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Nest predation is an important determinant of reproductive success and ground-nesting birds exhibit a variety of nest defence strategies to mitigate the risk. Many small-bodied, ground nesting birds rely on deceptive behaviours such as injury-feigning to reduce nest predation: we call this behaviour active deception. However, active deception may entail risks to adults, and passive deceptive behaviour, where individuals effectively sneak away from the nest by flushing at long distances, may be an alternative means of avoiding nest predation. We provide a simple model to demonstrate that these tails of the flush distance distribution could minimize predation risk; an intermediate strategy of moderate flush distances means that birds flush more often than with short-distance flushes, and once flushed, the nest is more easily located than for long-distance flushes. We tested this model using two species of ground nesting shorebirds, the White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) and the Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius). We demonstrate that short-distance flushes are associated with active deception and intermediate-distance flushes are associated with an increased risk of nest predation. However, we found no evidence that this potential selective pressure against intermediate strategies has produced a bimodal distribution of nest defence traits. The heritability of defence behaviours, or the ability of individuals to learn, is unknown and other factors such as energetic constraints or risks to adults might also influence flush distances and defence behaviours.

Correlations between transequatorial migratory bird routes and bipolar biogeographic disjunctions in bryophytes suggest that disjunctions between northern and southern high latitude regions may result from bird-mediated dispersal; supporting evidence is, however, exclusively circumstantial. Birds disperse plant units (diaspores) internally via ingestion (endozoochory) or externally by the attachment of diaspores to the body (ectozoochory). Endozoochory is known to be the primary means of bird-mediated dispersal for seeds and invertebrates at local, regional, and continental scales. Data supporting the role of bird-mediated endozoochory or ectozoochory in the long distance dispersal of bryophytes remain sparse, however, despite the large number of bryophytes displaying bipolar disjunctions. To determine if transequatorial migrant shorebirds may play a role in the ectozoochory of bryophyte diaspores, we developed a method for screening feathers of wild birds. We provide the first evidence of microscopic bryophyte diaspores, as well as those from non-bryophyte lineages, embedded in the plumage of long distance transequatorial migrant birds captured in their arctic breeding grounds. The number of diaspores recovered suggests that entire migratory populations may be departing their northern breeding grounds laden with potentially viable plant parts and that they could thereby play significant roles in bipolar range expansions of lineages previously ignored in the migrant bird dispersal literature.

Previous studies have documented advancement in clutch initiation dates (CIDs) in response to climate change, most notably for temperate-breeding passerines. Despite accelerated climate change in the Arctic, few studies have examined nest phenology shifts in arctic breeding species. We investigated whether CIDs have advanced for the most abundant breeding shorebird and passerine species at a long-term monitoring site in arctic Alaska. We pooled data from three additional nearby sites to determine the explanatory power of snow melt and ecological variables (predator abundance, green-up) on changes in breeding phenology. As predicted, all species (semipalmated sandpiper, Calidris pusilla , pectoral sandpiper, Calidris melanotos , red-necked phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus , red phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius , Lapland longspur, Calcarius lapponicus ) exhibited advanced CIDs ranging from 0.40 to 0.80 days/year over 9 years. Timing of snow melt was the most important variable in explaining clutch initiation advancement (“climate/snow hypothesis”) for four of the five species, while green-up was a much less important explanatory factor. We found no evidence that high predator abundances led to earlier laying dates (“predator/re-nest hypothesis”). Our results support previous arctic studies in that climate change in the cryosphere will have a strong impact on nesting phenology although factors explaining changes in nest phenology are not necessarily uniform across the entire Arctic. Our results suggest some arctic-breeding shorebird and passerine species are altering their breeding phenology to initiate nesting earlier enabling them to, at least temporarily, avoid the negative consequences of a trophic mismatch.

