Appearance Of Birds Research Articles

Analysis of Kinesic and Proxemic Signs Structure in the Animated Music Video "Sabda Alam"

Media campaigns are designed to attract the attention of their audience, including through animated music video media. In an animated music video, the delivery of messages is combined through narration, characters and music. This research discusses "Sabda Alam", an animated music video about protection for endemic Indonesian birds. This animated music video is the final work of the students of SMK Raden Umar Said (RUS) Kudus which received appreciation at the Balinale International Film Festival 2021. The visualization of endemic bird life presented in "Sabda Alam" is an illustration of the existence of wild animals in relation to nature and humans as an effort to survive in their habitat. The visualization of these endemic birds is interesting to study as messages packaged through visualization structured nonverbal. The analysis in this study uses qualitative methods with a nonverbal communication theory approach, namely kinesic studies related to visualization as a language of movement, and proxemic studies as visualization of space which becomes the setting of the narrative. The results of the study explain that there is an arrangement of facial and postural signs in the sign structure kinesic, in the form of character expression and bird appearance. Meanwhile, in the proxemic sign structure, signs are presented through the relationship between the character of the bird and the time and space of events. The relationship between kinesic and proxemic signs structure is proven to represent messages about the importance of protecting endangered wild animals. This research can be an academic reference in the field of visual communication design, especially the sensitivity to read visual signs as messages.

Sex-specific changes in autosomal methylation rate in ageing common terns

Senescence, an age-related decline in survival and/or reproductive performance, occurs in species across the tree of life. Molecular mechanisms underlying this within-individual phenomenon are still largely unknown, but DNA methylation changes with age are among the candidates. Using a longitudinal approach, we investigated age-specific changes in autosomal methylation of common terns, relatively long-lived migratory seabirds known to show senescence. We collected blood at 1-, 3- and/or 4-year intervals, extracted DNA from the erythrocytes and estimated autosomal DNA methylation by mapping Reduced Representative Bisulfite Sequencing reads to a de novo assembled reference genome. We found autosomal methylation levels to decrease with age within females, but not males, and no evidence for selective (dis)appearance of birds of either sex in relation to their methylation level. Moreover, although we found positions in the genome to consistently vary in their methylation levels, individuals did not show such strong consistent variance. These results pave the way for studies at the level of genome features or specific positions, which should elucidate the functional consequences of the patterns observed, and how they translate to the ageing phenotype.

Изменение ареала западной зелёной пеночки (Phylloscopus trochiloides viridanus Blyth, 1843) в Украине и на прилежащих территориях

The aim of the work is to analyze the distribution of the Greenish Warbler of the subspecies viridanus in Ukraine and to determine the status of the species in various regions of the country. We used the analysis of the 3 – layer GIS map of the distribution areas of the Greenish Warbler for the period 1936–2022 in the DIVA-GIS program: 1st layer – the first registrations of the species (1936–1974); 2 – bird sightings at the end of the migration period (1979–2022); 3 – registrations in the nesting period. 77 GIS coordinates were used to build maps: author’s data, collection’s data of the Zoological Museum of the NNPM NAS of Ukraine, reference’s data, photo’s databases. In 1936–1974, the Greenish Warbler showed 2 foci of flights: 1 – in the south (in the Crimea, Nikolaev and Odessa regions), 2 – in the northeast – in the Belgorod region. In the northeastern region, the territory of distribution of the Greenish Warbler has increased significantly by 2022, but not in the south. The analysis performed indicates that the southern border of the Greenish Warbler habitat has shifted even more to the south and passes through the northern and northeastern regions of Ukraine. There is a tendency for the species to move further through Central Ukraine to the south of the country. In the south, registrations of a species with an unclear status at the end of spring migration and the beginning of the nesting period are typical. In the northeast, the Greenish Warbler nests. For Chernihiv, Kyiv and Ternopil regions, we assume the possibility of nesting. The species was not recorded in the southeastern and southwestern regions of Ukraine. In the northeastern regions, the first appearance of birds actually coincided with the beginning of their nesting, but the species has remained rare for about 30 years, breeding sporadically. In the southern regions, birds appeared and then disappeared for a rather long period, and after a while they are recorded more often and over a larger area. In Ukraine, the Greenish Warbler inhabits urbanized biotopes and is noted in 3 natural-geographical zones: forest, forest-steppe and steppe. It is possible that the Greenish Warbler does not nest in the south of Ukraine due to significant differences in the habitat conditions of the steppe zone from the forests in which the species has evolved. We believe that the successful resettlement of the Greenish Warbler is associated with a complex of factors: another wave of increase in the number of birds, favorable for the species climatic changes in the territories adjacent to the southern border of the range, the synanthropizations of the Greenish Warbler, transformation of the steppe zone of Ukraine due to the creation of tree plantations on its territory.

