Publications

gastrointestinal parasites in captive and free-ranging birds and potential cross-transmission in a zoo environment.	gastrointestinal parasites are commonly reported in wild birds, but transmission amongst avifauna in zoological settings, and between these captive birds and wild birds in surrounding areas, remains poorly understood. a survey was undertaken to investigate the occurrence of gastrointestinal parasites in captive and free-ranging birds at bristol zoo gardens between may and july 2016. a total of 348 fecal samples from 32 avian species were examined using the mini-flotac flotation method. parasites ...	2018	29517437
population genetics and characterization of campylobacter jejuni isolates from western jackdaws and game birds in finland.	poultry are considered a major reservoir and source of human campylobacteriosis, but the roles of environmental reservoirs, including wild birds, have not been assessed in depth. in this study, we isolated and characterized campylobacter jejuni from western jackdaws (n = 91, 43%), mallard ducks (n = 82, 76%), and pheasants (n = 9, 9%). most of the western jackdaw and mallard duck c. jejuni isolates represented multilocus sequence typing (mlst) sequence types (sts) that diverged from those previo ...	2019	30552190
effects of host sex, body mass and infection by avian plasmodium on the biting rate of two mosquito species with different feeding preferences.	the transmission of mosquito-borne pathogens is strongly influenced by the contact rates between mosquitoes and susceptible hosts. the biting rates of mosquitoes depend on different factors including the mosquito species and host-related traits (i.e. odour, heat and behaviour). however, host characteristics potentially affecting intraspecific differences in the biting rate of mosquitoes are poorly known. here, we assessed the impact of three host-related traits on the biting rate of two mosquito ...	2019	30867014
prevalence and genomic characteristics of zoonotic gastro-intestinal pathogens and esbl/pampc producing enterobacteriaceae among swedish corvid birds.	introduction: wild birds pose a potential threat to animal and human health by spreading infectious diseases. in the present study, we studied the occurrence of bacterial zoonotic pathogens as well as enterobacteria with transferrable antimicrobial resistance genes among swedish corvids. materials and methods: intestines from 66 jackdaws, crows, rooks and magpies from the vicinity of livestock farms at 14 locations in 7 counties were analysed by direct culture or pcr screening followed by cultur ...	2019	32002147
emergence of genetic diversity and multi-drug resistant campylobacter jejuni from wild birds in beijing, china.	campylobacter jejuni (c. jejuni) is considered as an opportunistic zoonotic pathogen that may cause gastroenteritis in humans and other animals. wild birds may be as potential vectors of c. jejuni around urban and suburban areas. here, 520 samples were collected from 33 wild bird species in urban and suburban areas, beijing. in total 57 c. jejuni were isolated from seven species. it was found that nineteen (33.33%, 19/57) isolates were resistant to at least one of 11 antibiotics, especially stre ...	2019	31736887
social learning about dangerous people by wild jackdaws.	for animals that live alongside humans, people can present both an opportunity and a threat. previous studies have shown that several species can learn to discriminate between individual people and assess risk based on prior experience. to avoid potentially costly encounters, it may also pay individuals to learn about dangerous people based on information from others. social learning about anthropogenic threats is likely to be beneficial in habitats dominated by human activity, but experimental ...	2019	31598321
epigenetic inheritance of telomere length in wild birds.	telomere length (tl) predicts health and survival across taxa. variation in tl between individuals is thought to be largely of genetic origin, but telomere inheritance is unusual, because zygotes already express a tl phenotype, the tl of the parental gametes. offspring tl changes with paternal age in many species including humans, presumably through age-related tl changes in sperm, suggesting an epigenetic inheritance mechanism. however, present evidence is based on cross-sectional analyses, and ...	2019	30763308
comparative analysis of avian hearts provides little evidence for variation among species with acquired endothermy.	mammals and birds acquired high performance hearts and endothermy during their independent evolution from amniotes with many sauropsid features. a literature review shows that the variation in atrial morphology is greater in mammals than in ectothermic sauropsids. we therefore hypothesized that the transition from ectothermy to endothermy was associated with greater variation in cardiac structure. we tested the hypothesis in 14 orders of birds by assessing the variation in 15 cardiac structures ...	2019	30667083
behavioural plasticity and the transition to order in jackdaw flocks.	collective behaviour is typically thought to arise from individuals following fixed interaction rules. the possibility that interaction rules may change under different circumstances has thus only rarely been investigated. here we show that local interactions in flocks of wild jackdaws (corvus monedula) vary drastically in different contexts, leading to distinct group-level properties. jackdaws interact with a fixed number of neighbours (topological interactions) when traveling to roosts, but co ...	2019	31729384
correction to 'evidence for individual discrimination and numerical assessment in collective antipredator behaviour in wild jackdaws (corvus monedula)'.		2019	31690210
