Haltung und Zucht von Schläfenfleckspechten (Melanerpes pucherani)

Many unique natural habitats have already been disturbed by mankind. At the same time a lot of animal- and plant species have reach the point of no return and so their extinction. The human private efforts for conservation are becoming more and more important.In these efforts zoological gardens as international conservation organisations and private initiatives should go hand in hand.About the breeding of woodpeckers for instance, literature does not show that much. In this case it would be of highly importance in publishing any experience in this matter.The breeding of the Black-cheeked woodpecker is more or less uncomplicated. In spite of his tropical origin, this species is not that sensitive against coldness as other South-American birds. Soft food, fruit and mealworms will be a decent basic food. Even during the breeding-season this kind of food will be totally ok. In the birds enclosure, only a single bird or a couple should be put in. Probably because of their territorial claim, they will become aggressive otherwise. Also very important for this species will be to keep them out of sight from each other. Even housing at hearing distance could be problematic for the brood. To keep this species with other bird species in a community will be possible. In literature until four eggs per brood could be possible. However, even in separated enclosures as mentioned above, these results have never been reached until now.     

Public Support for Conserving Bird Species Runs Counter to Climate Change Impacts on Their Distributions

There is increasing evidence that global climate change will alter the spatiotemporal occurrences and abundances of many species at continental scales. This will have implications for efficient conservation of biodiversity. We investigate if the general public in Denmark are willing to pay for the preservation of birds potentially immigrating and establishing breeding populations due to climate change to the same extent that they are for native species populations currently breeding in Denmark, but potentially emigrating due to climate change. We find that Danish citizens are willing to pay much more for the conservation of birds currently native to Denmark, than for bird species moving into the country – even when they are informed about the potential range shifts associated with climate change. The only exception is when immigrating species populations are under pressure at European level. Furthermore, people believing climate change to be man-made and people more knowledgeable about birds tended to have higher WTP for conservation of native species, relative to other people, whereas their preferences for conserving immigrant species generally resembled those of other people. Conservation investments rely heavily on public funding and hence on public support. Our results suggest that cross-country coordination of conservation efforts under climate change will be challenging in terms of achieving an appropriate balance between cost-effectiveness in adaptation and the concerns of a general public who seem mostly worried about protecting currently-native species.     

Are we overestimating risk of enteric pathogen spillover from wild birds to humans?

Enteric illnesses remain the second largest source of communicable diseases worldwide, and wild birds are suspected sources for human infection. This has led to efforts to reduce pathogen spillover through deterrence of wildlife and removal of wildlife habitat, particularly within farming systems, which can compromise conservation efforts and the ecosystem services wild birds provide. Further, Salmonella spp. are a significant cause of avian mortality, leading to additional conservation concerns. Despite numerous studies of enteric bacteria in wild birds and policies to discourage birds from food systems, we lack a comprehensive understanding of wild bird involvement in transmission of enteric bacteria to humans. Here, we propose a framework for understanding spillover of enteric pathogens from wild birds to humans, which includes pathogen acquisition, reservoir competence and bacterial shedding, contact with people and food, and pathogen survival in the environment. We place the literature into this framework to identify important knowledge gaps. Second, we conduct a meta‐analysis of prevalence data for three human enteric pathogens, Campylobacter spp., E. coli, and Salmonella spp., in 431 North American breeding bird species. Our literature review revealed that only 3% of studies addressed the complete system of pathogen transmission. In our meta‐analysis, we found a Campylobacter spp. prevalence of 27% across wild birds, while prevalence estimates of pathogenic E. coli (20%) and Salmonella spp. (6.4%) were lower. There was significant bias in which bird species have been tested, with most studies focusing on a small number of taxa that are common near people (e.g. European starlings Sturnus vulgaris and rock pigeons Columba livia) or commonly in contact with human waste (e.g. gulls). No pathogen prevalence data were available for 65% of North American breeding bird species, including many commonly in contact with humans (e.g. black‐billed magpie Pica hudsonia and great blue heron Ardea herodias), and our metadata suggest that some under‐studied species, taxonomic groups, and guilds may represent equivalent or greater risk to human infection than heavily studied species. We conclude that current data do not provide sufficient information to determine the likelihood of enteric pathogen spillover from wild birds to humans and thus preclude management solutions. The primary focus in the literature on pathogen prevalence likely overestimates the probability of enteric pathogen spillover from wild birds to humans because a pathogen must survive long enough at an infectious dose and be a strain that is able to colonize humans to cause infection. We propose that future research should focus on the large number of under‐studied species commonly in contact with people and food production and demonstrate shedding of bacterial strains pathogenic to humans into the environment where people may contact them. Finally, studies assessing the duration and intensity of bacterial shedding and survival of bacteria in the environment in bird faeces will help provide crucial missing information necessary to calculate spillover probability. Addressing these essential knowledge gaps will support policy to reduce enteric pathogen spillover to humans and enhance bird conservation efforts that are currently undermined by unsupported fears of pathogen spillover from wild birds.     