Ocular manifestations of Hutchinson-Gilford-Progeria syndrome: A rare presentation

The Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria (HGP) syndrome is an exceptionally rare genetic condition characterized by premature and accelerated aging in children. It is demonstrated by developmental delay along with progressive degenerative changes of the integumentary, musculoskeletal, cardiac, and vascular systems. In this case report, we describe the ocular manifestations of Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria (HGP) syndrome of a 20-year-old Bangladeshi boy. The patient had the classic triad of prominent eyes, loss of eyebrows or madarosis and lagophthalmos, which are the most common ocular manifestations.He also developed dry eye, keratinized ocular surface, Meibomian gland dysfunction, vascularized cornea, symblepharon, corneal opacification, and cataract. He had several systemic manifeastations that included senile facies, prominent scalp veins, generalized alopecia with plucked bird appearance, and sclerodermatous changes.

Infrared Bird Target Detection Based on Temporal Variation Filtering and a Gaussian Heat-Map Perception Network

Flying bird detection has recently attracted increasing attention in computer vision. However, compared to conventional object detection tasks, it is much more challenging to trap flying birds in infrared videos due to small target size, complex backgrounds, and dim shapes. In order to solve the problem of poor detection performance caused by insufficient feature information of small and dim birds, this paper suggests a method of detecting birds in outdoor environments using image pre-processing and deep learning, called temporal Variation filtering (TVF) and Gaussian heatmap perception network (GHPNet), respectively. TVF separates the dynamic background from moving creatures. Using bird appearance features that are brightest at the center and gradually darker outwards, the size-adaptive Gaussian kernel is used to generate the ground truth of the region of interest (ROI). In order to fuse the features from different scales and to highlight the saliency of the target, the GHPNet network integrates VGG-16 and maximum-no-pooling filterer into a U-Net network. The comparative experiments demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms those that are state-of-the-art in detecting bird targets in real-world infrared images.

The Relationship Between Sex Hormones, Immune Response and Productive Performance of Broiler Chickens

Numerous researchers hypothesized that testosterone had a "double-edged sword" effect, encouraging the development of secondary sexual features which are thought to be a healthy signal, while also suppressing immunological function. The relationship between external appearance of birds and its immune performance was little approached. The relationship between sex hormones, immune response and productive performance of males and females broiler were evaluated in this work. One day old chicks were sexed and chicks of each sex were randomly distributed into three experimental treatments, 1. TAM20 treatment chicks were supplied with estrogenic antagonist tamoxifen citrate at a dose of 20mg/kg body weight through oral administration; 2. Androgen treatment chicks were injected intramuscularly with synthetic veterinary androgen (Boldenone Undecylenate 50mg) at a dose of 1cm/ 10kg body weight and 3. The control treatment. Tamoxifen and androgen supplementation had no significant effects on final body weight, weight gain, or feed conversion ratio (at 45 days), although the androgen treatment had the significantly highest feed intake and the TAM20 treatment had the lowest. Moreover, differences between males and females for final body weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were not significant. Androgen injection increased breast percentage significantly compared to TAM20 treatment and numerically compared to control treatment. Also, Androgen supplementation increased significantly comb percentage; however TAM20 decreased it significantly compared to control. Concerning the effects of both treatments on level of sex hormones, androgen showed favorable effects on both testosterone and estrogen when compared to Tamoxifen 20 treatment. On the other hand, administration of TAM 20 improves phagocytic activity as compared to androgen administration. Phagocytic index, productive performance, and carcass traits did not substantially associated with either testosterone and or estrogen blood levels.

Evolutionary trade-off between male colouration and feather moult extent also indirectly determines female moult.

Males and females are often influenced by different selective forces, frequently resulting in diverging phenotypes, for example in colouration. Since an animal's colouration may strongly influence its fitness, causes and consequences of sexual dichromatism in birds could aid in understanding important factors affecting sexual and natural selection. Variation in plumage ornamentation may affect mate attraction or intraspecific antagonistic behaviour. In most passerines, body plumage colouration of juveniles is obtained through the process of feather moult. The number of moulted wing and tail feathers, which also influences the bird's appearance, may affect its fitness. Here, we show that body plumage colouration of male, but not female, passerines is correlated with the number of moulted wing and tail feathers in the early stage of the bird's life for both sexes. Thus, the extent of wing and tail moult in females is not modulated by the female's colouration and can prevent females from reaching their sex-specific optima. This result could be explained by high intersexual genetic correlations, which might make it impossible for the sexes to reach their own trait fitness optima. Our findings may indicate that species-specific, rather than sex-specific, internal correlations shaped bird moult strategy, an important avian life-history trait.

