Incidence of beak deformities in austral thrushes(Turdus falcklandii)increases with urbanization and flocking behavior  

作　　者：Cristian Andres GOROSITO Alex Edward JAHN Victor Rodolfo CUETO 

机构地区：[1]Laboratorio de Ecología de Aves,Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica(CIEMEP),Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas(CONICET)-Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco,Esquel,Chubut,Argentina [2]Department of Biology,Indiana University,Bloomington,Indiana,USA

出　　处：《Integrative Zoology》2025年第1期50-59,共10页整合动物学(英文版)

摘　　要：Beak deformation,known as avian keratin disorder(AKD),can impair feeding and preening of birds,reducing their survival.This disorder is apparently caused by Poecivirus infection,although to date,the viral origin has been corroborated in only a few North American bird species.Considering that fruit-eating birds can track spatiotempo-ral variations in fruit abundance and that AKD may have a viral origin,the incidence of this disease can be expected to increase withflocking by birds.Therefore,we evaluated if austral thrushes(Turdus falcklandii)were attracted to urban areas when exotic plants offered fruits and ifflocking of thrushes in urban areas increased the spread of AKD in this species in a Patagonian town.Wefitted GPS loggers on some individuals with normal beaks in rural areas and found that they visit the town in fall.Through point count censuses,we recorded greater abundances of thrushes with normal and deformed beaks during fall–winter in urban sites than in rural sites.However,the abun-dance of birds with AKD declined more(78–87%)than that of individuals with normal beaks(44–52%)during the transition from fall–winter to spring–summer.In urban zones in our study area,fruits of exotic species ripen during fall,attracting austral thrushes from rural sites.Nevertheless,such an attraction for food resources may be an ecological trap for this species,as the increase in incidence of AKD in urban areas may drastically reduce the survival of birds during the most unfavorable period of the year.

关 键 词：avian keratin disorder ecological trap South America URBANIZATION viral infection 

分 类 号：TS7[轻工技术与工程—制浆造纸工程]