Climate- and resource-driven long-term changes in dormice populations negatively affect hole-nesting songbirds

Global climate change has been shown to cause variable shifts in phenology in a variety of animals and unexpected outcomes across food chains are to be found. Here we examined how rising annual spring temperatures affected the interactions between seed masting, cavity nesting birds and dormice using long-term data from Eastern Czech Republic. We have shown that climate change was associated with unequal shifts in the phenology of two cavity-breeding groups: dormice and birds. Rising spring temperatures have progressively advanced the termination of hibernation for the edible dormouse Glis glis , a common bird predator, leading to an increasing overlap in the use of nesting boxes between dormice and birds. In contrast, only the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis , of the four cavity-nesting bird species, advanced its breeding dates in response to rising temperatures. At the same time, favourable weather conditions, coupled with good seed masting years, have been associated with a substantial rise in dormice numbers. Concurrent with the increasing dormice abundance, the number of bird nests destroyed significantly increased in three out of four bird species. We showed that while there was a significant change in the date that the dormice emerged from hibernation during the course of the study, it did not significantly contribute to predation levels when controlling for their abundance and timing of breeding in birds. We found that the increasing dormice abundance was the main factor causing high brood losses in birds, while the timing of breeding in birds had a variable effect between bird species. This study illustrates how changes in climate might affect organisms at various trophic levels with often unexpected outcomes. Limited evidence from other study organisms suggests that species most at risk are those at different trophic levels that do not shift at the same rate or in the same direction as their food resources, predators or competitors.     

Forest edges and habitat selection in birds: a functional approach

Edge effects encompass a complex panoply of biotic and biotic phenomena across woodlan borders. I identify four main explanations which have been proposed to explain avian habital selection with respect to forest edges: 1) individualistic resource and patch use. 2) biotic interactions: 3) microclimate modification 4) changes in vegetation structure. In relates nest site location in woodlands relative to the edge to the proximity of food resources. It is shown that all other things being equal birds which are wholly dependent on resources found within woodlands will tend to avid forest edges. Woodland species dependent upon resources found in adjacent habitats will tend to be found near to edges to enable their exploitation. 2) identifies competition predation and brood parasitism as factor which have the potential to influence bird habitat selection near edges. 3) identifies microclimate modification as a potential influence which may are directly on nesting success or indirectly through its effects on food supply: 4) relates the activities of birds such as nesting feeding or Research on edge effects of birds in woodland has provided few practical recommendations to conservation managers. Forest edge management needs to take into account the multiple cause and defects which influence habitat selection at the edge and to target species of conservation concern.     

Eine Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem öffentlichen und privaten Sektor zur Erhaltung von Biodiversität in der Vogelzucht

More than 12% (2010 IUCN Red List) of the world's bird species are threatened today. Some species have been secured through ex situ breeding programs and many more must be given that attention. Passerine softbill species are in decline in aviculture. Isolated, single pair breeding aviaries require space which is difficult to provide by a public zoo. A private breeder has good opportunities to produce pekin robins which can become part of a collaborative breeding program between the public and private sector. The resources of a private breeder could be combined with the resources of a zoological garden(s) to develop long term conservation strategies to establish self-sustaining gene pools in aviculture. This initiative requires agreements and protocols to be worked out between the private and public sector to overcome constraints. The collaboration will undoubtedly lead to a better utilization and preservation of bird species in ex situ. Dialogue on this topic is urgent and necessary to take advantage of this promising opportunity in conservation.     

