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Birds in a Changing World: Current Challenges and the Future of Research

A Special Issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615) belonging to the section "Wildlife".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 March 2027 | Viewed by 2701

Editor

Dr. Zbigniew Kwieciński

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Avian Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
Interests: interaction between molt vs. breeding of owls; avian incubation behaviour; nest light environment; relationship between nest concealment vs. predators risk; morphometry of the owl and the raptors feathers; anthropogenic materials in bird nests
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Birds occupy diverse ecological niches and are a key component of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Their distribution, phenology and population dynamics are increasingly affected by global climate change and anthropogenic pressure. Despite growing environmental stress, many bird species exhibit considerable behavioural, physiological and anatomical plasticity. The most commonly observed adaptive responses include changes in migratory routes, earlier onset of breeding, modifications in diet composition and even changes in wing and feather length. Comparative studies indicate that generalist species cope better with environmental variability than highly specialized ones. 

Research on bird ecology in the context of global change requires an interdisciplinary approach that integrates broadly understood avian biology, field ecology, climatology, genetics, anatomy, histology and data analysis. Birds also remain important indicator species, allowing the assessment of ecosystem degradation or recovery. 

This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive overview of current knowledge on avian responses to environmental change, combining the latest research findings with emerging directions in monitoring and environmental conservation. 

We encourage the submission of high-quality original articles addressing all aspects of bird biology and ecology, including habitat requirements and selection, foraging ecology and dietary preferences, reproductive biology and breeding success, distribution, breeding movements and migration, internal and external parasites, genetics, anatomy, histology and physiology, threats and conservation actions as well as population status and trends.

Dr. Zbigniew Kwieciński
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • life history
  • bird biology and ecology
  • genetics
  • anatomy
  • histology
  • physiology
  • conservation

