Translocation and reintroduction have become major conservation actions in attempts to create self-sustaining wild populations of threatened species. However, avian translocations have a high failure rate and causes for failure are poorly understood. While 'stress' is often cited as an important factor in translocation failure, empirical evidence of physiological stress is lacking. Here we show...

The juvenile period is often a crucial interval for selective pressure on locomotor ability. Although flight is central to avian biology, little is known about factors that limit flight performance during development. To improve understanding of flight ontogeny, we used a propeller (revolving wing) model to test how wing shape and feather structure influence aerodynamic performance during devel...

Background: Chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar) is raised for its highly nutritional and relatively expensive meat. Aims: This study evaluates selected lymphoid organs of juvenile and peripubertal Chukar partridges using a histomorphometric approach. Methods: Thirty one-day-old male and female Chukar partridges were included in the stu...

Sicily (Italy) hosts a "relict", endemic population of the birds Alectoris graeca whitakeri commonly known as Sicilian Rock Partridge. In last decades, due to risk restocking with other European and Asiatic species for hunting purpose, study was carried out investigate potential hybridisation. The mtDNA control-region nuclear microsatellites were genotyped. Due importance species, samples mainl...