An experimental approach to the brood reduction hypothesis in Magellanic penguins

In many bird species, eggs in a brood hatch within days of each other, leading to a size asymmetry detrimental to younger siblings. Hatching asynchrony is often thought of as an adaptive strategy, and the most widely studied hypothesis in relation to this is the ‘brood reduction hypothesis’. This hypothesis states that when food resources are unpredictable, hatching asynchrony will allow the adjustment of the brood size maximizing fledging success and benefitting parents. The Magellanic penguin Spheniscus magellanicus is an appropriate species to test this hypothesis because it has a 2‐egg clutch that hatches over a 2‐d interval with a broad range of variation (–1 to 4 d), it shows facultative brood reduction, and food abundance between breeding seasons is variable. We performed a manipulative study at Isla Quiroga, Argentina, during three breeding seasons (2010–2012) by forcing broods to hatch synchronously (0 d) or asynchronously (2 or 4 d). Years were categorized based on estimated food abundance. Our study provided mixed results because in the low estimated food abundance year asynchronous broods did not have higher nestling survival than synchronous broods, and the second‐hatchling in asynchronous broods did not die more often than those in synchronous broods. On the other hand, younger siblings of 4‐d asynchronous broods starved earlier than those of synchronous broods, and 2‐d asynchronous broods fledged heavier young than synchronous broods. Asynchronous hatching would seem to benefit reproduction in this species, not with respect to survival, but in terms of the advantages it can accord to nestlings and, in terms of lower costs, for parents raising nestlings.     

Can forest management have season-dependent effects on bird diversity?

Forest management modified the original structure of most European forests, and in the most extreme cases, genuinely natural and semi-natural forests were turned into plantations through clear felling and replanting, often using non-native species. We compared the bird community structure of native oak woods of northern Italy with that of their anthropogenic counter-parts: black locust and sweet chestnut woods. The three stand types were compared in terms of vegetation structure, bird species richness, diversity and abundance of foraging guilds. We analysed both the overwintering and the breeding community, to assess whether management had specific seasonal effects on bird diversity. Forestry-imposed disturbances affected bird diversity more consistently in winter than in breeding time: bird species richness and diversity were significantly greater in oak and chestnut stands, which were the preferred habitat for bark foragers and foliage gleaners. In the breeding period, bird diversity of black locust woodlands increased, and inter-stand differences were not significant. At this time of year, understorey gleaners were more abundant in black locust stands (where shrubs were denser). In winter, species richness, diversity and the abundance of several guilds were positively correlated with stand age, whereas in the breeding period canopy gleaners preferred younger woodlots. Despite the lack of inter-stand differences in breeding bird diversity, young-managed woods benefited generalist birds that need no particular conservation efforts. Conversely, priority species for forest conservation such as specialised bark foragers positively selected native and mature stands throughout the year. We suggest that detailed year-round studies on diversity and community composition could sharpen the precision with which it is possible to prescribe conservation measures in forested areas.     

Birds and people in Europe

At a regional scale, species richness and human population size are frequently positively correlated across space. Such patterns may arise because both species richness and human density increase with energy availability. If the species-energy relationship is generated through the 'more individuals' hypothesis, then the prediction is that areas with high human densities will also support greater numbers of individuals from other taxa. We use the unique data available for the breeding birds in Europe to test this prediction. Overall regional densities of bird species are higher in areas with more people; species of conservation concern exhibit the same pattern. Avian density also increases faster with human density than does avian biomass, indicating that areas with a higher human density have a higher proportion of small-bodied individuals. The analyses also underline the low numbers of breeding birds in Europe relative to humans, with a median of just three individual birds per person, and 4 g of bird for every kilogram of human.     

How increasing levels of private land enrollment in conservation agreements affect the population viability of grassland birds

There is a growing recognition that to effectively conserve biodiversity efforts have to extend into the realm of engaging private landowners. Agricultural lands have been particularly attractive targets for integrating conservation and production goals. Changes in hayfield management associated with agricultural intensification, including earlier and more frequent harvests, have a severe impact on grassland birds. Government-administered conservation incentive programs benefit grassland birds by delaying harvest dates on enrolled land to allow nesting pairs to successfully fledge at least one brood during the breeding season. In contrast, hayfields that are mowed during the breeding season support sink populations and may function as ecological traps. We examined the effect of increasing levels of hayfield enrollment on grasshopper sparrow population viability using a spatially-explicit, stage-structured, stochastic model of a grasshopper sparrow metapopulation in an urbanizing region of New Jersey. The probability of metapopulation extinction (POE) decreased as the proportion of enrolled hayfields increased and fell below 10% when about half of all available agricultural land was enrolled. POE also decreased with increasing numbers of enrolled hayfields most likely because hayfield enrollment removes a sink population from the landscape in addition to creating a source population. Our results are encouraging as they demonstrate that extinction risk for this grassland-dependent imperiled species can be reduced without having to protect or manage all remaining grassland habitat in the landscape.     

