Publications

dietary flexibility and intestinal plasticity in birds: a field and laboratory study.	the adaptive modulation hypothesis posits that the expression of digestive proteins should be modulated in response to intake of their respective substrates. a corollary of this hypothesis suggests that dietary flexibility and digestive plasticity should be correlated. we examined these two hypotheses in two granivorous chilean birds (zonotrichia capensis and diuca diuca) that differ in dietary breadth. d. diuca is a strict granivore, whereas z. capensis also eats insects. in field-caught birds, ...	2006	9548655
a new species of brueelia kéler (phthiraptera: philopteridae) parasitic on the common diuca-finch, diuca diuca diuca (aves: emberizidae) in chile.	a new species of the genus brueelia kéler is described as parasitic on the common diuca-finch, diuca diuca diuca, based on specimens from three localities in chile: punitaqui (coquimbo province), la rinconada (colchagua province) and chillán (nuble province). the species is fully described and illustrated, and brief comments on its morphological affinities with allied species are also made.	2010	19768270
tolerance to dietary phenolics and diet breadth in three seed-eating birds: implications for graminivory.	the ability to cope with plant secondary compounds (pscs) has profound implications for an animal's behavior. in the present study, we assessed the tolerance to dietary phenolics in three seed-eating birds: zonotrichia capensis, saltatricula multicolor, and diuca diuca, which differ in their diet breadth. seeds in their habitat have distinct chemical composition: grass seeds have less pscs, specifically, less total phenolics than forb seeds. based on the detoxification limitation hypothesis and ...	2012	22696310
feeding and digestive responses to fatty acid intake in two south american passerines with different food habits.	specific fatty acids (fa) such as unsaturated (ufa) and saturated (sfa) fatty acids contained in foods are key factors in the nutritional ecology of birds. by means of a field and experimental approach, we evaluated the effect of diet on the activity of three esterases involved in fa hydrolysis; carboxylesterase (ce: 4-npa-ce and a-na-ce) and butyrylcholinesterase, in two south american passerines: the omnivorous rufous-collared sparrow (zonotrichia capensis) and the granivorous common diuca-fin ...	2014	24997538
energetic costs and implications of the intake of plant secondary metabolites on digestive and renal morphology in two austral passerines.	seed-eating birds have a diet of high nutritional value; however, they must cope with plant secondary metabolites (psm). we postulated that the detoxification capacity of birds is associated with a metabolic cost, given that the organs responsible for detoxification significantly contribute to energetic metabolism. we used an experimental approach to assess the effects of phenol-enriched diets on two passerines with different feeding habits: the omnivorous rufous-collared sparrow (zonotrichia ca ...	2016	26931656
plasma cholinesterase activity in wild birds from undisturbed woodlands in the central monte desert.	plasma cholinesterase activity is a biomarker sensitive to the effect of organophosphate and carbamate pesticides, and its enzymatic levels have been previously unknown for most of the wild birds analyzed in the present study. our objectives were to establish plasma acetylcholinesterase levels in songbirds of 2 undisturbed sites in the central monte desert (argentina). we also examined the influence on cholinesterase activity of age, sex, body condition, feeding and migratory habits, and species ...	2019	31063226