used 23 years of yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) breeding data from one breeding area to identify the proportion of individual birds that raised successful breeders, which in turn raised offspring. We explored which life-history components influenced LRS, as this knowledge would enable conservation resources to be focused on high-performing individuals in this endangered population. From 2,147 birds marked as chicks, 370 (17.2%) survived to adulthood and recruited to their natal location, of which 219 (10.2%) fledged offspring: 124 (56.6%) of the 219 birds produced offspring that recruited as breeders. Only 102 birds (4.8% of 2,147) fledged first-generation offspring that in turn fledged offspring (second-generation offspring, or grand-offspring). We found that ∼25% of the birds that survived to breed had above-average LRS as well as above-average numbers of grand-offspring, and were more likely to have produced first-generation chicks that recruited and also produced above-average numbers of second-generation chicks. Our findings suggest that there is a core of “super-breeders” that contribute disproportionately to the population over successive generations. Lifespan and age-at-first-breeding were correlated with LRS. We suggest that traits of birds relating to longevity, health (e.g., immunocompetence) and fitness could be examined to identify potential links with high LRS and inter-generational fecundity. “Super-breeders” appear to consistently achieve high LRS and long lifespans in a stochastic environment, demonstrating greater resilience in the face of extreme events.

Population and Nesting Records of House Sparrow <i>Passer domesticus </i> in Yellampet, Nizamabad District, Telangana, India

We studied the population and nesting records of House Sparrow Passer domesticus during winter in Yellampet village, Telangana. The ecological density of House Sparrow was investigated using fixed width transects. The density of sparrow vary from 15 to 335 per hectare in different transects. Bonferroni confidence interval was used to know the preference of location types i.e., houses, shops and hotels for foraging and nesting. Shops were used significantly more than expected according to availability of nest sites and also for foraging. A total of 81 active nests were recorded. The present study shows that a handful breeding population of House Sparrow harboring in Yellampet village.

Importance of farmland in urbanized areas as a landscape component for barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) nesting on concrete buildings

Urbanization is one of the key factors in the population declines of many species. Conversely, some species may favor urbanized areas. The barn swallow Hirundo rustica is well known to breed in urban areas of Japan, and uses both urban and farmland areas as habitat during the breeding season. Specifically, this species often nests on concrete buildings and feeds in surrounding farmland. Therefore, it was hypothesized that H. rustica is not strongly influenced by heavy urbanization and benefits from farmland areas, even if they are not near its nests. In this study, I evaluated the landscape components around H. rustica nests situated on concrete buildings, focusing on both urbanized and farmland areas. In particular, I explored the occurrence of H. rustica nests at train stations in the Kinki region of Japan. Assisted by 124 citizen scientists, I analyzed the landscape components around the train stations at multiple spatial scales. Results showed that the occurrence of H. rustica nests was negatively influenced by both urbanized land area and road density, whereas nest occurrence was positively influenced by farmland area and river density. These results suggest that H. rustica does not prefer urbanized areas overall, but can rather utilize urbanized areas primarily as nesting spots. Therefore, H. rustica cannot breed in heavily urbanized areas without feeding sites such as farmland or riparian areas.

A review of the direct and indirect effects of neonicotinoids and fipronil on vertebrate wildlife

Concerns over the role of pesticides affecting vertebrate wildlife populations have recently focussed on systemic products which exert broad-spectrum toxicity. Given that the neonicotinoids have become the fastest-growing class of insecticides globally, we review here 150 studies of their direct (toxic) and indirect (e.g. food chain) effects on vertebrate wildlife--mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles. We focus on two neonicotinoids, imidacloprid and clothianidin, and a third insecticide, fipronil, which also acts in the same systemic manner. Imidacloprid and fipronil were found to be toxic to many birds and most fish, respectively. All three insecticides exert sub-lethal effects, ranging from genotoxic and cytotoxic effects, and impaired immune function, to reduced growth and reproductive success, often at concentrations well below those associated with mortality. Use of imidacloprid and clothianidin as seed treatments on some crops poses risks to small birds, and ingestion of even a few treated seeds could cause mortality or reproductive impairment to sensitive bird species. In contrast, environmental concentrations of imidacloprid and clothianidin appear to be at levels below those which will cause mortality to freshwater vertebrates, although sub-lethal effects may occur. Some recorded environmental concentrations of fipronil, however, may be sufficiently high to harm fish. Indirect effects are rarely considered in risk assessment processes and there is a paucity of data, despite the potential to exert population-level effects. Our research revealed two field case studies of indirect effects. In one, reductions in invertebrate prey from both imidacloprid and fipronil uses led to impaired growth in a fish species, and in another, reductions in populations in two lizard species were linked to effects of fipronil on termite prey. Evidence presented here suggests that the systemic insecticides, neonicotinoids and fipronil, are capable of exerting direct and indirect effects on terrestrial and aquatic vertebrate wildlife, thus warranting further review of their environmental safety.