Winter feeding of birds increases productivity in the subsequent breeding season

Supplementary food given to birds can have contemporary effects by reducing the risk of starvation, increasing survival and altering movements and reproductive performance. There is, however, a widely held perception that birds benefit from extra food over winter, but that it is better that they 'look after themselves' during breeding. Here we describe a landscape-scale experiment showing for the first time that the effects of increasing food availability only during the winter can be carried over to the subsequent breeding season. Even though food supplementation stopped six weeks prior to breeding, birds living on sites provisioned over winter had advanced laying dates and increased fledging success compared with birds living on unprovisioned sites. Thus, supplemental feeding of wild birds during winter, in a manner mimicking householders provisioning in gardens and backyards, has the potential to alter bird population dynamics by altering future reproductive performance. With levels of bird feeding by the public continuing to increase, the impacts of this additional food supply on wild bird populations may be considerable.     

Changes in timing, duration, and symmetry of molt of Hawaiian forest birds

Food limitation greatly affects bird breeding performance, but the effect of nutritive stress on molt has barely been investigated outside of laboratory settings. Here we show changes in molting patterns for an entire native Hawaiian bird community at 1650-1900 m elevation on the Island of Hawaii between 1989-1999 and 2000-2006, associated with severe food limitation throughout the year beginning in 2000. Young birds and adults of all species took longer to complete their molt, including months never or rarely used during the 1989-1999 decade. These included the cold winter months and even the early months of the following breeding season. In addition, more adults of most species initiated their molt one to two months earlier, during the breeding season. Suspended molt, indicated by birds temporarily not molting primary flight feathers during the months of peak primary molt, increased in prevalence. Food limitation reached the point where individuals of all species had asymmetric molt, with different primary flight feathers molted on each wing. These multiple changes in molt, unprecedented in birds, had survival consequences. Adult birds captured during January to March, 2000-2004, had lower survival in four of five species with little effect of extended molt. Extended molt may be adaptive for a nutrient stressed bird to survive warm temperatures but not cool winter temperatures that may obliterate the energy savings. The changing molt of Hawaiian birds has many implications for conservation and for understanding life history aspects of molt of tropical birds.     

Winter bird communities in the northern Negev: species dispersal patterns, habitat use and implications for habitat conservation

Bird habitat conservation may require different management strategies for different seasonal bird assemblages. We studied habitat use by winter birds in forest and scrubland habitat patches in the northern Negev, Israel. Our goal was to assess whether differences in responses to landscape and habitat structure between breeding and non-breeding seasons require changes in future conservation plans that have been suggested for the Negev breeding bird community. We evaluated habitat and area effects on bird abundance and distribution and tested whether species habitat use during winter involves niche shifts. Compared with breeding birds, a larger proportion of winter bird species occupied both scrubland and forest. As in summer, forest bird species responded to habitat structure, whereas scrubland species were associated with both habitat structure and area. Resident birds disperse into habitats in which they were not present during summer. Consequently, for several species, the correlation between bird densities and environmental factors showed a better fit at the landscape rather than at the habitat scale. In addition, rather than niche shift, birds actually extended their niche breadth. Nest site selection may constrain bird distribution into a realized niche, smaller than their fundamental niche. Despite the scale differences in habitat use, the similar species diversity patterns between seasons suggest that both winter and summer birds would benefit from conservation of scrub patches larger than 50 ha, and enrichment of foliage layers within the planted forests.     

