| examination of mercury concentration in the feathers of 18 species of birds in southwest iran. | this paper presents the levels of mercury (hg) in tail feathers from different species of birds, in southwest iran (khuzestan to persian gulf). between april and october 2005, we collected tail feathers from 77 birds belonging to 18 species, mostly raptor birds. the birds were collected for the museum natural history, faculty of natural resources and marine sciences of tarbiat modares university. hg concentrations were evaluated in relation to taxonomic affiliation and trophic level. feather hg ... | 2007 | 17307157 |
| social information in nest colonisation and occupancy in a long-lived, solitary breeding bird. | recent work increasingly reveals the importance of social information in individual dispersal decisions, population dynamics and conservation. much of the knowledge gained to date comes from studies on short-lived and/or densely breeding species. in contrast, our understanding of the processes involved in nest-site selection for long-lived, solitary breeding species is insufficient. we increased nest-site availability by nest-box supplementation over a 5-year period in a population of a long-liv ... | 2010 | 21110205 |
| genetic characterization of a novel picornavirus distantly related to the marine mammal-infecting aquamaviruses in a long-distance migrant bird species, european roller (coracias garrulus). | despite the continuously growing number of known avian picornaviruses (family picornaviridae), knowledge of their genetic diversity in wild birds, especially in long-distance migrant species is very limited. in this study, we report the presence of a novel picornavirus identified from one of 18 analysed faecal samples of an afro-palearctic migrant bird, the european roller (coracias garrulus l., 1758), which is distantly related to the marine-mammal-infecting seal aquamavirus a1 (genus aquamavir ... | 2013 | 23804566 |
| identification and complete genome analysis of kobuvirus in faecal samples of european roller (coracias garrulus): for the first time in a bird. | the genus kobuvirus (picornaviridae) consists of three species, aichivirus a (e.g., aichi virus, which infects humans), aichivirus b and aichivirus c. kobuvirus have not been detected in non-mammal species including birds. in this study, a novel kobuvirus was identified in 3 (17 %) out of 18 faecal samples collected from european rollers (coracias garrulus) in hungary. the complete genome sequence of strain szal6-kov/2011/hun (kj934637), which was determined using a novel 5'/3' race method (dsrn ... | 2015 | 25195063 |
| prevalence, diversity and characterization of enterococci from three coraciiform birds. | coraciiform birds hoopoe (upupa epops), common kingfisher (alcedo atthis) and european roller (coracius garrulus) were examined for enterococci in their cloacae and uropygial glands. the enterococcal isolates were identified at the species level using several genomic and proteomic methods, screened for antibiotic susceptibility and genotyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (pfge). clonality of isolates from the common kingfisher was also assessed by multi-locus sequence typing (mlst). using ... | 2015 | 25772302 |
| detection of a mammalian-like astrovirus in bird, european roller (coracias garrulus). | astroviruses are small, non-enveloped viruses with positive sense, single-stranded rna genomes. the family astroviridae contains two genera, mamastrovirus and avastrovirus, which – based upon our current knowledge – infect mammals and birds, respectively. however, recent seroprevalence study indicated that people with contact to turkeys can develop serological responses to the turkey astrovirus and minks might have been infected with the avastrovirus. these data suggest that the "host species/as ... | 2015 | 26096774 |
| predation risk determines breeding territory choice in a mediterranean cavity-nesting bird community. | non-direct effects of predation can be an important component of the total effect of predation, modulating animal population and community dynamics. the isolated effects of predation risk on the spatial organisation of the breeding bird community, however, remains poorly studied. we investigated whether an experimentally increased predation risk prior to reproduction affected breeding territory selection and subsequent reproductive strategies in three mediterranean cavity-nesting birds, i.e., th ... | 2011 | 20652593 |
| sex difference in condition dependence of carotenoid gapes in the eurasian roller (coracias garrulus). | in altricial birds, sex differentiation can start early in the ontogeny in the form of color, physiology, and/or growth and may potentially result in sex-specific condition dependence of traits mediating parent-offspring communication. carotenoids have long been hypothesized to modulate the expression of gape coloration, but their sex-specific role enforcing honesty of gape coloration remains poorly studied. in a within-nest design, we provided carotenoid supplementation to nestlings of the eura ... | 2016 | 27792533 |
| nest ecology of blood parasites in the european roller and its ectoparasitic carnid fly. | haemosporidian parasites are considered the most important vector-borne parasites. however, vector identity and ecology is unknown for most such host-vector-parasite systems. in this study, we employ microscopic and molecular analyses to examine haemosporidian prevalence in a migratory, cavity-nesting bird, european roller coracias garrulus, and its nidicolous blood-feeding ectoparasite carnus hemapterus. this system is unique in that the ectoparasite is confined to a near-closed environment, in ... | 2016 | 26993083 |
