In 2016, an epidemic of highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus subtype H5N8 in the Netherlands caused mass deaths among wild birds, and several commercial poultry farms and captive bird holdings were affected. We performed complete genome sequencing to study the relationship between the wild bird and poultry viruses. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the viruses are related to H5 clade 2.3.4...

In this study, we investigated the presence of gastrointestinal helminths in 97 captive birds (Psittaciformes and Accipitriformes) necropsied between June and December 2011 in the state of Paraiba, Brazil. Forty-three birds were infected. Psittaciformes were infected by nematode Ascaridia hermaphrodita (97.6%) and cestode Raillietina sp. (2.4%). A. hermaphrodita was found in all species of parr...

Successful bird migration can depend on individual learning, social learning, and innate navigation programs. Using 8 years of data on migrating whooping cranes, we were able to partition genetic and socially learned aspects of migration. Specifically, we analyzed data from a reintroduced population wherein all birds were captive bred and artificially trained by ultralight aircraft on their fir...

Remigial moult is one of the crucial events in the annual life cycle of waterfowl as it is energetically costly, lasts several weeks, and is a period of high vulnerability due to flightlessness. In waterfowl, remigial moult can be considered as an energy-predation trade-off, meaning that heavier individuals would minimise the flightless period by increasing feather growth rate and energy expend...

Psittacine beak and feather disease virus (PBFDV) and avian polyomavirus (APV) are the most common viral diseases in psittacine birds, both affecting feathers and physical appearance of birds. Between 2005 and 2009, a total of 269 samples were collected from birds presented at veterinary clinics, shelters and rescue centers of wildlife in Costa Rica. They belonged to 19 species of psittacine bi...

26 Negative affect in humans and animals is known to cause individuals to interpret 27 ambiguous stimuli pessimistically, a phenomenon termed ‘cognitive bias’. Here, 28 we used captive European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) to test the hypothesis that 29 a reduction in environmental conditions, from enriched to non-enriched cages, 30 would engender negative affect, and hence ‘pessimistic’ biases...

Fertility is fundamental to reproductive success, but not all copulation attempts result in a fertilized embryo. Fertilization failure especially costly for females, we still lack clear understanding of the causes variation female fertility across taxa. Birds make useful model system research, partly because their large eggs are easily studied outside female's body, also wealth data available o...