The environmental crisis has created a demand for practices that build awareness about the interconnections of diverse forms of life, allowing humans to understand complex earthly relationships and ...reconnect with the land they inhabit. This paper contributes to this debate by investigating bird watching activities and their relevance for architects and landscape architects. Drawing upon multispecies studies and the notion of landscape thinking, it examines the potential of birding as a caring landscaping practice. It analyzes the relationship between birders and sand martins in two case studies and probes how birders develop attentiveness for the birds and their shared environment. The investigation suggests that birding fosters care beyond the observed species. It can trigger a landscaping practice comparable to landscape thinking that helps humans reconnect with the land, fostering response-able spatial design practices.
Understanding bird habitat selection has become a priority in conservation, particularly for bird species facing long-term population declines. The Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia (Linnaeus, 1758)), a ...species whose eastern distribution limit is in Atlantic Canada, declined by 98% between 1970 and 2011, prompting its listing as a threatened species in 2017. Its decline is hypothesized to be due in part to habitat loss and, hence, this study aimed to identify critical habitats within a protected area along Prince Edward Island. We used two types of survey to examine the availability and use of three breeding habitats: dunes, glacial till, and sandstone cliffs. A goodness-of-fit test revealed that the habitats were not used in proportion to their availability. Among them sandstone cliffs and, to a lesser extent, till cliffs were used significantly more than expected (i.e., selected). Instead, sand dunes were used less (i.e., avoided) as a breeding habitat. These results suggest that Bank Swallow selection is driven by characteristics associated with the sandstone and till habitats, and more attention and possibly protection should be given to them. Further studies should also explore whether similar patterns of selection are evident in the region's historical records and in similar coastline areas.
Swallow (Family: Hirundinidae) populations in the Canadian Maritimes have declined since the 1980s. Using mark-recapture data from 2012 to 2019, we determined apparent annual adult survival rates for ...Barn (Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758), Tree (Tachycineta bicolor (Vieillot, 1808)), Bank (Riparia riparia (Linnaeus, 1758)), and Cliff (Petrochelidon pyrfhonota (Vieillot, 1817)) swallows. For two data-rich species (Barn and Tree swallows), we modelled the relationships between survival and weather (cold snaps, precipitation, temperature, and wind speed), climate (El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) as a measure of primary productivity during the winter, number of active nests as a measure of site quality, and the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) annual population index as density-dependent processes. Survival rates for all four species were typically higher (Barn and Tree) or similar to (Cliff and Bank) of estimates from populations that have not undergone severe, long-term declines. Across weather and climate variables, conditions that are typically favourable for high insect availability (e.g., higher precipitation, warmer temperatures, and lower wind speeds) resulted in higher survival. For female Barn and Tree swallows, survival was higher when EVI was lower, and for Barn Swallows, survival was also higher when the BBS index was higher. Collectively our results demonstrate that conditions throughout the annual cycle affect survival, and the relationships with weather and climate variables support the importance of high insect availability.
Birds can cross geographical and environmental barriers and thereby facilitate dispersal of tick-borne pathogens both as carriers of infected ticks and as reservoirs of pathogenic microorganisms.
...(Ixodida: Ixodidae) is an endophilic tick in the Palearctic region that is highly specialized on its host, the European sand martin
. The purpose of this study was to determine whether
ticks sampled from sand martin nests in Sweden carry vector-borne pathogens.
Fed ticks were collected in the autumns of 2017 and 2019 from the nests of a European sand martin colony in southern Sweden. Ticks were identified morphologically to developmental stage and species and were tested for tick-borne pathogens using PCR-based methods.
None of the 41 ticks tested positive for five tick-borne pathogens including
spp., tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV),
, and
spp. Thirty-seven (13 females, 23 nymphs and 1 larva) of the 41 ticks tested positive for the
gene of
spp. The sequences of the 17 kDa and
genes were most closely related to
Rickettsia vini.
Our study confirms other reports that
ticks associated with the European sand martin have high infection prevalence of
R. vini.
Long‐distance migrants are particularly susceptible to climate change because of their multi‐stage life‐cycle, but understanding how climatic conditions at each of these stages influence population ...dynamics remains a key challenge. Here, we use long‐term data from a UK population of Sand Martins Riparia riparia, a declining Afro‐Palaearctic migrant, to investigate how weather on the wintering grounds and at passage sites impacts population size and arrival date. General linear models revealed that population size increased and arrival date advanced over the study period, and both were predicted by regional climatic variables in the previous winter and on passage. These results add to a growing body of evidence showing that population change in migrant birds is influenced by climatic conditions at all stages of the life cycle.
Vertical embankments and mounds serve as suitable habitats for burrowing birds, such as the Sand Martin (Riparia riparia). Sand Martins have decreased in many countries during the last two decades, ...possibly because of the decline in suitable nest sites. Therefore, it is important to understand the factors affecting nest burrowing and nest hole characteristics for the Sand Martin. A smaller entrance hole would be beneficial for regulating the internal environment of the nest, whereas deeper nests are more advantageous against nest predators and parasites. We examined the general structure of Sand Martin colonies and determined if particle size, pH, or electrical conductivity (EC) of the soil and the location of the colony affects the morphology of Sand Martin nest holes. We hypothesized that the climate of near lakeshore and non-lakeshore differs; consequently, we predicted that Sand Martins would construct wider nest tunnel entrances in more humid environments near the lakeshore than further from the lake. We also hypothesized that a lower pH of clay loam soil would result in an increasing level of exchangeable aluminum (Al) and acidity, which in turn would promote soil aggregation. Because soils with a low EC are more stable and less prone to flooding or erosion, we predicted that Sand Martins in such soils would have deeper nesting burrows. A total of four colonies were located in the study area in Turkey. They contained 2510 burrows, of which 91.83% were used for breeding. The mean colony size was 627. We measured the soil and the nest burrow characteristics from the 80 nest bottoms used for breeding by the Sand Martin. The mean pH was 8.8, and the mean EC was 171. Tunnel depth was longer in nests with greater pH and EC and in lakeshore than in non-lakeshore colonies. The distance between nest holes increased with the EC, and nests were located nearer to each other in the lakeshore colonies than in non-lakeshore colonies. The width of the entrance opening increased with soil particle size and was wider in nests located at the lakeshore areas. Our results indicated that Sand Martins will avoid sites with too compact or loose soils for nesting, probably to avoid nest collapses. Vertical lakeshore embankments offer good nesting sites for Sand Martins and should, therefore, be protected. Because soil particle size, pH, EC, and distance from the lakeshore influenced the nest hole characteristics of the Sand Martin, conservation and management efforts should take these variables into account when maintaining or establishing suitable soil conditions for the Sand Martin.
The relationships between the sand martin (
Riparia riparia
Linnaeus 1758) and the pale sand martin (
Riparia diluta
Sharpe et Wyatt 1893) in sympatric conditions in southern Central Siberia are ...discussed. New data on the distribution patterns of these two closely related martin species in the study area, the location of the breeding colonies, and nesting in mixed-species colonies are presented. Information on the morphology and habitat preferences of
R. riparia
and
R. diluta
, including conesting species, is provided. In the sympatry zone in southern Central Siberia, the pale sand martin is shown to be more abundant, with mixed colonies of
R. riparia
and
R. diluta
also being found. Both species studied differ significantly in the morphometric characters. When looking for the location of a breeding colony,
R. riparia
and
R. diluta
display different habitat requirements.
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