Mass gained during breeding positively correlates with adult survival because both reflect life history adaptation to seasonal food availability

Both mass (as a measure of body reserves) during breeding and adult survival should reflect variation in food availability. Those species that are adapted to less seasonally variable foraging niches and so where competition dominates during breeding, will tend to have a higher mass increase via an interrupted foraging response, because their foraging demands increase and so become more unpredictable. They will then produce few offspring per breeding attempt, but trade this off with higher adult survival. In contrast, those species that occupy a more seasonal niche will not gain mass because foraging remains predictable, as resources become superabundant during breeding. They can also produce more offspring per breeding attempt, but with a trade-off with reduced adult survival. We tested whether the then predicted positive correlation between levels of mass gained during seasonal breeding and adult survival was present across 40 species of tropical bird measured over a 10-year period in a West African savannah. We showed that species with a greater seasonal mass increase had higher adult survival, controlling for annual mass variation (i.e. annual variation in absolute food availability) and variation in the timing of peak mass (i.e. annual predictability of food availability), clutch size, body size, migratory status and phylogeny. Our results support the hypothesis that the degree of seasonal mass variation in birds is probably an indication of life history adaptation: across tropical bird species it may therefore be possible to use mass gain during breeding as an index of adult survival.     

Bird diversity in Bismil Plain IBA’S with new records for South-eastern Anatolia,Turkey

The birds of Bismil Plain were surveyed between October 2002–June 2004 periods, and evaluations were made for the effects of agriculture on the bird diversity. During the observation period, 147 bird species belonging to 13 orders and 42 families were determined and listed. Among those species defined, 47 were certainly breeding in the area, 22 probably and six possibly, while 72 of them were transitory migrating or wintering birds for the region. Of the recorded species, 11 have not previously been recorded in the South-east of Turkey. Amongst the recorded species, nine are globally threatened, while 36 are threatened for Turkey without least concern species. The intensive agricultural activities affect bird diversity in the area. And also, if the Ilısu Dam project put in to practice, the existing diversity of the avifauna may be change. The regional distribution of bird species in the plain is presented together with comments on the relation of agricultural intensification. The available information suggests that the region is in the path of an important flyway for migrant species. The determination of bird species will help to evaluate and compare the changes in the bird fauna and conservation efforts in the future.     

The optimal age of sown field margins for breeding farmland birds

The Europe‐wide decline in the populations and diversity of farmland birds has not been stopped despite dedicated conservation efforts such as agri‐environment schemes (AES). The main reason for the lack of success of AES is considered to be their low ecological quality and insufficient area. Understanding the effects of different management strategies on the ecological quality of AES is therefore important. Here, we investigate the relationship between breeding bird density and species richness and the age of sown field margins, a widely used type of AES, in southwestern Switzerland. Territories of breeding birds were mapped on 67 field margins between 2004 and 2011. Territory densities (for eight species) and species richness were analysed in relation to age of the field margin. A general negative correlation between size of the field margin and territory density indicated that territory density was higher when the birds could forage in adjacent cultivated land. Territory densities and species richness increased up to an age of 4–6 years after sowing, depending on the species, and declined thereafter. The results suggest that the co‐occurrence of newly sown margins and margins over 3 years old will have a positive effect on breeding bird densities and species diversity.     

Edge effects reduce the nesting success of Acadian Flycatchers in a moderately fragmented forest

ABSTRACT.   Forest fragmentation can create negative edge effects that reduce the reproductive success of birds nesting near the forest/nonforest interface, and threaten bird populations deeper in remnant forest habitats. Negative edge effects may be more pronounced in landscapes that are moderately fragmented, particularly where agriculture is the primary land-use fragmenting forests. Information about the extent and strength of edge effects at a site can help guide conservation actions, and determine their effectiveness. We examined edge effects for birds breeding in a nearly contiguous forest fragmented by relatively narrow agricultural corridors in Illinois (USA). We measured rates of nest predation and brood parasitism for Acadian Flycatchers ( Empidonax virescens ) over a continuum of distances from the edge of an agricultural inholding. Nest predation and brood parasitism were highest near the edge and decreased with increasing distance from the edge. Given the cumulative effects of nest predation and brood parasitism on reproductive success, we determined that forest within 600 m of the inholding was sink habitat. We found, however, that deeper forest interior areas currently serve as source habitat, and that conversion of the entire 205 ha agricultural corridor to forest would add 1350 ha of source habitat for Acadian Flycatchers. Such results provide support for a local conservation strategy of forest consolidation and establish baseline measures necessary to determine the relative effectiveness of any subsequent reforestation efforts.     