| disentangling migratory routes and wintering grounds of iberian near-threatened european rollers coracias garrulus. | long-distance migrants are suffering drastic declines in the last decades. causes beneath this problem are complex due to the wide spatial and temporal scale involved. we aim to reveal migratory routes, stopover areas, wintering grounds, and migratory strategies for the most southwestern populations of the near-threatened european roller coracias garrulus in order to identify conservation key areas for the non-breeding stage of this species. to this end, we used tracking data from seven satellit ... | 2014 | 25551212 |
| complete genome characterization of mosavirus (family picornaviridae) identified in droppings of a european roller (coracias garrulus) in hungary. | mosavirus (mosavirus a1, m-7/2010/usa, jf973687), a novel picornavirus, was found in a canyon mouse (peromyscus crinitus) in the usa in 2010. it represents a novel species (mosavirus a) in a novel genus (mosavirus) in the family picornaviridae. in this study, the first complete genome sequence of another mosavirus, szal6-mov/2011/hun (kf958461), was determined from one out of 18 fecal samples from an afro-palearctic migratory bird, the european roller (coracias garrulus). the complete genome of ... | 2014 | 24824348 |
| armed rollers: does nestling's vomit function as a defence against predators? | chemical defences against predators are widespread in the animal kingdom although have been seldom reported in birds. here, we investigate the possibility that the orange liquid that nestlings of an insectivorous bird, the eurasian roller (coracias garrulus), expel when scared at their nests acts as a chemical defence against predators. we studied the diet of nestling rollers and vomit origin, its chemical composition and deterrent effect on a mammal generalist predator. we also hypothesized tha ... | 2013 | 23874791 |
| mixed life-history strategies in a local population of the ectoparasitic fly carnus hemapterus. | a major issue for the proper understanding of the evolution of life-cycle histories is the regulation of voltinism and its variation. diapause characteristics are known to regulate voltinism, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. this paper studies diapause duration and voltinism variation in a haematophagous diptera parasitizing 2 sympatric hosts with very different breeding phenologies. we hypothesize that bivoltinism will be more frequent in carnid flies parasitizing an early b ... | 2012 | 22716907 |
| rollers smell the fear of nestlings. | many animals react to danger by producing chemical cues that can be smelled by others, which is called the smell of fear. some bird species produce chemical compounds when threatened, such as nestlings of the eurasian roller coracias garrulus that vomit an odorous orange liquid when scared in their nests. here, we experimentally explore the possibility that parents were informed about recent predation attempts at their nests through the olfaction of this vomit. parents of nests treated with nest ... | 2012 | 22399785 |
| [contribution to the ethology of the roller (coracias garrulus)]. | | 1966 | 6011713 |
| genetically highly divergent rna virus with astrovirus-like (5'-end) and hepevirus-like (3'-end) genome organization in carnivorous birds, european roller (coracias garrulus). | astroviruses (family astroviridae) and hepeviruses (family hepeviridae) are small, non-enveloped viruses with genetically diverse +ssrna genome thought to be enteric pathogens infecting vertebrates including humans. recently, many novel astro- and hepatitis e virus-like +ssrna viruses have been described from lower vertebrate species. the non-structural proteins of astro- and hepeviruses are highly diverse, but the structural/capsid proteins represent a common phylogenetic position shed the ligh ... | 2019 | 30959207 |
| culicoides paolae and c. circumscriptus as potential vectors of avian haemosporidians in an arid ecosystem. | haemosporidians are the most important vector-borne parasites due to their cosmopolitan distribution and their wide range of hosts, including humans. identification of their vectors is critical to highlight ecologically and epidemiologically relevant features such as host specificity or transmission routes. biting midges of the genus culicoides are considered the main vectors of haemoproteus spp., yet important information on aspects such as vector feeding preferences or vector-host specificity ... | 2018 | 30269688 |
| discovery and prevalence of divergent rna viruses in european field voles and rabbits. | the advent of unbiased metagenomic virus discovery has revolutionized studies of virus biodiversity and evolution. despite this, our knowledge of the virosphere, including in mammalian species, remains limited. we used unbiased metagenomic sequencing to identify rna viruses in european field voles and rabbits. accordingly, we identified a number of novel rna viruses including astrovirus, rotavirus a, picorna-like virus and a morbilli-like paramyxovirus. in addition, we identified a sobemovirus a ... | 2019 | 31906044 |
| defining host range: host-parasite compatibility during the non-infective phase of the parasite also matters. | host range and parasite specificity determine key epidemiological, ecological and evolutionary aspects of host-parasite interactions. parasites are usually classified as generalists or specialists based on the number of hosts they feed on. yet, the requirements of the various stages of a parasite may influence the suitability of a given host species. here, we investigate the generalist nature of three common ectoparasites (the dipteran carnus hemapterus and two species of louse flies, pseudolync ... | 2019 | 30066668 |
| insights into the migration of the european roller from ring recoveries. | despite recent advances in avian tracking technology, archival devices still present several limitations. traditional ring recoveries provide a complementary method for studying migratory movements, particularly for cohorts of birds with a low return rate to the breeding site. here we provide the first international analysis of ring recovery data in the european roller coracias garrulus, a long-distance migrant of conservation concern. our data comprise 58 records of rollers ringed during the br ... | 2017 | 32355602 |