collective turns in jackdaw flocks: kinematics and information transfer.	the rapid, cohesive turns of bird flocks are one of the most vivid examples of collective behaviour in nature, and have attracted much research. three-dimensional imaging techniques now allow us to characterize the kinematics of turning and their group-level consequences in precise detail. we measured the kinematics of flocks of wild jackdaws executing collective turns in two contexts: during transit to roosts and anti-predator mobbing. all flocks reduced their speed during turns, probably becau ...	2019	31640502
evidence for individual discrimination and numerical assessment in collective antipredator behaviour in wild jackdaws (corvus monedula).	collective responses to threats occur throughout the animal kingdom but little is known about the cognitive processes underpinning them. antipredator mobbing is one such response. approaching a predator may be highly risky, but the individual risk declines and the likelihood of repelling the predator increases in larger mobbing groups. the ability to appraise the number of conspecifics involved in a mobbing event could therefore facilitate strategic decisions about whether to join. mobs are comm ...	2019	31573430
local interactions and their group-level consequences in flocking jackdaws.	as one of nature's most striking examples of collective behaviour, bird flocks have attracted extensive research. however, we still lack an understanding of the attractive and repulsive forces that govern interactions between individuals within flocks and how these forces influence neighbours' relative positions and ultimately determine the shape of flocks. we address these issues by analysing the three-dimensional movements of wild jackdaws ( corvus monedula) in flocks containing 2-338 individu ...	2019	31266425
exploring individual and social learning in jackdaws (corvus monedula).	information about novel environments or foods can be gathered via individual or social learning. whereas individual learning is assumed to be more costly and less effective than social learning, it also yields more detailed information. juveniles are often found to be more explorative than adults. still under the protection of their parents, this allows them to sample their environment in preparation for later in life. we tested individual and social learning in jackdaws (corvus monedula) of dif ...	2019	31148101
costs and benefits of social relationships in the collective motion of bird flocks.	current understanding of collective behaviour in nature is based largely on models that assume that identical agents obey the same interaction rules, but in reality interactions may be influenced by social relationships among group members. here, we show that social relationships transform local interactions and collective dynamics. we tracked individuals' three-dimensional trajectories within flocks of jackdaws, a species that forms lifelong pair-bonds. reflecting this social system, we find th ...	2019	31061474
testing relationship recognition in wild jackdaws (corvus monedula).	according to the social intelligence hypothesis, understanding the challenges faced by social animals is key to understanding the evolution of cognition. in structured social groups, recognising the relationships of others is often important for predicting the outcomes of interactions. third-party relationship recognition has been widely investigated in primates, but studies of other species are limited. furthermore, few studies test for third-party relationship recognition in the wild, where co ...	2019	31040366
the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase and darpp-32 in the house crow (corvus splendens) brain.	birds of the family corvidae which includes diverse species such as crows, rooks, ravens, magpies, jays, and jackdaws are known for their amazing abilities at problem-solving. since the catecholaminergic system, especially the neurotransmitter dopamine, plays a role in cognition, we decided to study the distribution of tyrosine hydroxylase (th), the rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of catecholamines in the brain of house crows (corvus splendens). we also studied the expression of darpp-32 ( ...	2019	30697741
free-ranging avifauna as a source of generalist parasites for captive birds in zoological settings: an overview of parasite records and potential for cross-transmission.	captive birds in zoological settings often harbor parasites, but little information is available about the potential for free-ranging avifauna to act as a source of infection. this review summarizes the gastrointestinal parasites found in zoo birds globally and in seven common free-ranging avian species [mallard (anas platyrhynchos), eurasian blackbird (turdus merula), common starling (sturnus vulgaris), eurasian jackdaw (corvus monedula), house sparrow (passer domesticus), european robin (erith ...	2020	33005675
genetic monogamy despite frequent extrapair copulations in "strictly monogamous" wild jackdaws.	"monogamy" refers to different components of pair exclusiveness: the social pair, sexual partners, and the genetic outcome of sexual encounters. avian monogamy is usually defined socially or genetically, whereas quantifications of sexual behavior remain scarce. jackdaws (corvus monedula) are considered a rare example of strict monogamy in songbirds, with lifelong pair bonds and little genetic evidence for extrapair (ep) offspring. yet jackdaw copulations, although accompanied by loud copulation ...	2020	32372855
experimentally increased brood size accelerates actuarial senescence and increases subsequent reproductive effort in a wild bird population.	the assumption that reproductive effort decreases somatic state, accelerating ageing, is central to our understanding of life-history variation. maximal reproductive effort early in life is predicted to be maladaptive by accelerating ageing disproportionally, decreasing fitness. optimality theory predicts that reproductive effort is restrained early in life to balance the fitness contribution of reproduction against the survival cost induced by the reproductive effort. when adaptive, the level o ...	2020	32037534