Avian species richness and abundance at Lake Constance: diverging long-term trends in Passerines and Nonpasserines

In Central Europe, massive losses in species richness of breeding birds have been documented in the last decades, but the question arises whether species richness is currently still decreasing or again increasing due to conservation efforts. In this study, we investigated regional and local species richness as well as mean number of breeding pairs and mean biomass per tetrad over a period of some 20 years at Lake Constance. Three quantitative censuses of 303 tetrads (2 × 2 km²) repeated at 10-year intervals (1980–1981, 1990–1992, 2000–2002) revealed an increase in regional species richness (total number of breeding species). At the same time, however, a strong decline in local species richness (number of breeding species per tetrad), number of breeding pairs, and estimated biomass were observed. Changes of species richness differed markedly between Nonpasserine and Passerine birds. Whereas species richness of Nonpasserines remained constant from 1980 to 1990, and even increased between 1990 and 2000, that of Passerines decreased in both periods. This indicates that effects of conservation efforts apparently eclipse more general effects of climate and habitat change in Nonpasserines. The massive abundance and biomass losses observed in formerly common Passerine species are not compensated by gains in populations of Nonpasserine species. The results of the three bird censuses at Lake Constance imply that ongoing habitat degradation and human impacts as well as increasing effects of climate change are the main drivers of the observed population changes.     

Variation in nest-site occupancy and breeding outcome in a threatened Subantarctic raptor

Breeding outcome in birds can be influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors, which may contribute differentially to each stage of the breeding cycle. Island raptors are relatively threatened species that rely on simplified food webs and usually co-occur with invasive species. Here, we studied a population of Striated Caracara Phalcoboenus australis in Isla de los Estados (Argentina) to understand the relative contribution of food availability, topographical features and territoriality to breeding parameters. Caracaras in the area depend on the short seasonal (i.e. pulsed) availability of seabirds for feeding their chicks. On the other hand, the recent introduction of non-native ungulates may have led to a suboptimal breeding environment by reducing Caracara nest-site availability within the seabird colonies via disturbance of the grassland. Using data from seven breeding seasons we analyse the abundance, the proportion of breeding individuals, the spatial structure of breeding events and the population-level breeding performance, including chick sex ratio, to study whether the breeding ecology of this species is still shaped by marine food web pulses or could be associated with invasive herbivore disturbance. The breeding adults represented only 6–15% of the population. The spatial pattern of nest-sites did not differ from random arrangement after considering the heterogeneous distribution of food availability. Territory identity accounted for most of the variation in clutch size and productivity, and penguin availability explained part of the variability in territory occupancy and hatching rate. The chick sex ratio was biased towards females and varied according to brood size, with the more productive territories producing 91% of males. The breeding cycle of this population is still mainly dependent upon the Rockhopper Penguin Eudyptes chrysocome food pulse and presents mixed evidence of being disrupted by invasive herbivores. The studied factors contributed differentially to the output of each reproductive stage, with territory identity accounting for most of the variation. Our results suggest that individual-level, long-term data could be relevant to understanding the dynamics of this species in the Fuegian archipelago, and thus a broad-scale research programme is warranted to assess the conservation status and propose future management scenarios for this species.     

A case of cooperative breeding in the European Starling,Sturnus vulgaris

Cooperative breeding, where individuals other than the parents help to raise offspring, occurs in only ~9% of bird species. Although many starlings (Sturnidae) are cooperative breeders, the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) has rarely been observed exhibiting this behavior. Only two other records exist, one of which was limited to a juvenile giving food to chicks that had already been collected by a parent (and hence providing limited help). Herein, we report a case of cooperative breeding by a juvenile European starling, which represents the second with any evidence of the juvenile collecting food independently and the first to document the extent of such help in the form of feeding rates. Over a period of at least 3 days, a juvenile starling assisted two parents to feed their second brood of the year, and it fed the chicks at the same rate as the adults (~3.5 feeds per hour). In considering potential explanations for this behavior, we conducted an ancestral state estimation of cooperative breeding across starlings and were able to eliminate the possibility that this is a rarely expressed behavior inherited from cooperatively breeding ancestors. Instead, we propose that our observations point to a behavioral innovation, which may be in response to environmental change such as climate change (which has previously been associated with cooperative breeding). Researchers working on birds should be alert to such behavior to determine whether this apparently new breeding strategy will increase as a potential adaptation to environmental change.