Small, immature pterosaurs from the Cretaceous of Africa: implications for taphonomic bias and palaeocommunity structure in flying reptiles

Pterosaurs reached only modest sizes in the Triassic-Jurassic. By contrast, the Cretaceous saw a trend toward large to giant size (2 m to >6 m wingspans), and while small-medium (<1 m–2 m wingspans) sized forms are known from the Lower Cretaceous they are rare in the Upper Cretaceous. This pattern has been ascribed to the appearance of birds in the mid-Mesozoic, and their displacement of pterosaurs from niches previously occupied by small-medium sized forms. Here we show how new finds of small-very small pterosaurs (<1 m wingspans) from the mid-Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of Morocco point to several sampling biases of the data upon which these patterns are founded. Evidence for the size range of these pterosaurs strongly correlates with sample-size: as the sample increased (from <100 to >400 specimens) both very small and giant forms have been discovered. Histological analysis suggests that very small/small morphs are immature individuals rather than species in which adults were small-bodied. This new data shows that size distribution patterns based on all available specimens differ markedly from those based on a much more restricted sub-set of named taxa. Critically, this analysis reveals that pterosaur size ranges in the Cretaceous do not reflect a switch to large and giant size, but an extension of the size range from very small through to giant forms. Cretaceous niches previously occupied by small pterosaurs in the Triassic and Jurassic were increasingly occupied not by birds but by early ontogenetic stages of large and giant pterosaurs.

Biomimetics: An Approach to Enhance Sustainability - An Overview

Biomimicry is the study of natural structures, mechanisms and ecosystems to create more ecologically sustainable designs. It plays a vital role in searching for new tools and techniques to solve human problems by adopting natural phenomena. Many experts now view nature through biomimicry for motivation with its instinctive ability for sustainability and proven flexibility to interruption. Biomimetics is not a recent trend; the idea of looking into nature for inspiration is in practice for a long time. Human innovations have borrowed from nature throughout history. Essential elements of biomimicry are ethos, emulate and reconnect. Philosophies of biomimicry emphasise nature’s features, thereby implying that humans have much to learn from nature with evolutionary knowledge. Biomimicry is a modelling tool; the design process is usually divided into two categories; biology to design and challenge to biology. Research folk imitate natural phenomena in three levels viz., form, process, and ecosystem level. Nowadays, biomimicry is used in almost every field, from architecture to computer science. Biomimicry can help with structural quality, water efficiency, zero-waste systems, the thermal atmosphere and energy supply. Fluid-drag-reduction swimsuits inspired by the structure of shark skin, velcro fasteners inspired by burrs, aeroplane shapes inspired by the appearance of birds and stable building systems inspired by termite mounds, honeycombs, and other biomimetic experiments are only a few examples.

Hutchinson Gilford Progeria Syndrome with Ocular Manifestation

Hutchinson Gilford progeria Syndrome (HPGS) was first described by Jonathan Hutchinson Gilford in 1897 [1]. It is characterized by characteristic facies also described as plucked bird appearance. These are reported to occur due to denovo autosomal dominant mutation in Laminin A(LMNA) gene present on 1q21.1-1q 21.3 and are rarely inherited [2]. This is to report a rare case series of two children presenting with Hutchinson Gilford progeria with ocular manifestation.

Winged Voices: Mapuche Ornithology from South American Temperate Forests

Ethno-ornithological studies have shown the complexity of indigenous systems of classification of local biota. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about the etymology of bird names used by indigenous peoples in many locations and about the phenomenological meaning of these names. We conducted an extensive literature review of Mapuche bird names and their etymologies. Because of the relative importance of onomatopoeias as the origin of Mapuche bird names, we compared the proportion of onomatopoeic names used by different forest-dwelling indigenous peoples worldwide. We found 219 bird names in Mapuzugun for 92 species and 135 etymologies for 72 different species. Sixty-four (47%) etymologies were onomatopoeic, while 29 (21%) etymologies came from the bird's appearance and 21 (16%) from its behavior. Out of a total of 13 different indigenous peoples examined, only the Mbuti (Congo) showed a higher percentage of onomatopoeic names (67%) than the Mapuche. Using a phenomenological framework, we utilized the notion of “sonic incarnation” to discuss how a bird's voice does not necessarily guide the listener's eyes to it but, instead, the experience of hearing it is equated with “seeing” the bird. Onomatopoeic influence is a key root of the bird names used by different indigenous peoples of the world, including the Mapuche, and it may reflect onomatopoeia's great ability to capture immediacy in the landscape of human-bird encounters.