Seabird aggregations at sea have been shown to be associated with concentrations of prey. Previous research identified Central California as a highly used foraging area for seabirds, with locally breeding seabirds foraging close to their colonies on Southeast Farallon Island. Herein, we focus on nonresident (i.e. non-locally breeding) seabird species off of Central California. We hypothesized that high-use foraging areas for nonresident seabirds would be influenced by oceanographic and bathymetric factors and that spatial and temporal distributions would be similar within planktivorous and generalist foraging guilds but would differ between them. With data collected by the Applied California Current Ecosystem Studies (ACCESS) partnership during cruises between April and October from 2004-2013, we developed generalized linear models to identify high-use foraging areas for each of six nonresident seabird species. The four generalist species are Phoebastria nigripes (black-footed albatross), Ardenna griseus (sooty shearwater), Ardenna creatopus (pink-footed shearwater), and Fulmarus glacialis (northern fulmar). The two planktivorous species are Phalaropus lobatus (red-necked phalarope) and Phalaropus fulicarius (red phalarope). Sea surface temperature was significant for generalist species and sea surface salinity was important for planktivorous species. The distance to the 200-m isobath was significant in five of six models, Pacific Decadal Oscillation with a 3-month lag in four models, and sea surface fluorescence, the distance to Cordell Bank, and depth in three models. We did not find statistically significant differences between distributions of individual seabird species within a foraging guild or between guilds, with the exception of the sooty shearwater. Model results for a multi-use seabird foraging area highlighted the continental shelf break, particularly within the vicinity of Cordell Bank, as the highest use areas as did Marxan prioritization. Our research methods can be implemented elsewhere to identify critical habitat that needs protection as human development pressures continue to expand to the ocean.

Nest prédation may influence population dynamics of birds on the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) of Alaska, USA. Anthropogenic development on the ACP is increasing, which may attract nest predators by providing artificial sources of food, perches, den sites, and nest sites. Enhanced populations or concentrations of human-subsidized predators may reduce nest survival for tundra-nesting birds. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that nest survival decreases in proximity to human infrastructure. We monitored 1257 nests of 13 shorebird species and 619 nests of four passerine species at seven sites on the ACP from 2002 to 2005. Study sites were chosen to represent a range of distances to infrastructure from 100 m to 80 km. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to evaluate the effects of background (i. e., natural) factors and infrastructure on nest survival. We documented high spatial and temporal variability in nest survival, and site and year were both included in the best background model. We did not detect an effect of human infrastructure on nest survival for shorebirds as a group. In contrast, we found evidence that risk of prédation for passerine nests increased within 5 km of infrastructure. This finding provides quantitative evidence of a relationship between infrastructure and nest survival for breeding passerines on the ACP. A posteriori finer-scale analyses (within oil field sites and individual species) suggested that Red and Red-necked Phalaropes combined {Phalaropus fulicarius, P. lobatus) had lower productivity closer to infrastructure and in areas with higher abundance of subsidized predators. However, we did not detect such a relationship between infrastructure and nest survival for Semipalmated and Pectoral Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla, C. melanotos), the two most abundant shorebirds. High variability in environmental conditions, nest survival, and predator numbers between sites and years may have contributed to these inconsistent results. We recommend targeted management actions to minimize anthropogenic effects and suggest new research needed on this issue as expanding development is planned for the ACP of Alaska. In particular, we recommend research on demography of key predators and their importance with respect to nest survival, and experimental studies that better address challenges posed by high natural variability.

Sex-role reversal, in which males care for offspring, can occur when mate competition is stronger between females than males. Secondary sex traits and mate attracting displays in sex-role-reversed species are usually more pronounced in females than in males. The red phalarope ( Phalaropus fulicarius ) is a textbook example of a sex-role-reversed species. It is generally agreed that males are responsible for all incubation and parental care duties, whereas females typically desert males after having completed a clutch and may pair with new males to lay additional clutches. The breeding plumage of female red phalaropes is usually more brightly colored than male plumage, a reversed sexual dichromatism usually associated with sex-role reversal. Here, we confirm with PCR-based sexing that male red phalaropes can exhibit both the red body plumage typical of a female and the incubation behavior typical of a male. Our result, combined with previous observations of brightly colored red phalaropes incubating nests at the same arctic location (Igloolik Island, Nunavut, Canada), suggests that plumage dichromatism alone may not be sufficient to distinguish males from females in this breeding population of red phalaropes. This stresses the need for more systematic genetic sexing combined with standardized description of intersexual differences in red phalarope plumages. Determining whether such female-like plumage on males is a result of phenotypic plasticity or genetic variation could contribute to further understanding sex-role reversal strategies in the short Arctic summer.

