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Birds are highly social and must be paired in order to increase their welfare. Most bird species are monomorphic; therefore, molecular sexing helps provide appropriate welfare for birds. Moreover, early sex determination can be of great value for bird owners. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that sex identification in birds achieved using molecular methods and samples collected via minimally invasive methods is fast, efficient, and accurate. A total of 100 samples (29 paired samples of feathers and oral swabs and 14 tripled samples of feathers, oral swabs, and blood) from 43 birds were included in this study, as follows: wild birds (Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, landfowl—Galliformes, waterfowl—Anseriformes) and companion birds (Passeriformes, Psittaciformes—large-, medium-, and small-sized parrots). Amplification of CHD1-Z and CHD1-W genes was performed via conventional PCR. The results obtained from feathers were compared to those obtained from oral swabs and to those obtained from blood samples, where applicable. The obtained results show that all types of samples can be used for molecular sexing of all studied bird species. To the best of our knowledge, the present study reports, for the first time, molecular sex identification in Red Siskin (Carduelis cucullata) and Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis major). For higher accuracy, our recommendation is to use minimally invasive samples (oral swabs and feathers) and to test both types of samples for each bird instead of blood samples.

The Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI) was a key biogeographic event in the history of the Americas. The rising of the Panamanian land bridge ended the isolation of South America and ushered in a period of dispersal, mass extinction, and new community assemblages, which sparked competition, adaptation, and speciation. Diversification across many bird groups, and the elevational zonation of others, ties back to events triggered by the GABI. But the exact timing of these events is still being revealed, with recent studies suggesting a much earlier time window for faunal exchange, perhaps as early as 20 million years ago (Mya). Using a time‐calibrated phylogenetic tree, we show that the jay genus Cyanolyca is emblematic of bird dispersal trends, with an early, pre‐land bridge dispersal from Mesoamerica to South America 6.3–7.3 Mya, followed by a back‐colonization of C. cucullata to Mesoamerica 2.3–4.8 Mya, likely after the land bridge was complete. As Cyanolyca species came into contact in Mesoamerica, they avoided competition due to a prior shift to lower elevation in the ancestor of C. cucullata. This shift allowed C. cucullata to integrate itself into the Mesoamerican highland avifauna, which our time‐calibrated phylogeny suggests was already populated by higher‐elevation, congeneric dwarf‐jays (C. argentigula, C. pumilo, C. mirabilis, and C. nanus). The outcome of these events and fortuitous elevational zonation was that C. cucullata could continue colonizing new highland areas farther north during the Pleistocene. Resultingly, four C. cucullata lineages became isolated in allopatric, highland regions from Panama to Mexico, diverging in genetics, morphology, plumage, and vocalizations. At least two of these lineages are best described as species (C. mitrata and C. cucullata). Continued study will further document the influence of the GABI and help clarify how dispersal and vicariance shaped modern‐day species assemblages in the Americas. Cyanolyca jays are representative of general trends in avian movements during the Great American Biotic Interchange: dispersal from Mesoamerica to South America during a pre‐land bridge pulse before 5 million years ago, followed by dispersal from South America to Mesoamerica after the land linkage. Upon back‐colonizing Mesoamerica, the Azure‐hooded Jay (C. cucullata) diversified on a Pleistocene landscape already sculpted by geologic processes and populated by higher‐elevation congeners.

Atlantic Canaries (Serinus canaria) are the most commonly kept caged bird with extensive carotenoid-based plumage coloration. Domestic strains of canaries have been bred for a variety of colors and patterns, making them a valuable model for studies of the genetic bases for feather pigmentation. However, no detailed account has been published on feather pigments of the various strains of this species, particularly in relation to dietary pigments available during molt. Moreover, in the twentieth century, aviculturists created a red canary by crossing Atlantic Canaries with Red Siskins (Carduelis cucullata). This “red-factor” canary is reputed to metabolically transform yellow dietary pigments into red ketocarotenoids, but such metabolic capacity has yet to be documented in controlled experiments. We fed molting yellow and red-factor canaries seed diets supplemented with either β-carotene, lutein/zeaxanthin, or β-cryptoxanthin/β-carotene and measured the coloration and carotenoid content of newly grown feathers. On all diets, yellow canaries grew yellow feathers and red canaries grew orange or red feathers. Yellow canaries deposited dietary pigments and metabolically derived canary xanthophylls into feathers. Red-factor canaries deposited the same plumage carotenoids as yellow canaries, but also deposited red ketocarotenoids. Red-factor canaries deposited higher total amounts of carotenoids than yellow canaries, but otherwise there was little effect of dietary supplementation on feather carotenoid content, hue, or chroma. These observations indicate that canaries can use a variety of dietary precursors to produce plumage coloration and that red canaries can metabolically convert yellow dietary carotenoids into red ketocarotenoids.

