Birds Drinking Alcohol: Species and Relationship with People. A Review of Information from Scientific Literature and Social Media.

Ethanol is a natural by-product of the fermentation process of fruit sugars and is occasionally consumed by fruit-eating and tree sap drinking birds. Information on this form of alcohol consumption features in the scientific literature. However, as pets or as wild animals living close to humans in urban habitats, birds have increasing possibilities to consume alcohol from beverages, such as beer, wine or spirits. Some observations have been discussed in a light-hearted manner in mass media and social media, but without any generalization of why some bird species drink the beverages intentionally or unintentionally provided by humans. To check which species and in what circumstances birds drink alcohol and how this is evaluated by humans, we reviewed the scientific literature and analysed videos from YouTube. In total we found and analysed 8 scientific papers and 179 YouTube videos, from which we identified at least 55 species (in some cases not all birds were identified to species level), 11 in the scientific literature and 47 in videos. The distribution of these species over the avian phylogenetic tree suggests that the origin of this convergent behaviour is mainly by human influence. The two data sources differed in the species covered. Videos typically presented interactions of birds with human-provided alcoholic beverages, and were dominated by two groups of intelligent birds: parrots and corvids. The popularity of YouTube videos for a particular species was positively correlated with the general popularity of the species as measured by the number of hits (results listed) on Google. Human responses to the videos were generally very positive and we analysed how the responses were influenced by factors derived from viewing the videos. Moreover, YouTube videos also provide information on at least 47 new bird species not previously mentioned as using alcohol, and our results suggest that parrots in particular can be potentially good candidates for future restricted laboratory studies on the effect of ethanol on birds and their relationship with humans

Białowieża Primaeval Forest – a Conflict between the Polish Government and the European Commission

The article describes the natural background, the origin, the course and the outcome of the dispute between Poland and the European Commission which was going on in the years 2016–2018 regarding the forest management performed in the Białowieża Forest. The dispute took place on two interrelated levels: natural and legal. The main axis of the dispute between the Polish government and the European Commission was the difference of views as to what actions would prove effective in the fight against the latest gradation of the bark beetle, which occurred with exceptional intensity in the Białowieża Forest in 2015, and what actions would be most beneficial in the context of preserving rare species of birds and insects that make up the fauna of the Białowieża Forest. The article presents extensively the arguments raised by both parties to the conflict in the proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union, which were initiated by a complaint filed by the European Commission. As a commentary on these arguments, the views expressed in the scientific literature as to the proper reaction in response to a recurrent infestation of the bark beetle, usefulness and efficacy of the active forest management operations questioned by the European Commission, as well as an impact of these operations on the conservation of natural habitats, insects and birds are presented. The legal dimension of the dispute boiled down to the question of what actions in the situation were allowed, required or prohibited under Polish and EU law

The Ornithological Situation of Military Airfield in Deblin in the Context of Bird Strikes

The problem of collisions of aircraft, especially military jets, with birds in Poland was neglected by years in spite of some serious incidences with casualties. Moreover, the number of methods that were used to reduce such crashes, still seems inadequate. We started the first project in Poland devoted to study on bird strikes on military airfields. The main goal of this project is to work out any possible methods to prevent aircraft, in the aspect of threats, concerning the safety of flights, from all kinds of birds, those which have breeding-grounds and those which migrate trough the area of military airfield in Deblin. This airfield has been chosen to carry out such researches because it is located close to the valley of the Vistula river, one of the most important pathways of birds’ migration through Poland. The authors presented the dynamics of the bird community structure on the airfield area. Factors which were impacted on bird distributions and “hot spots” in the contexts of bird strikes were discussed. The study presented the importance of internal (carnivore, perch availability, food resources and foraging places) and external factors (dumps, breeding colonies, migration dynamics) on distributions of birds on the airfield. Possible methods of the reduction of bird strikes in condition of military airfield in Deblin based on ornithological knowledge were discussed. Experiences from the former cases of bird strikes from the area of military airfield were reconsidered. The authors of this project suggested applications that the verification of the proposed hypothesis will give real algorithm, which will meaningfully increase already existing prophylaxis of the safety of the airfields against potential birds strike to aircraft and will have positive influence on the safety of the flights

