Migratory and resident Blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla wintering in southern Spain show no resource partitioning

When different populations of the same bird species share non-breeding habitats, competition for food may promote resource partitioning. We studied food choice by resident and migratory Blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla in sympatric wintering grounds in southern Spain. Resident Blackcaps may know the distribution of food better than migrants, and have a larger bill that may allow them to feed on a broader range of fruit sizes. Based on fruit and bird counts, we transformed both fruit crop and bird abundance to a common energy currency. During two winters with low and high fruit production, available energy from fruit in mid-January was estimated to be 80 and 1300 times the daily requirements of Blackcaps, respectively. Furthermore, Blackcap numbers did not track between-winter changes in fruit abundance during ten consecutive years of monitoring, further suggesting that fruit food is not limiting. Analysis of food items from 760 samples of 717 individuals showed that migrants and residents fed primarily on fruits of Wild Olive Olea europaea sylvestris, the most energetic fruit resource. In addition, there was no evidence that the larger bills of resident Blackcaps provided any foraging benefit. Migratory Blackcaps fed on Wild Olives and invertebrates, two resources with high energetic and structural value, more frequently than residents. This food choice could be more important for migratory Blackcaps because they have lower body mass to reduce wing load. Our results suggest that the wintering grounds of Blackcaps in Iberia provide abundant food, which is used by sympatric migrants and residents without resource partitioning. Slight differences in food choice suggest that migrants might benefit from feeding on more nutritive food than residents to counteract the energetic constraints associated with a smaller body size

Factors affecting the distribution of haemosporidian parasites within an oceanic island

Understanding how different ecological and evolutionary processes influence the distribution of pathogens within the environment is important from many perspectives including wildlife epidemiology, evolutionary ecology and conservation. The simultaneous use of ecological and evolutionary frameworks can enhance our conceptual understanding of host-parasite interactions, however such studies are rare in the wild. Using samples from 12 bird species caught across all habitats existing on an oceanic island, we evaluated how environmental variables, parasite host specificity and parasite phylogenetic relationships determine the distribution and prevalence of haemosporidians (Haemoproteus, Plasmodium and Leucocytozoon) in the wild living avifauna. Differences were found in the prevalence of Plasmodium, but not Leucocytozoon, strains between habitats. The warmest temperature best predicted Plasmodium prevalence in the low altitude habitats, which had the highest incidence of Plasmodium. The prevalence of Leucocytozoon lineages was associated with natural factors, i.e. rainfall, temperature and habitat, but the two most important predictors (from model averaging) for models of Leucocytozoon were anthropogenic: poultry farms and distance to a water reservoir. We found no relationship between local (Tenerife, Canary Islands) versus global host range indices (which assess the diversity of hosts that a parasite is observed to infect), thus global generalist lineages do not behave in the same way on Tenerife (i.e. they infected less avian hosts than was expected). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the most abundant haemosporidians on Tenerife grouped with lineages found in African host species. Our data indicate that climatic and anthropogenic factors, plus proximity to the African mainland, are the main factors influencing the presence and distribution of avian haemosporidians on Tenerife. Future climate projections for the archipelago foresee significant temperature increases which would, given our results, increase rates of Plasmodium infection in bird species in all habitats. Such patterns could be of concern if those increase mortality rates in the unique avifauna of these islands

Competition and habitat quality influence age and sex distribution in wintering rusty blackbirds.

Bird habitat quality is often inferred from species abundance measures during the breeding and non-breeding season and used for conservation management decisions. However, during the non-breeding season age and sex classes often occupy different habitats which suggest a need for more habitat-specific data. Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) is a forested wetland specialist wintering in bottomland hardwood forests in the south-eastern U. S. and belongs to the most steeply declining songbirds in the U.S. Little information is available to support priority birds such as the Rusty Blackbird wintering in this threatened habitat. We assessed age and sex distribution and body condition of Rusty Blackbirds among the three major habitats used by this species in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley and also measured food availability. Overall, pecan groves had the highest biomass mainly driven by the amount of nuts. Invertebrate biomass was highest in forests but contributed only a small percentage to overall biomass. Age and sex classes were unevenly distributed among habitats with adult males primarily occupying pecan groves containing the highest nut biomass, females being found in forests which had the lowest nut biomass and young males primarily staying in forest fragments along creeks which had intermediate nut biomass. Males were in better body condition than females and were in slightly better condition in pecan groves. The results suggest that adult males occupy the highest quality habitat and may competitively exclude the other age and sex classes

Communicating with students: what works, what doesn’t and how to get your message across

Across the university, communicating with students is key.   However, disseminating important messages, getting students to engage with course information, events, or feedback surveys can often be difficult. Messages often get lost or confused, and students have fed back that they struggle with the sheer volume of emails and ‘important’ messages coming their way.   This workshop, delivered by Corporate Communications, will explore the best ways of communicating with students, when to do it, when not to do it, and how to make best use of the platforms available from central comms.  It will cover social media, Canvas announcements, emails and digital signage.   The workshop will also consider how individuals and teams can best utilise student-friendly language to increase engagement using some key case studies of what has worked well over the past 12 months.   At the end of the workshop, delegates should have insight in to how they can improve communication with students, as well as a few practical tips and techniques on how to manage different approaches, dependent on the channel.   Any potential delegates who currently run LJMU-related social media channels, or communicate with students regularly will find this session particularly useful. Please note this session will not explicitly address one-to-one communication, although many of the principles may still apply