Potential misuse of avian density as a conservation metric

Effective conservation metrics are needed to evaluate the success of management in a rapidly changing world. Reproductive rates and densities of breeding birds (as a surrogate for reproductive rate) have been used to indicate the quality of avian breeding habitat, but the underlying assumptions of these metrics rarely have been examined. When birds are attracted to breeding areas in part by the presence of conspecifics and when breeding in groups influences predation rates, the effectiveness of density and reproductive rate as indicators of habitat quality is reduced. It is beneficial to clearly distinguish between individual- and population-level processes when evaluating habitat quality. We use the term reproductive rate to refer to both levels and further distinguish among levels by using the terms per capita fecundity (number of female offspring per female per year, individual level) and population growth rate (the product of density and per capita fecundity, population level). We predicted how density and reproductive rate interact over time under density-independent and density-dependent scenarios, assuming the ideal free distribution model of how birds settle in breeding habitats. We predicted population density of small populations would be correlated positively with both per capita fecundity and population growth rate due to the Allee effect. For populations in the density-dependent growth phase, we predicted no relation between density and per capita fecundity (because individuals in all patches will equilibrate to the same success rate) and a positive relation between density and population growth rate. Several ecological theories collectively suggest that positive correlations between density and per capita fecundity would be difficult to detect. We constructed a decision tree to guide interpretation of positive, neutral, nonlinear, and negative relations between density and reproductive rates at individual and population levels.

Large-brained mammals live longer

Many mammals have brains substantially larger than expected for their body size, but the reasons for this remain ambiguous. Enlarged brains are metabolically expensive and require elongated developmental periods, and so natural selection should have favoured their evolution only if they provide counterbalancing advantages. One possible advantage is facilitating the construction of behavioural responses to unusual, novel or complex socio-ecological challenges. This buffer effect should increase survival rates and favour a longer reproductive life, thereby compensating for the costs of delayed reproduction. Here, using a global database of 493 species, we provide evidence showing that mammals with enlarged brains (relative to their body size) live longer and have a longer reproductive lifespan. Our analysis supports and extends previous findings, accounting for the possible confounding effects of other life history traits, ecological and dietary factors, and phylogenetic autocorrelation. Thus, these findings provide support for the hypothesis that mammals counterbalance the costs of affording large brains with a longer reproductive life.

Ecomorphological predictors of natal dispersal distances in birds

1. Dispersal is one of the key ecological parameters but it is very difficult to quantify directly. As a consequence, empirical studies often ignore dispersal or use indirect measures. 2. Ringing data have previously been used to estimate the natal dispersal distances of 47 British passerine bird species. This provides an excellent opportunity to examine the potential of various indirect measures to predict natal dispersal distances in British birds. 3. We use a phylogenetic comparative framework and single- and multipredictor models including ecomorphological, behavioural or ecological traits to predict natal dispersal distance. 4. A multipredictor model that includes Kipp's distance (a measure of wing tip length), bill depth and tail graduation explains 45% of the interspecific variation in natal dispersal distance. These morphological characters all relate to aerodynamics with stronger flyers dispersing further. 5. However, an index of migration is a strong (but less informative) correlate of dispersal distance and Kipp's distance and bill depth are strong correlates of migration. Thus, we cannot disentangle whether these ecomorphological traits influence dispersal distance directly or whether the relationship between ecomorphology and dispersal is mediated through migratory behaviour. 6. Notwithstanding uncertainties regarding the causal links between dispersal distance and wing morphology, we suggest that two ecomorphological traits, Kipp's distance and bill depth, may provide a useful surrogate.

Brain size, innovative propensity and migratory behaviour in temperate Palaearctic birds

The evolution of migration in birds remains an outstanding, unresolved question in evolutionary ecology. A particularly intriguing question is why individuals in some species have been selected to migrate, whereas in other species they have been selected to be sedentary. In this paper, we suggest that this diverging selection might partially result from differences among species in the behavioural flexibility of their responses to seasonal changes in the environment. This hypothesis is supported in a comparative analysis of Palaearctic passerines. First, resident species tend to rely more on innovative feeding behaviours in winter, when food is harder to find, than in other seasons. Second, species with larger brains, relative to their body size, and a higher propensity for innovative behaviours tend to be resident, while less flexible species tend to be migratory. Residence also appears to be less likely in species that occur in more northerly regions, exploit temporally available food sources, inhabit non-buffered habitats and have smaller bodies. Yet, the role of behavioural flexibility as a response to seasonal environments is largely independent of these other factors. Therefore, species with greater foraging flexibility seem to be able to cope with seasonal environments better, while less flexible species are forced to become migratory.