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1603 KB  
Article
Non-Invasive Sampling Reveals Colony-Scale Spatial Heterogeneity in Cadmium Concentrations in Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica Droppings in Iceland
by Jakub Skorupski, Arkadiusz Nędzarek, Remigiusz Panicz, Piotr Eljasik, Natalia Śmietana and Erpur Snær Hansen
Animals 2026, 16(17), 2689; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16172689 - 28 Aug 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 478
Abstract
Cadmium (Cd) concentrations in Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica droppings were assessed during chick rearing using non-invasive sampling at nine Icelandic colonies. One fresh dropping was collected immediately after directly observed defecation from each of 159 different individuals in June–July 2018, and Cd was [...] Read more.
Cadmium (Cd) concentrations in Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica droppings were assessed during chick rearing using non-invasive sampling at nine Icelandic colonies. One fresh dropping was collected immediately after directly observed defecation from each of 159 different individuals in June–July 2018, and Cd was quantified by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry on a dry-weight basis. Reported Cd concentrations were strongly right-skewed (median, 155.2 µg kg−1 dry weight; range, 1.1–3539.2 µg kg−1) and differed among colonies in the primary unadjusted comparison (Kruskal–Wallis, p < 0.001), with Holm-adjusted Dunn tests identifying 9 of 36 significant colony pairs. In a secondary model including dry sample mass, the colony effect remained strong (Wald χ2(8) = 108.75, p < 0.001), and adjusted geometric means spanned 24.2–506.9 µg kg−1 dry weight (20.9-fold). Variance partitioning yielded an ICC of 0.261 (95% confidence interval, 0.104–0.519), which is interpreted as a model-dependent estimate given the nine colonies. No association with chick-provisioning prey composition or breeding performance remained detectable after false-discovery-rate correction. The 2018 dataset therefore shows pronounced colony-scale contrasts in reported Cd concentrations in droppings. Mechanistic attribution requires direct prey measurements and multi-year replication. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Birds in a Changing World: Current Challenges and the Future of Research)
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13 pages, 3842 KB  
Communication
Habitat Selection and Heterospecific Flocking Associations of a Single Male Scaly-Sided Merganser (Mergus squamatus) over Three Winter Seasons in Northern China
by Yongbin Zhao, Yanan Hao, Bing Liu, Guodong Yi, Jun Liu and Zhigao Liu
Animals 2026, 16(16), 2579; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16162579 - 18 Aug 2026
Viewed by 319
Abstract
The Scaly-sided Merganser (Mergus squamatus) is an endangered duck endemic to East Asia. It usually gathers in single-species flocks through winter. Existing field records focus almost entirely on southern winter flocks. No prior work has described lone individuals spending winter in [...] Read more.
The Scaly-sided Merganser (Mergus squamatus) is an endangered duck endemic to East Asia. It usually gathers in single-species flocks through winter. Existing field records focus almost entirely on southern winter flocks. No prior work has described lone individuals spending winter in northern China. We conducted standardized three-year winter surveys (2019–2022) across five isolated ice-free river patches along the Taizi River, Liaoning Province, northern China, to document habitat use and flocking behavior of one solitary male. Despite the availability of five discrete overwintering sites, the focal bird only occupied two patches characterized by dense riparian concealment and low human disturbance, avoiding open, highly disturbed sites. Resource Selection Function (RSF) modeling indicated habitat attributes (concealment and human disturbance) strongly predicted site use (AICc weight = 0.79), whereas the abundance of heterospecific flocking partners (Common Mergansers Mergus merganser) exerted negligible influence (AICc weight < 0.01). This solitary male associated only with Common Mergansers, the species with the closest phylogenetic relatedness (mitochondrial genetic distance = 0.04365), and never aggregated with other sympatric waterbirds. Model comparison confirmed phylogenetic relatedness outperformed dietary similarity as a predictor of heterospecific flocking (AICc weight = 0.76). Our three-year observations of this single individual demonstrate that, when conspecifics are absent and suitable winter habitat is limited, this male prioritized high-quality, low-disturbance ice-free patches over social aggregation opportunities, and selectively formed mixed flocks with its closest phylogenetic congener. This multi-year case study provides rare empirical baseline data for understanding winter behavioral trade-offs of endangered cavity-nesting waterfowl under severe frozen river conditions, though all conclusions herein apply only to this focal male and cannot be generalized to the entire species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Birds in a Changing World: Current Challenges and the Future of Research)
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20 pages, 11846 KB  
Article
Assessing Habitat Suitability and Climate-Change Responses of Raptors in Hunan Province, China, Using Ensemble Species Distribution Models
by Yufeng Zeng, Zongze Zhou, Hao Meng, Zeshuai Deng, Wen Peng and Daode Yang
Animals 2026, 16(11), 1722; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16111722 - 4 Jun 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 900
Abstract
Raptors are high-trophic-level predators and scavengers that are sensitive to habitat alteration, human disturbance, and climate variability, yet province-wide assessments of their habitat suitability and climate-change responses remain limited in subtropical China. Hunan Province, located along the inland section of the East Asian–Australasian [...] Read more.
Raptors are high-trophic-level predators and scavengers that are sensitive to habitat alteration, human disturbance, and climate variability, yet province-wide assessments of their habitat suitability and climate-change responses remain limited in subtropical China. Hunan Province, located along the inland section of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, contains complex mountain systems, plains, wetlands, and land-use mosaics that may support diverse raptor assemblages. Based on raptor survey records collected across Hunan from January 2022 to July 2023, we used biomod2 ensemble species distribution models to assess current habitat suitability, identify key environmental predictors, and project future changes under the SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios for the 2050s and 2090s. We recorded 39 raptor species and retained 3637 valid geographic locations and 4855 observed individuals after data cleaning. Nine representative species were further selected to construct 22 species–season combinations covering resident species, summer visitors, winter visitors, and four phenological stages. The EMwmean weighted ensemble model consistently outperformed the best single models, increasing mean AUC from 0.882 to 0.970 and the mean TSS from 0.611 to 0.845. Temperature seasonality (BIO4), the Human Footprint Index (HFP), precipitation in the driest month (BIO14), and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were the dominant predictors, although their relative importance varied among residency types and phenological stages. Under current conditions, highly suitable and most suitable habitats covered 65,259.67 km2, accounting for 30.81% of Hunan Province, and were mainly concentrated in western, southern, and eastern mountain regions. Future projections indicated a marked contraction of high-suitability habitats, especially under SSP5-8.5, with no HSI > 0.6 habitat identified by the 2090s. High-suitability habitats also became increasingly concentrated at higher elevations. These findings identify mountain regions as key conservation priorities and provide a spatial framework for climate-adaptive raptor conservation in Hunan Province. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Birds in a Changing World: Current Challenges and the Future of Research)
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17 pages, 2903 KB  
Article
Gut Microbiota of Captive and Wild Siberian Cranes and Links to Soil in Poyang Lake Wetlands
by Zheng Lai, Liting Xiao, Huilin Yang, Wenjing Yang, Qinghui You, Chaosheng Zhang and Minfei Jian
Animals 2026, 16(6), 894; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16060894 - 12 Mar 2026
Viewed by 531
Abstract
Gut microbiota are integral to host health and ecological adaptation, yet their interactions with environmental microbial communities remain understudied in migratory waterbirds. Using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we compared gut microbiota of captive and wild Siberian cranes and their associations with soil [...] Read more.
Gut microbiota are integral to host health and ecological adaptation, yet their interactions with environmental microbial communities remain understudied in migratory waterbirds. Using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we compared gut microbiota of captive and wild Siberian cranes and their associations with soil microbiota in the Poyang Lake wetlands. Alpha diversity was significantly higher in soil than in gut microbiota, with captive cranes exhibiting greater microbial richness and evenness than wild individuals. Beta diversity analysis revealed distinct gut and soil microbiota, with partial overlap between captive and wild crane gut microbiota. Firmicutes dominated gut communities, with Ligilactobacillus and Romboutsia enriched in captive cranes, whereas Acidobacteria were predominant in soil. Escherichia-Shigella was more abundant in wild cranes and soil. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) analysis identified 34 differentially enriched taxa, and microbial network analysis indicated stronger gut–soil microbial associations than those between captive and wild hosts. Network analysis further revealed distinct co-occurrence patterns between captive and wild groups, suggesting potential shifts in microbial interaction structures under different living conditions. These findings provide preliminary insights that may inform future conservation strategies for Siberian cranes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Birds in a Changing World: Current Challenges and the Future of Research)
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