| butcherbird polyomavirus isolated from a grey butcherbird (cracticus torquatus) in queensland, australia. | a novel avian polyomavirus was detected in peri-ocular skin lesions collected from a grey butcherbird (cracticus torquatus), using a combination of multiply primed rolling circle amplification, nested pcr and long range pcr. the sequence of butcherbird polyomavirus was determined by combining next generation sequencing and primer walking techniques. the circular double-stranded dna genome of butcherbird polyomavirus consisted of 5084 bp, and encoded six open reading frames (orf-x, vp2, vp3, vp1, ... | 2014 | 24355535 |
| nestlings reduce their predation risk by attending to predator-information encoded within conspecific alarm calls. | predation is one of the main threats to altricial nestlings, with predators often locating nests via eavesdropping on begging signals. nestlings may be able to adjust their begging based on the current level of risk by monitoring both intra- and interspecific alarm calls near the nest. we show that noisy miner (manorina melanocephala) nestlings can differentiate between terrestrial and aerial alarm calls of their own species, as they suppressed begging behaviour for longer in response to terrest ... | 2017 | 28916776 |
| australia's arid-adapted butcherbirds experienced range expansions during pleistocene glacial maxima. | a model of range expansions during glacial maxima (gm) for cold-adapted species is generally accepted for the northern hemisphere. given that gm in australia largely resulted in the expansion of arid zones, rather than glaciation, it could be expected that arid-adapted species might have had expanded ranges at gm, as cold-adapted species did in the northern hemisphere. for australian biota, however, it remains paradigmatic that arid-adapted species contracted to refugia at gm. here we use multil ... | 2014 | 24876071 |
| avian thermoregulation in the heat: evaporative cooling in five australian passerines reveals within-order biogeographic variation in heat tolerance. | evaporative heat loss pathways vary among avian orders, but the extent to which evaporative cooling capacity and heat tolerance vary within orders remains unclear. we quantified the upper limits to thermoregulation under extremely hot conditions in five australian passerines: yellow-plumed honeyeater (lichenostomus ornatus; ∼17 g), spiny-cheeked honeyeater (acanthagenys rufogularis; ∼42 g), chestnut-crowned babbler (pomatostomus ruficeps; ∼52 g), grey butcherbird (cracticus torquatus; ∼86 g) and ... | 2017 | 28455441 |