Exotic and Zoo Bird Behaviour and Welfare

Dear Colleagues,

There are around 9000 extant species of birds, each with specific behavioural and ecological adaptations. Many species of birds are common as companion animals and in private aviculture, and across zoological collections globally birds are the most speciose of all taxa currently housed. Birds perform specialised behavioural displays and have time-activity patterns unique to their life history, evolutionary biology, and environmental niche. Knowledge of such behaviour is crucial to inform captive care, evidence best practice management, and inform our understanding of avian welfare. Whilst much work has been produced on domestic poultry, there is a need for species-specific information on captive requirements and tools for the welfare assessment for the myriad of non-domestic, exotic bird species housed in zoos and private collections. This Special Issue seeks to share information on all aspects of behaviour and welfare that relate to exotic bird species housed as pets (e.g., parrots) or in private aviculture (e.g., softbills), as well as those species found in zoological settings (e.g., penguins, pelicans, ratites). Work on domestic species housed within non-traditional settings (i.e., domestic poultry housed in a zoo/children's farm) will also be considered. The aim of this Special Issue is to gather together our current knowledge on exotic bird behaviour and welfare under managed conditions to advance species-specific care.

Dr. Paul Rose
Dr. Matthew Fiddes
Mr. Jonathan Beilby
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.