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Nest site availability plays an important role in the ecology of the birds inhabiting intensive agricultural landscapes. The removal of trees and snags due to logging is one of the main threats and the cause of the observed decline in many birds living in an agricultural landscape. When nests are lost, nesting passerines typically rebuild them for a new clutch. Additionally, relocating nests after a brood loss is a prevalent strategy used to avoid predators and brood parasites. Such a strategy is common to the Red-backed Shrike, which builds successive nests for each brood. Interestingly, clutch replacement may occur in unusual forms. This study describe three cases of Song Thrush nests reused by Red-backed Shrikes during one breeding season. The time and energy-saving behaviour or possible deterrence of nest parasitism could explain why the nests have been reused. However, due to the limited observations as compared to the total number of nests, further research is necessary to clarify this phenomenon.

Quill mites are obligatory parasites of birds, widely distributed among their hosts. For the first time, we examined birds from two small, phylogenetically closely related piciform families, Megalaimidae (New World Barbets) and Capitonidae (Asian Barbets), for infestation by parasitic mites of the subfamily Picobiinae (Acariformes: Syringophilidae). Birds of the family Megalaimidae were infested by two new species of the genus Picobia: Picobia insolita Skoracki, Sikora & Unsoeld n. sp. collected from Caloramphus hayii in Indonesia, and Picobia paraheeri Skoracki, Sikora & Unsoeld n. sp. found on nine bird species of the genus Psilopogon, including P. zeylanicus in Sri Lanka, P. asiaticus in India, P. virens in China, P. franklini and P. lineatus both in Nepal, and P. corvinus, P. rafflesii, P. chrysopogon, P. pyrolophus, all in Indonesia. Within the Capitonidae family, a single quill mite species, Rafapicobia olszanowskii Skoracki et al. 2020, was found infesting two species of the genus Capito, i.e. C. maculicoronatus in Panama and C. niger in Surinam and Guyana, and these two Asian Barbet species are new hosts for this quill mite species. Our further analysis of picobiine mite records associated with the entire order of Piciformes revealed a correlation between the mites’ distribution patterns and the phylogeny of piciform birds. This significant congruence suggests a close evolutionary relationship between picobiine mites and their avian hosts.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F9DEB980-6481-4229-A071-52AC9FF69879http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:6B4F98EB-D166-4DBF-B26F-49F4B22903A8http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:98140DAC-5C53-438B-85A6-1FBA52D178D0

Water is crucial for birds, especially during hot weather. However, the availability of water, and its use by birds in modern anthropogenic habitats, is far from understood, especially outside arid regions. Here, we analyze a large nationwide dataset collected in the temperate zone and present an overview of small water resources used by birds in urban and rural habitats in Poland. We investigated the proportion of birds using free-standing water, preferences for various water sources, and factors and threats influencing drinking and bathing behaviour. Birds using water resources are represented by various taxonomic and ecological groups. Species composition differed slightly due to environmental conditions in the vicinity of the water resource and the background species composition. In total 51 species were observed using water, representing 64% of the 80 species recorded in the vicinity. The probability of water usage was positively related to temperature, which further emphasizes the importance of water under future climate-warming scenarios. We show that small water resources, including those provided by people, were less likely to be used by birds than resources resembling natural waters (puddles, ponds, fountains). This novel finding may have particular importance for avian conservation planning, including appropriate behaviour for nature lovers (providing water sources and reducing stress to birds due to predation risk). Finally, we assessed potential threats to bathing and drinking birds, such as moving cars, risk of drowning, and the presence of predators. Any kind of surface water is currently beneficial for wild birds inhabiting human modified landscapes. During heatwaves and droughts access to water can be crucial for many birds. Unfortunately, such extreme events are predicted to become more frequent and more severe under climate change. Therefore, we would encourage further research in the use by birds of free-standing water, similar to the many studies of birdfeeders in winter, and to consider the maintenance of diverse sources of accessible water in environmental management.

