In response to population declines in several bird species, knowledge of habitat quality provides essential information to optimise conservation and management plans. Traditionally, habitat quality has been estimated by using demographic parameters or direct measures of habitat features, but these approaches are often not appropriate to link population dynamics and habitat characteristics. Alternatively, the study of bird physiological responses to environmental alterations has an extraordinary potential to recognise and quantify the problems or stressors that threaten species and affect individual fitness. The physiological state of birds can be defined from different perspectives. Energetics, biochemistry, immunology and endocrinology each offer a range of valuable tools within the framework of conservation physiology. Here I review some of the most commonly used physiological tools in comparative studies: such as measures of metabolic rate, plasma metabolite profiles, immune status, stress responses and stable isotope analysis. In spite of the obvious limitations in any research project, combining different methods in our studies would be a sound approach to identifying the mechanisms underlying the patterns observed in bird population trends.

Wind farms have a negative impact on several animal populations, with birds and bats assumed to be among the most heavily affected taxa. In addition to the extensive development of wind power on land, currently several European countries have offshore wind farms (OWFs) in operation, as well as proposals to build many more. Considering that seabirds spend more than 90% of their life at sea, it is clear that they may interact with these man-made structures. To date, information on how to measure the impact of OWFs on seabirds is very scarce. In many cases it comes from non-peer reviewed reports made for specific assessment studies, very often carried out without appropriate standard methodologies, that raise questions regarding the level of confidence that they merit. In this paper, we describe the current political framework concerning the possible development of OWFs in Spain. Based on this, we comment on both the relevant variables necessary to assess the impacts of OWFs on birds and the methodologies available to collect those variables in the field, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of each method. We show the importance of collision risk models, vulnerability indexes, cumulative impact assessment and population viability analysis as management tools. Mitigation measures that have the potential to minimise impacts are also summarised. We conclude with a discussion of the different steps to follow to attain a ‘clean’ development of offshore wind energy in Spain.

Todd's parakeet Pyrrhura picta caeruleiceps is a geographically isolated race of painted parakeet P. picta, a widespread species. Several authors highlight the need to recognize Todd's parakeet at the species level, and despite past efforts to find new populations, no new locations have been found. We applied a Species Distribution Model (SDM) to guide a 30-day survey during 2011 to increase information on its geographic distribution. Surveys resulted in the discovery of two new populations in Los Motilones Mountains, on the north-eastern boundary of Colombia with Venezuela. Our field surveys support previous arguments of a continuous geographic range from the northern part of the Eastern Cordillera to the Perijá Mountains. However, we did not find birds at the base of the Colombian slope of the Perijá Mountains, and confirming its absence there requires further study. Habitat loss at the three localities visited was high, with most remaining habitat represented by continuous gallery forests located on steep and humid slopes at higher altitudes. If conditions for population maintenance are only present in those patches, it will be necessary to identify forest fragments that help maintain connectivity between populations on the northernmost part of the Eastern Cordillera and the Perijá Mountains. More surveys in the Perijá Mountains and in Venezuela are also recommended. This study provides further evidence of the usefulness of species distribution models to increase available information on rare or little known taxa.

Nest re-use in birds is rare but since appropriate cavities may be scarce, cavity-nesting birds may often re-use those that were occupied in previous seasons. Old nest material may contain and/or attract more ectoparasites than fresh material. Therefore it is important to understand the effects of nest re-use on the abundance of different ectoparasite species of different virulence and their impli cation for breeding parameters and nestling condition. We studied the consequences of nest re-use in a population of pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca breeding in central Spain by offering them both nest-boxes with old nest material and cleaned nest-boxes. We monitored breeding activity from the early stages of nest construction until fledging, and then finally removed nests to estimate ectoparasite abun dances. Occupation rates were similar for both treatments. We found that blowfly and flea abundances were significantly higher in old nests than in new nests, but the abundance of mites, the most virulent ectoparasites on our host study population, was not affected by the presence of old nest material. Nestling growth with respect to tarsus length and mass was not affected by nest re-use although wing length was marginally and significantly reduced by nest re-use. There was no association between ectoparasite abundance and nestling growth and condition. These results question the generality of assumed higher infestations in re-used nests, on which a certain critique of nest-box studies has been based.

