Psittacine birds have been identified as reservoirs of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli, a subset of pathogens associated with mortality of children in tropical countries. The role of other orders of birds as source of infection is unclear. The aim of this study was to perform the molecular diagnosis of infection with diarrheagenic E. coli in 10 different orders of captive wild birds in the state...

AIM This study was carried out to monitor avian influenza (AI) infection in wild birds in Egypt. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 135 wild birds were examined for the presence of H5, H7, and H9 hemagglutination inhibition antibodies. Organs and swab samples of 75 birds were screened by multiplex real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RRT-PCR) to detect AI subtypes H5, H7, ...

The survival of captive-reared pheasants in the wild depends primarily on their ability to avoid predators, therefore, need maintain innate anti-predatory behaviour. aim this study was assess effects age and disturbance tonic immobility (TI) ( Phasianus colchicus ) kept a commercial rearing facility. TI tests were performed aged 8, 10, 12, 14 16 weeks. Randomly selected same tested either immed...

Native to North America, ruddy ducks Oxyura jamaicensis now occur in 21 countries in the western Palaearctic (including Iceland) and their expanding population threatens the native white-headed duck, Oxyura leucocephala, through hybridization and possibly competition for food and nest sites. We used mitochondrial DNA sequences and nuclear microsatellites to test whether the European ruddy duck ...

Migrating waterfowl are implicated in the global spread of influenza A viruses (IAVs), and mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) are considered a particularly important IAV reservoir. Prevalence of IAV infection in waterfowl peaks during autumn pre-migration staging and then declines as birds reach wintering areas. Migration is energetically costly and birds often experience declines in body condition ...

Elaborate secondary sexual traits, such as the ornamental plumage of birds, may be favored by female choice because they serve as honest indicators of male quality. Elaborate traits are thought to be honest signals because they are expensive to produce and increase predation risk. Here we investigate another potential cost of elaborate traits, i.e., the time and energy required to maintain them...

Preservation of indigenous gastrointestinal microbiota is deemed to be critical for successful captive breeding of endangered wild animals, yet its biology is poorly understood. Here, we investigated cecal bacterial communities in wild Japanese rock ptarmigans (Lagopus muta japonica) and compared them with those in Svalbard rock ptarmigans (L. m. hyperborea) in captivity. Ultra-deep sequencing ...

Aircraft collisions with wildlife (primarily birds) are costly in terms of injury or loss of human life, loss of the animals involved, damage to property and business, and the use of lethal control of wildlife at airports worldwide. One potential nonlethal technique to reduce bird–aircraft collisions—pulsed white and wavelength-specific aircraft-mounted light—has been considered for nearly 3 de...

Introduction In the distant past large animals were sometimes stunned by a heavy blow on the head where poultry was decapitated before slaughter During the last century concern for animal welfare increased. Concussion stunning was deemed not satisfactory, and improved stunning methods were developed. Stunning by captive bolt was introduced at the end of the 19th century, electrical stunning at ...