Improving Aquatic Warbler Population Assessments by Accounting for Imperfect Detection

<div><p>Monitoring programs designed to assess changes in population size over time need to account for imperfect detection and provide estimates of precision around annual abundance estimates. Especially for species dependent on conservation management, robust monitoring is essential to evaluate the effectiveness of management. Many bird species of temperate grasslands depend on specific conservation management to maintain suitable breeding habitat. One such species is the Aquatic Warbler (<i>Acrocephalus paludicola</i>), which breeds in open fen mires in Central Europe. Aquatic Warbler populations have so far been assessed using a complete survey that aims to enumerate all singing males over a large area. Because this approach provides no estimate of precision and does not account for observation error, detecting moderate population changes is challenging. From 2011 to 2013 we trialled a new line transect sampling monitoring design in the Biebrza valley, Poland, to estimate abundance of singing male Aquatic Warblers. We surveyed Aquatic Warblers repeatedly along 50 randomly placed 1-km transects, and used binomial mixture models to estimate abundances per transect. The repeated line transect sampling required 150 observer days, and thus less effort than the traditional ‘full count’ approach (175 observer days). Aquatic Warbler abundance was highest at intermediate water levels, and detection probability varied between years and was influenced by vegetation height. A power analysis indicated that our line transect sampling design had a power of 68% to detect a 20% population change over 10 years, whereas raw count data had a 9% power to detect the same trend. Thus, by accounting for imperfect detection we increased the power to detect population changes. We recommend to adopt the repeated line transect sampling approach for monitoring Aquatic Warblers in Poland and in other important breeding areas to monitor changes in population size and the effects of habitat management.</p></div

Estimated abundance of singing Aquatic Warbler males on 1-km transects at different water levels in the Biebrza valley, Poland, based on a binomial mixture model with survey data from 2011 – 2013.

<p>Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. Water level was recorded in four categories: dry, wet after trampling, standing water<15 cm above ground, standing water > 15 cm above ground.</p

Parameter estimates (mean, standard deviation, lower and upper 95% credible intervals) of the most parsimonious binomial mixture model to estimate abundance of singing male Aquatic Warblers in the Biebrza valley, Poland, in 2011 – 2013.

<p>Parameter estimates (mean, standard deviation, lower and upper 95% credible intervals) of the most parsimonious binomial mixture model to estimate abundance of singing male Aquatic Warblers in the Biebrza valley, Poland, in 2011 – 2013.</p

Detection probability of Aquatic Warbler males by a single observer along a 1-km transect at different vegetation heights in different years in the Biebrza valley, Poland, estimated with a binomial mixture model.

<p>Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.</p

Birds Drinking Alcohol: Species and Relationship with People. A Review of Information from Scientific Literature and Social Media

Ethanol is a natural by-product of the fermentation process of fruit sugars and is occasionally consumed by fruit-eating and tree sap drinking birds. Information on this form of alcohol consumption features in the scientific literature. However, as pets or as wild animals living close to humans in urban habitats, birds have increasing possibilities to consume alcohol from beverages, such as beer, wine or spirits. Some observations have been discussed in a light-hearted manner in mass media and social media, but without any generalization of why some bird species drink the beverages intentionally or unintentionally provided by humans. To check which species and in what circumstances birds drink alcohol and how this is evaluated by humans, we reviewed the scientific literature and analysed videos from YouTube. In total we found and analysed 8 scientific papers and 179 YouTube videos, from which we identified at least 55 species (in some cases not all birds were identified to species level), 11 in the scientific literature and 47 in videos. The distribution of these species over the avian phylogenetic tree suggests that the origin of this convergent behaviour is mainly by human influence. The two data sources differed in the species covered. Videos typically presented interactions of birds with human-provided alcoholic beverages, and were dominated by two groups of intelligent birds: parrots and corvids. The popularity of YouTube videos for a particular species was positively correlated with the general popularity of the species as measured by the number of hits (results listed) on Google. Human responses to the videos were generally very positive and we analysed how the responses were influenced by factors derived from viewing the videos. Moreover, YouTube videos also provide information on at least 47 new bird species not previously mentioned as using alcohol, and our results suggest that parrots in particular can be potentially good candidates for future restricted laboratory studies on the effect of ethanol on birds and their relationship with humans