A Mediterranean population of the Eurasian nuthatch Sitta europaea using nestboxes was studied during three breeding seasons (2009-2011). The study area was a managed holm oak forest where suitable natural cavities for breeding were accordingly scarce. A large proportion of breeding territories was significantly associated with nestboxes located in the periphery of the patch and with large-holed nestboxes. The relationship between habitat heterogeneity (predicted by canopy cover of holm oaks and tree numbers) and breeding performance (egg-laying date, clutch size, hatching success, fledging success and breeding success) was tested. Egg-laying date was independent of predictors of habitat heterogeneity but was related to breeding success: earlier nesters achieved better breeding success than those breeding later. Clutch size and breeding success showed a negative relationship with canopy cover and tree numbers, respectively: both reproductive parameters were higher in the apparently suboptimal territories than in the optimal ones. These results are interpreted as an effect of the severe competition for cavities between all species breeding in the nestboxes and the reproductive output of nuthatch is density-dependent. The high overall breeding success achieved by nuthatches suggests that holm oak forest must be considered a high quality habitat for this species.

Some cormorant species are perceived as negatively interacting with fish resources but conclusive evidence supporting such suggestions are scarce. Here we studied the diet of the neotropic cormorant and assessed its impact on recreational fish resources. A total of 33 pellets (regurgitated casts) and 73 regurgitations produced by the Neotropic cormorant were collected between 19 October 2006 and 24 February 2007 at a colony on the Carrileufu River, Patagonia, Argentina. Fish (94.3%) were the most abundant prey, followed by crustaceans (5.1%) and molluscs (0.6%). The Patagonian silverside Odontesthes hatcheri was the most frequent fish prey, followed by the rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and the creole perch Percichthys trucha. The contribution of fish species to the diet varied throughout the breeding season. The fish intake estimate for the colony based on parameters drawn from previous studies was 4.708 tons, which represents a consumption of 41,504 fish specimens. Native species were the major component of the cormorant diet, comprising 75.7% of the specimens and 73.2% of the biomass consumed during the course of the breeding season. Given fish availability and productivity within the study area, the impact on recreational fish resources by Neotropic cormorants can be estimated to be of minor importance.

We investigated the abundance and breeding habitat use of the turtle dove Streptopelia turtur in the Basque Country (northern Spain). Censuses employed 500 m transects, distributed across 100 km² grid cells where the species was previously known to occur. Turtle doves were only detected in two out of four biogeographic sectors sampled. The species was found in forested habitats, riparian forests and evergreen oak patches in particular, but its abundance decreased as tree cover increased. The abundance in farmland was lower, probably as a consequence of the scarcity of adequate nest sites. The range contraction described for this population stresses its unfavourable conservation status and the need to implement action, especially in relation to its breeding habitats.

This paper reports the reproductive ecology of the isabelline wheatear Oenanthe isabellina at a high-altitude area (3,430 m.a.s.l.) on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. Monogamous pairs bred within territories, placing their nests in burrows. Eggs were laid between late April and early June. The species was single brooded at the study site. Clutch size averaged 5.1 eggs. Incubation by the female lasted 13.5 days and nestlings were provisioned by both parents during a period of 18.5 days. At least one young fledged from 81% of nests. Relative to their low-altitude counterparts, the high-altitude wheatears produced fewer, smaller clutches but larger eggs, and had longer incubation and nestling periods, suggesting a life history strategy adapted to harsh environments.

Detailed analyses of the biometrics of white-spotted bluethroats captured in the Iberian Peninsula and sub-Saharan Africa show that previous criteria for diagnosing subspecies are inadequate. This deficiency seems to result from feather wear during the breeding period and so new criteria are proposed for the migratory and wintering periods. Foreign recoveries in Portugal indicate that the new criteria work better during these periods but, a small proportion of misidentifications are still likely to occur. As bimodality is shown by biometric traits other than wing length, further refinements should consider the use of multiple traits as well as genetic markers.