We report new records from ornithology surveys conducted at Kusad Mountain and Parabara savanna in Guyana’s southern Rupununi region during October and November 2013. Both localities had existing species lists based on surveys conducted in 2000, but had not been formally surveyed since. We surveyed birds over 15 field days, adding 22 and 10 species to the existing lists for Kusad and Parabara, respectively. Our findings augment prior knowledge of the status and distribution of birds in this region of the Guiana Shield. The southern Rupununi harbors high avian diversity, including rare species such as Rio Branco Antbird (Cercomacra carbonaria), Hoarythroated Spinetail (Synallaxis kollari), Bearded Tachuri (Polystictus pectoralis), and Red Siskin (Spinus cucullatus), which are likely to continue to draw tourism revenue to local communities if their habitats remain intact.

Males exhibit more colorful plumage than females in many bird species. Phylogenetic reconstructions indicate that transitions from dichromatism to monochromatism are not uncommon and that monochromatism can result from the evolution of brighter plumage in females. To better understand the time scale over which such changes in dichromatism can evolve, we used a reflectance spectrophotometer to quantify feather coloration in the Atlantic Canary (Serinus canaria), a species that is sexually dichromatic in the wild but that has been under strong artificial selection for color in both sexes for several centuries. We measured the plumage coloration of males and females in the wild progener population of canaries, in captive canaries bred for bright yellow or red plumage coloration, and in Black-hooded Red Siskins (Carduelis cucullata), which were hybridized with yellow canaries to produce red canaries. We show that domestic canaries evolved from dichromatism to monochromatism under strong selection for increased female coloration in <500 years and that red canaries, the hybrid lineage resulting from canary-siskin crosses, evolved from dichromatic to monochromatic in <75 years. These observations show that bright monochromatic plumage can rapidly evolve from a dichromatic ancestral state.

We develop and apply a four-dimensional priority-setting process for the conservation of threatened birds in Venezuela. The axes that we consider are extinction risk, degree of endemicity, taxonomic uniqueness and public appeal. Alhough the first three are relatively objective measures of biological attributes, the last one is a subjective judgement of the likelihood that conservation actions in favour of a species may succeed. By grouping higher priority species according to their geographical distribution within Venezuela, we generate a list of the top priorities to save the country's threatened birds, both species- and bioregion-based. The highest priority species are northern-helmeted curassow Pauxi pauxi, Andean condor Vultur gryphus, red siskin Carduelis cucullata and plain-flanked rail Rallus wetmorei, followed by eight high priority birds, wattled guan Aburria aburri, yellow-shouldered parrot Amazona barbadensis, scissor-tailed hummingbird Hylonympha macrocerca, rusty-faced parrot Hapalopsittaca amazonina, northern screamer Chauna chavaria, torrent duck Merganetta armata, rusty-flanked crake Laterallus levraudi, and military macaw Ara militaris. Northern Venezuela stands out as a significantly higher conservation priority than the south. The Andean Cordillera, Central Coastal Cordillera, Paria Peninsula-Turimiquire Massif Complex, and Sierra de Perijá are the highest priority bioregions, followed by Lara-Falcón Arid Lands and Maracaibo Lake Basin. A final set of combined priorities was determined by integrating all top ranking species and bioregions. Our approach is relatively simple and readily applicable to other taxa and regions.

This paper discusses the status and provenance S. cucullatus in Puerto Rico.