The role of vocal individuality in conservation

Identifying the individuals within a population can generate information on life history parameters, generate input data for conservation models, and highlight behavioural traits that may affect management decisions and error or bias within census methods. Individual animals can be discriminated by features of their vocalisations. This vocal individuality can be utilised as an alternative marking technique in situations where the marks are difficult to detect or animals are sensitive to disturbance. Vocal individuality can also be used in cases were the capture and handling of an animal is either logistically or ethically problematic. Many studies have suggested that vocal individuality can be used to count and monitor populations over time; however, few have explicitly tested the method in this role. In this review we discuss methods for extracting individuality information from vocalisations and techniques for using this to count and monitor populations over time. We present case studies in birds where vocal individuality has been applied to conservation and we discuss its role in mammals.

Does hippocampal size correlate with the degree of caching specialization?

A correlation between the degree of specialization for food hoarding and the volume of the hippocampal formation in passerine birds has been accepted for over a decade. The relationship was first demonstrated in family-level comparisons, and subsequently in species comparisons within two families containing a large number of hoarding species, the Corvidae and the Paridae. Recently, this approach has been criticized as invalid and excessively adaptationist. A recent test of the predicted trends with data pooled from previous studies found no evidence for such a correlation in either of these two families. This result has been interpreted as support for the critique. Here we reanalyse the original dataset and also include additional new data on several parid species. Our results show a surprising difference between continents, with North American species possessing significantly smaller hippocampi than Eurasian ones. Controlling for the continent effect makes the hoarding capacity/hippocampal formation correlation clearly significant in both families. We discuss possible reasons for the continent effect.

The influence of differential survival on the distribution of fluctuating asymmetry--a modelling approach

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is frequently used as a potential marker of developmental stress. It is usually assumed that the distribution of FA within a population is statistically normal with a mean of zero. The relationships between three different FA-dependent survival functions and the resultant FA distribution of surviving individuals are explored. It is shown that with any biologically plausible relationship between survival and FA the resultant distribution is not normal and that this non-normality is dependent upon the form of the survival-FA relationship. Two survival probability functions resulted in leptokurtic distributions, whereas a third generated a slight decline in kurtosis values.

Extinction risk to bird populations caused by DDT exposure

The impact of toxic chemicals on wild animals and plants can be quantified in terms of the enhanced risk of population extinction. To illustrate a method for doing this, we estimated such impact for two bird species: herring gull (Larus argentatus) in Long Island, NY, and sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) in eastern England, when they were exposed to DDT (p,p(')-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) and its metabolites (called DDTs). The method we used is based on a formula of the mean time to population extinction derived for a stochastic differential equation (the canonical model). The intrinsic rate of natural population growth was estimated from an exponentially growing population, and the intensity of the environmental fluctuation was estimated from the magnitude of population size fluctuation. The effect of exposure to DDTs in reducing the population growth rate was evaluated based on an age-structured population model, by assuming that age-specific fertility is density-dependent and sensitive to DDTs exposure, but age-specific survivorship is not. The results are expressed in terms of the risk equivalent--the decrease in carrying capacity K that causes the same enhancement of extinction risk as chemical exposure at a given level. The risk equivalent can be used in mitigation banking.

The environmental implications of intensified land use in developing countries

The major agricultural intensifications in the developed world over the last half century have produced a range of important environmental problems. These include pollution, damage to wildlife and landscape and other issues, both on- and off-site. These are largely being controlled by scientific investigation and Government regulation. As developing countries increase agricultural production over the next 30 years, this may also cause even more serious environmental damage.

The paper distinguishes between production-related on-site damage, and off-site and more extensive effects. Both may involve soil and water effects, such as soil erosion, salinization, siltation, eutrophication and loss of water quality. The use of more agrochemicals can damage water quality, health, wildlife and biodiversity. Loss of habitat from the extension of farming is particularly damaging to biodiversity. A developing off-site problem is the production of greenhouse gases by farming systems, including the conversion of forests to farmland. In the future the introduction of genetically engineered species of plants, animals or microbes will need secure control.

Work, probably on a catchment basis, is necessary to understand and control these problems. The three main requirements are much better environmental information from the developing world; the selection of environmental indicators to be monitored; and the support of local farmers in protecting the environment. There are encouraging indications of farmer concern and action over obvious on-site damage, but this may not extend to extensive off-site issues. The main danger is that developing food scarcity would cause the environmental issues to be ignored in a race for production.