Large scale study of diversity patterns has the purpose of describing emergent properties of the ecosystems and biota which in occasions do not manifest in more detail-scale investigations. At the biogeographic and macroecological scales, diversity patterns are the product of biota's responses to current environmental conditions and past environmental changes that can be researched based on evolutionary phenomena (speciation, extinction) or historical events (dispersion). Works integrating macroecology and macroevolution are developing and the scientific community is still on the phase of creating and trying to reach a consensus on methodologies allowing such integration. This thesis uses four case studies with the aim of supporting the suitability of schemes incorporating contemporary, evolutionary and historical aspects of the biotas to reach more complete explanations for the mechanisms generating diversity patterns. During the development of this thesis we have created databases using empirical data from different geographical regions, which have been analyzed using geographical information systems, statistical models and phylogenetic analysis methods. Besides, all case studies share in common the assemblage approach, which uses grid cells uniformly distributed across the study area as analysis units. The choice of this approach is related to the fact that all patterns and processes studied have a geographical expression and therefore their study requires spatially explicit methods. Intending to achieve a wide range of representation, the case studies analyze three diversity patterns (i.e. species richness, body size, range size), three different taxonomie groups (i.e. reptiles, birds and mammals) and three geographical regions (i.e. east and south of Africa, the New World, the Globe). Far from trying to find methodological unification, the analyses are adapted to the idiosyncrasy of each specific question that are studied in the following cases. In the first place, we explore the species richness patterns of five reptile groups from south and east Africa and both relationships with current climate and probable ancestral relationships with palaeoclimates where the groups were originated are analyzed. Information was provided by the fossil record, dated phylogenies and palaeoclimatic reconstructions. We found coincidence between climatic conditions preferred nowadays and ancestral climatic conditions for the different groups of reptiles suggesting that niche conservatism is valid to interpret African reptile richness patterns. Secondly, we investigate the extent to which evolutionary relationships between species of oscine passerine birds can explain their geographical range size patterns in the New World. Range size patterns are documented for migratory and non-migratory species and are partitioned into the portion explained by evolutionary relationships and the portion that is independent from them by using phylogenetic methods of partition of the variance. The results indicate that range size is moderately heritable for this group of birds and hence its study needs to account for the role played by evolution. Furthermore, the patterns are different for migratory and non-migratory species, supporting the effect of mesoscale climatic gradients that are found in mountainous regions. Regional differences and phylogenetic structure found in migratory ranges, suggest the convenience of including other biological traits as dispersal ability, to reach a better understanding of the processes conditioning the biogeography of oscine range size. In third place, we examine the relative contributions of deep evolutionary relationships to the global bird body size gradient, distinguishing between the part of the gradient which is phylogenetically structured from the part that is independent from the phylogeny and thus might respond to adaptive phenomena under the family level. In this case, apart from the ph

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Observaciones de aves raras en España, 2010. Informe número 27 del Comité de Rarezas de la Sociedad Española de Ornitología. Aporta 360 registros nuevos sobre la presencia de 91 taxones de aves raras en el conjunto de España, con un índice de aceptación del 81%. Se informa de la adición de 10 taxones a la Lista de las Aves de España, con las primeras observaciones homologadas de pardela de Cabo Verde Calonectris edwarsii (primera y segunda citas), piquero patirrojo Sula sula, halcón gerifalte Falco rusticolus, polluela culirroja Porzana marginalis, gaviota sombría del Báltico Larus fuscus fuscus, collalba Isabel Oenanthe isabellina (primera a cuarta citas), collalba gris del Atlas Oenanthe o. seebohmi, curruca de Rüppell Sylvia rueppellii, alcaudón norteño Lanius excubitor y charlatán Dolichonyx oryzivorus. Segundas para España fueron las citas de alcaudón núbico Lanius nubicus y reinita coronada Setophaga coronata. Este informe incluye también las terceras observaciones de porrón albeola Bucephala albeola, petrel gon-gon/freira Pterodroma feae/madeira, petrel de Bulwer Bulweria bulwerii (Península), correlimos acuminado Calidris acuminata y ruiseñor coliazul Tarsiger cyanurus (tercera a quinta). Durante 2010 se obtuvieron indicios de reproducción de rabijunco etéreo Phaethon aethereus en las islas Canarias, documentada por primera vez en 2007, de vencejo moro Apus affinis en el sur peninsular por octavo año consecutivo, y el primer caso documentado de hibridación de busardos ratonero y moro Buteo buteo × rufinus. El informe recoge, además, números sin precedentes de paíño de Madeira Oceanodroma castro y una ‘arribada’ de serretas grandes Mergus merganser, correlimos pectoral Calidris melanotos, correlimos canelo Tryngites subruficollis y escribanos lapones Calcarius lapponicus.