Predation is one of the main factors explaining nesting mortality in most bird species. Birds can avoid nest predation or reduce predation pressure by breeding at higher latitude, showing anti-predator behaviour, selecting nest sites protected from predators, and nesting in association with protective species. American Golden-Plovers ( Pluvialis dominica ) defend their territory by using various warning and distraction behaviours displayed at varying levels of intensity (hereafter “conspicuous behaviour”), as well as more aggressive behaviours such as aerial attacks, but only in some populations. Such antipredator behaviour has the potential to repel predators and thus benefit the neighbouring nests by decreasing their predation risk. Yet, conspicuous behaviour could also attract predators by signalling the presence of a nest. To test for the existence of a protective effect associated with the conspicuous antipredator behaviour of American Golden-Plovers, we studied the influence of proximity to plover nests on predation risk of artificial nests on Igloolik Island (Nunavut, Canada) in July 2014. We predicted that the predation risk of artificial nests would decrease with proximity to and density of plover nests. We monitored 18 plover nests and set 35 artificial nests at 30, 50, 100, 200, and 500 m from seven of those plover nests. We found that the predation risk of artificial nests increases with the density of active plover nests. We also found a significant negative effect of the distance to the nearest active protector nest on predation risk of artificial nests. Understanding how the composition and structure of shorebird communities generate spatial patterns in predation risks represents a key step to better understand the importance of these species of conservation concern in tundra food webs.

This report by the Slovenian Rarities Committee presents records of rare bird species in Slovenia in 2017, with some addenda for previous years. The numbers in brackets refer to the number of records (first number) and individuals (second number) recorded between 1 Jan 1950 and 31 Dec 2016. Since 1 Jan 2013, submission to the Committee has been required for 37 additional species, 17 of which are regional rarities. Records of these species are not numbered, since records from previous years were not collected by the Committee. The Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis was first recorded in Category A, in addition to previous Category D and E records. Other notable observations were the third record of Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis, fifth records of Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus and Pomarine Skua Stercorarius pomarinus, and seventh records of Greater Blackbacked Gull Larus marinus and Red Phalarope Phalaropus fulicarius. The list of birds recorded in Slovenia (as of 31 Dec 2017) contains 390 species (375 in Category A, 6 in Category B, 9 exclusively in Category C; 4 species are both in Categories A and C). Category D contains 7 species, while Category E contains 39, two of which are classified into Subcategory E*. These two categories are not part of the list.

A new monobasic genus of parasitic mites, Phalarophilus fulicarius gen. nov., sp. nov. (Acariformes, Syringophilidae) is described from feather quills of Phalaropus fulicarius (Linnaeus) (Charadriiformes, Scolopacidae) from USA. Females of the new genus differs from those of the genus Bochkovia Skoracki et OConnor, by having the rounded posteriorly stylophore, edentate movable cheliceral digits, propodonotal setae arranged 2-1-1-2, thin and smooth dorsal setae of the idiosoma, smooth dorsal setae of legs I and II, and by the presence of setae vsI ; males are distinguished by the presence of the propodonotal setae arranged 2-1-1-1-1. Additionally, two new syringophilid species recorded from aquatic birds in North America and three new host associations of these mites are recovered.

By nesting near aggressive birds, timid species can reap the benefits of aggressive nest defense while avoiding the costs. Red Phalaropes (Phalaropus fulicarius; hereafter “phalaropes”) typically nest in grass-sedge marshes, but nests have also been noted in rocky coastal habitats. We studied the reproductive ecology of phalaropes at East Bay, Southampton Island, Nunavut, to determine whether their use of coastal nest areas reflected a protective nesting association with an aggressive larid, the Sabine's Gull (Xema sabini; hereafter “gull”). From 2000 to 2002, we found and monitored 29 phalarope nests with gull nests nearby (≤150 m away) and 26 without gulls nearby. Coastal phalarope nests were nearer to gull nests than expected by chance. No habitat differences were detected between coastal areas with and without gull nests, but only three phalarope nests were found in coastal areas without gull nests. Thermistor probes inserted in phalarope nests revealed that incubators with gulls nearby behaved less cryptically, taking more frequent and longer incubation recesses. In human-approach experiments, phalaropes with gulls nearby flushed earlier than those without gulls. In 2000 and 2001, hatch success was 17–20% higher for phalaropes with gulls nearby, but these nests had lower success rates than those without nearby gulls in 2002. These gulls are able to defend their nests from avian predators only; in 2002, arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) were abundant, and their primary prey, collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx torquatus), were scarce. We suggest that phalaropes select coastal areas near gulls, but that this association is beneficial to phalaropes only in years when egg predation by arctic foxes is low. Variation Annuelle des Bénéfices d'une Association pour Nicher entre Phalaropus fulicarius et Xema sabini