Переоткрывая мифологическое воображение эвенков: когнитивное измерение полевых заметок Г.М. Василевич

The article offers a new perspective on field materials collected by an outstanding ethnographer and Tungus studies specialist Glafira Vasilevich. The author of the article draws attention to the ideas in the field materials that are directly related to the thinking of the Evenks. During the work in the archives of the MAE RAS, it was noted that field materials relating to the Evenki imagination can be analyzed via cognitive anthropology and psychology. The article takes a variety of materials for analysis that refers to the thinking of the Evenks: hunting amulets, names, ideas of the appearance of birds and the image of fire. Ideas on implicit meanings (Douglas), the theory of mind (Gervais and others) and promiscuous teleology (Banerjee, Bloom and others) are taken as the methodological basis for the analytical commentary. Each of the selected concepts and all of them together allow to look at the imagination of the Evenks, which generates ideas about the supernatural based on everyday thinking. The article shows how linguistic, logical and moral categories are extended to the animal and natural world through misattribution.

Feather moult and bird appearance are correlated with global warming over the last 200 years

Global warming alters various avian phenological processes, including advanced reproduction and migration schedules. In birds, individual appearance is largely determined by plumage, influencing, for example, bird attractiveness, social status and camouflage. Juveniles of most passerine species replace their nest-grown plumage during the first months of life, a process that is called post-juvenile feather moult. Using data from ten natural history collections, we show that the extent of the post-juvenile moult has increased significantly over the last 212 years (1805–2016), a trend that is positively correlated with the temperature of the environment. Therefore, it seems that birds replaced more feathers under warmer conditions, causing juveniles to appear more similar to adult birds. Moreover, in several species, we describe a male–female switch in the extent of moult, with females currently replacing more feathers than males compared to the past. These results demonstrate different biological responses to climate warming by different phenotypes.

The relationship between internal green environment, especially among stratification of plants with the urban architecture and bird appearance

The relationship between internal green environment, especially among stratification of plants with the urban architecture and bird appearance

Everyday chemical product design as platform for teaching transport phenomena

Transport phenomena is proposed as the second paradigm as a consequence of the inadequacy of the unit operations field for solving process and product engineering problems. The appearance of Bird’s transport phenomena textbook put transport phenomena as an engineering science along with thermodynamics for chemical engineers. Even though this field provides some important fundamentals to solve upcoming undergraduate problems, we have found that students constantly perceive this field as abstract and difficult to apply due to the fashion in which the problems are posed, the mathematics involved, and the three-dimensional view required to understand the phenomena. Chemical product design on the other hand represents the fourth paradigm which has permitted the evolution of the formation of the engineer to a more market-oriented design, so the student becomes more aware of the impact of his design. Here, we show how everyday life product design has facilitated the understanding of the fundamental concepts in transport phenomena for the student using active learning methodologies centered on evaluation of market needs.

Eggshell Porosity Provides Insight on Evolution of Nesting in Dinosaurs.

Knowledge about the types of nests built by dinosaurs can provide insight into the evolution of nesting and reproductive behaviors among archosaurs. However, the low preservation potential of their nesting materials and nesting structures means that most information can only be gleaned indirectly through comparison with extant archosaurs. Two general nest types are recognized among living archosaurs: 1) covered nests, in which eggs are incubated while fully covered by nesting material (as in crocodylians and megapodes), and 2) open nests, in which eggs are exposed in the nest and brooded (as in most birds). Previously, dinosaur nest types had been inferred by estimating the water vapor conductance (i.e., diffusive capacity) of their eggs, based on the premise that high conductance corresponds to covered nests and low conductance to open nests. However, a lack of statistical rigor and inconsistencies in this method render its application problematic and its validity questionable. As an alternative we propose a statistically rigorous approach to infer nest type based on large datasets of eggshell porosity and egg mass compiled for over 120 extant archosaur species and 29 archosaur extinct taxa/ootaxa. The presence of a strong correlation between eggshell porosity and nest type among extant archosaurs indicates that eggshell porosity can be used as a proxy for nest type, and thus discriminant analyses can help predict nest type in extinct taxa. Our results suggest that: 1) covered nests are likely the primitive condition for dinosaurs (and probably archosaurs), and 2) open nests first evolved among non-avian theropods more derived than Lourinhanosaurus and were likely widespread in non-avian maniraptorans, well before the appearance of birds. Although taphonomic evidence suggests that basal open nesters (i.e., oviraptorosaurs and troodontids) were potentially the first dinosaurs to brood their clutches, they still partially buried their eggs in sediment. Open nests with fully exposed eggs only became widespread among Euornithes. A potential co-evolution of open nests and brooding behavior among maniraptorans may have freed theropods from the ground-based restrictions inherent to covered nests and allowed the exploitation of alternate nesting locations. These changes in nesting styles and behaviors thus may have played a role in the evolutionary success of maniraptorans (including birds).