Birds select breeding territories by assessing territory quality and considering predation pressure. However, in many small passerines, brood parasitism may also play an important role in territory occupancy. Settlement decisions are made under time pressure, especially for late migrants. An example of late migrants is the red-backed shrike Lanius collurio, a species wintering in sub-tropical Africa, which serves as a host for the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus and arrives in territories a few days later than their brood parasite. We expected that arriving red-backed shrikes avoided territories with common cuckoo presence. Then, we tested how experimentally provided artificial playback calls of the common cuckoo and woodpigeon (treated as control) affected the probability of red-backed shrike settlement. In the breeding season 2021, we observed 279 red-backed shrike territories to assess the effect of playback of common cuckoo calls on their host presence. Moreover, we adopt information on shrike territories collected in previous years to establish territory quality, measured by occupancy pattern over years. Each of these places was also checked for the presence of corvids, which are predators of shrike nests. We did not find difference with lower preference of shrikes towards cuckoo calls and to pigeon calls Columba columbus, what suggest the human presence and manipulation in the territories during experiments with recorders should be incorporated as an important factor to understanding shrikes’ settlement behaviour. What is interesting we found no negative effect of corvids (jay Garrulus glandarius) in control territories. However, shrike territories where cuckoo calls were emitted and where the presence of corvids was found were less likely to be inhabited by shrikes. Therefore, territory quality, human presence enhanced by nest predators, is an important factor affecting host–parasite interactions.

Food composition of the White Stork Ciconia ciconia has been widely studied by pellet analysis throughout Europe, but the effect of digestibility on pellet contents has remained unclear. We studied the effect of digestion on the composition of pellets (N = 480) under experimental conditions in Poznañ Zoological Garden in 2004–2005. Twenty-four captive wild-born White Storks were fed mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, insects and earthworms. Only the remains of mammals, birds and insects were found in the regurgi-tated pellets. Bones were present in 13.1% of pellets. Three chosen osteological pellet components (skulls, mandibles and innominate bones) were analyzed to determine the amount of bone loss by digestion. The digestive efficiency was greater than 95%. Based on a literature review, we compared results of pellet analyses with methods not affected by digestion (direct observations and prey remains). The invertebrate : vertebrate ratio in the White Stork diet differed significantly between methods. Prey biomass rather than the number of prey items should be considered a better reflection of the diet.

Treatment options for patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis are few. Encouraging results in open-label studies prompted this randomised trial of mitoxantrone in such patients. 194 patients with worsening relapsing-remitting or secondary progressive multiple sclerosis were assigned placebo or mitoxantrone (5 mg/m2 [exploratory group] or 12 mg/m2 intravenously) every 3 months for 24 months. Clinical assessments were made every 3 months for 24 months. The primary endpoint was a multivariate analysis of five clinical measures. Analyses of mitoxantrone 12 mg/m2 versus placebo were based on patients who received at least one dose and returned for at least one assessment of efficacy. Of 194 patients enrolled, 188 were able to be assessed at 24 months. There were no drug-related serious adverse events or evidence of clinically significant cardiac dysfunction. At 24 months, the mitoxantrone group experienced benefits compared with the placebo group for the primary outcome (difference 0·30 [95% Cl 0·17–0·44]; p<0·0001) and the preplanned univariate analyses of those measures: change in expanded disability status scale (0·24 [0·04–0·44]; p=0·0194), change in ambulation index (0·21 [0·02–0·40]; p=0·0306), adjusted total number of treated relapses (0·38 [0·18–0·59]; p=0·0002), time to first treated relapse (0·44 [0·20–0·69]; p=0·0004), and change in standardised neurological status (0·23 [0·03–0·43]; p=0·0268). Mitoxantrone 12 mg/m2 was generally well tolerated and reduced progression of disability and clinical exacerbations. Further studies are needed to identify the patients with these forms of multiple sclerosis who are most likely to respond to therapy, the best treatment protocols, and the frequency of long-term drug-related side-effects.