Declines in the populations of those European migratory birds that overwinter in West African woodland savannas have been related to the increasing human population and conversion of landscapes in West Africa. This paper presents data from surveys of landscapes in northern Ghana from 2010 to 2023, in a period with increased logging, ending with a near-complete removal of acacia trees for production of charcoal towards the end of the study. The density of trees, as such, does not (yet) appear to be critical, but removal of acacia trees caused disappearance of warbler species from places where they once were common. Flycatchers and chats appear to be less affected. Conservation actions should be developed in close collaboration with the agricultural sector and should promote agroforestry with more trees with mycorrhiza roots, and more rigorous policies to preserve such trees.
The Eurasian Pygmy Owl Glaucidium passerinum is a small forest owl widely distributed across the Palearctic, yet aspects of its behaviour remain poorly documented. Between 2021 and 2025, field surveys were conducted in several mountain ranges of Bulgaria, including Rila, Pirin, the Western Rhodopes, Slavyanka (Alibotush) and the western Balkan Range. Surveys were carried out in typical forest habitats across breeding, non-breeding and winter periods using passive listening, limited call playback and direct visual observation. During these surveys an adult Pygmy Owl was repeatedly observed ingesting the solid fraction of its faeces immediately after defecation, with the behaviour video-recorded on three occasions within a single day. Three additional unrecorded observations were made during the study period at other sites. These observations provide the first evidence of coprophagy in Eurasian Pygmy Owls and suggest that this behaviour may represent a regular component of the species' behavioural repertoire, potentially related to nutrient recovery. While other owl species are known to eat the faeces of their nestlings, this is the first time owls have been observed eating their own faeces (autocoprophagy).
Detailed information on local diet composition can be important in efforts to conserve migratory birds. We determined the diet of Turtle Doves Streptopelia turtur in a coastal dune population in The Netherlands, where this species is in steep decline. We collected fresh droppings in the field and determined the plant species therein using metabarcoding and next generation DNA sequencing. The plant composition of the faecal samples was dominated by Claytonia perfoliata in spring and Euphorbia paralias in summer and autumn. A range of other plant species was detected in smaller numbers. These mostly included common species in the natural dune system and components of the seed mix with which the birds were supplementary fed during the study period. We detected no seeds typical of crops or weeds in agricultural areas. Our results have informed the local conservation initiative for Turtle Doves, confirming the use of the supplementary seeds provided and resulting in part of a dedicated foraging field being seeded with C. perfoliata.
Barn Swallows are known to use alternative reproductive strategies but resulting levels of extra-pair parentage differ widely between studies. In this one-year pilot study (2021) we examined extra-pair parentage in 50 broods across four Barn Swallow populations in The Netherlands, with a focus on whether these levels complicate the estimation of individual (lifetime) reproductive success based on field observations of breeding and provisioning behaviour. We found that 31.3% of nestlings from 56.0% of broods were of extra-pair origin. Of these nestlings, 94.9% were related to the social female but sired by an extra-pair male, while in 0.5% of cases the opposite occurred, involving an extra-pair female. Another 4.6% of nestlings were unrelated to either social parent, indicating ‘egg dumping’. Based on these results we found that visual observations overestimated the average reproductive output of cuckolded males by as much as 48%. Additionally, we observed that extra-pair offspring were not randomly distributed within broods, and there were no consistent differences between breeding locations. The complexity of alternative mating systems is further illustrated by the observation of a polygynous male with offspring in broods of four different females, and broods of two females that each contained offspring from three different males; while their social males may also engage in extra-pair copulations themselves. Overall, we conclude that an accurate assessment of individual reproductive success requires full-scale genetic sampling of local breeding populations.
