ECTOPARASITE LOAD IN A LAUGHING DOVE WITH A DEFORMED MANDIBLE

At Dyer Island, South Africa, observations of predation of seabirds by Cape Fur Seals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus were made during 2004 and 2006/07. It was estimated that seals killed about 7% of adult African Penguins Spheniscus demersus annually. This may have contributed to the penguin colony not increasing in spite of food becoming more available in its vicinity during an eastward shift of epipelagic fish resources off South Africa at the start of the twenty-first century. Adult penguins were most susceptible to mortality in the breeding season as they returned to feed chicks in the evening. Seals also killed substantial numbers (3–9%) of Cape Cormorant Phalacrocorax capensis fledglings as they left the island, mostly in the morning. The losses of Cape Cormorant fledglings accounted for about 95% of the overall mortality of seabirds attributable to seals. Mortality inflicted by seals on adults of four species of cormorant was negligible and no predation by seals on gulls and terns was observed.     

北京4种鸟类分布新纪录

报道了斑鱼狗(Ceryle rudis)、白斑军舰鸟(Fregata ariel ariel)、棕背伯劳(Lanius schach schach)、乌鸫(Turdus merula)4个北京鸟类的新分布记录.以上鸟类未记载于<北京鸟类志>、<北京脊椎动物检索表>和相关文献中,为近年来北京地区新发现的鸟类,在<中国鸟类...     

斑头大翠鸟在我国的分布

斑头大翠鸟(Alcedo hercules)在我国的分布以往仅知见于西藏东南部、云南南部和海南岛的局部地区,自20世纪80年代后期以来,于广东北部(车八岭)和江西西南部(九连山)相继出现采集记录和连续的目击记录,本世纪初又有报道该种见于广西东北部(花坪)、中南部(十万大山)和西南部的中越边境地带,并于近期发现其分布远及福建西北部的邵武。据此,可以认为斑头大翠鸟在我国南方相当一些地区也应有分布。     

Sex determination of Pohnpei Micronesian Kingfishers using morphological and molecular genetic techniques

ABSTRACT.   Conservation-oriented studies of Micronesian Kingfishers ( Todiramphus cinnamominus ) have been hindered by a lack of basic natural history information, despite the status of the Guam subspecies ( T. c. cinnamominus ) as one of the most endangered species in the world. We used tissue samples and morphometric measures from museum specimens and wild-captured Pohnpei Micronesian Kingfishers ( T. c. reichenbachii ) to develop methods for sex determination. We present a modified molecular protocol and a discriminant function that yields the probability that a particular individual is male or female. Our results revealed that females were significantly larger than males, and the discriminant function correctly predicted sex in 73% (30/41) of the individuals. The sex of 86% (18/21) of individuals was correctly assigned when a moderate reliability threshold was set. Sex determination using molecular genetic techniques was more reliable than methods based on morphology. Our results will facilitate recovery efforts for the critically endangered Guam Micronesian Kingfisher and provide a basis for sex determination in the 11 other endangered congeners in the Pacific Basin.     

西藏南部8种鸟类的新分布记录

2016年9和10月,在西藏自治区林芝及日喀则开展鸟类多样性调查期间新记录到8种鸟类,包括白胸翡翠指名亚种(Halcyon smyrnensis smyrnensis)、黑冠山雀指名亚种(Periparus rubidiventris rubidiventris)和栗腹?指名亚种(Sitta cinnamoventris cinnamoventris)、斑尾鹃鸠(Macropygia unchall)、红喉姬鹟(Ficedula albicilla)、黄胸柳莺(Phylloscopus cantator)、棕脸鹟莺(Abroscopus albogularis)以及田鹨(Anthus richardi)。