Prevalence of Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease Virus and Avian Polyomavirus in Captivity Psittacines from Costa Rica

Psittacine beak and feather disease virus (PBFDV) and avian polyomavirus (APV) are the most common viral diseases in psittacine birds, both affecting feathers and physical appearance of birds. Between 2005 and 2009, a total of 269 samples were collected from birds presented at veterinary clinics, shelters and rescue centers of wildlife in Costa Rica. They belonged to 19 species of psittacine birds. The most representative species in the sample were Ara macao (157), Ara ambigua (37), Amazona autumnalis (24), Amazon ochrocephala (21) and Ara ararauna (8). A prevalence of 19.7% (53/269) for PBFDV and 4.8% (13/269) for APV was determined using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). In 3.3% (9/269) of the birds mixed infections were detected. Statistical analysis determined that psittacines living in shelters and rescue centers had a greater risk to be positive to PBFDV and APV than birds that were presented at veterinary clinics, while only for PBFDV it was determined, that it is more likely to detect it in feathers than in blood. Finally, birds infected with PBFDV had 6.24 times more probability to become infected with APV, than non-infected birds. This is the first report of prevalence of PBFDV and APV in captive psittacines from Costa Rica.

3D imaging spectroscopy for measuring hyperspectral patterns on solid objects

Sophisticated methods for true spectral rendering have been developed in computer graphics to produce highly accurate images. In addition to traditional applications in visualizing appearance, such methods have potential applications in many areas of scientific study. In particular, we are motivated by the application of studying avian vision and appearance. An obstacle to using graphics in this application is the lack of reliable input data. We introduce an end-to-end measurement system for capturing spectral data on 3D objects. We present the modification of a recently developed hyperspectral imager to make it suitable for acquiring such data in a wide spectral range at high spectral and spatial resolution. We capture four megapixel images, with data at each pixel from the near-ultraviolet (359 nm) to near-infrared (1,003 nm) at 12 nm spectral resolution. We fully characterize the imaging system, and document its accuracy. This imager is integrated into a 3D scanning system to enable the measurement of the diffuse spectral reflectance and fluorescence of specimens. We demonstrate the use of this measurement system in the study of the interplay between the visual capabilities and appearance of birds. We show further the use of the system in gaining insight into artifacts from geology and cultural heritage.

An alternate and reversible method for flight restraint of cranes

Flight restraint is important for zoos, safaris, and breeding centers for large birds. Currently used techniques for flight restraint include both surgical and non-surgical approaches. Surgical approaches usually cause permanent change to or removal of tendon, patagial membrane, or wing bones, and can cause pain and inflammation. Non-surgical approaches such as clipping or trimming feathers often alter the bird's appearance, and can damage growing blood feathers in fledglings or cause joint stiffness. We observed microstructure of primary feathers of the red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) and found that the width of barbs is a determinative factor influencing vane stiffness and geometric parameters. We hypothesized that partial longitudinal excision of barbs on the ventral surface of the primary feathers would reduce the stiffness of the vane and render the feathers unable to support the crane's body weight during flight. Furthermore, we hypothesized that this modification of barbs would also change the aerodynamic performance of feathers such that they could not generate sufficient lift and thrust during flapping to enable the bird to fly. We tested this hypothesis on a red-crowned crane that had normal flight capability by excising the ventral margin of barbs on all 10 primaries on the left wing. The bird was unable to take off until the modified feathers were replaced by new ones. Removal of barbs proved to be a simple, non-invasive, low-cost and reversible method for flight restraint. It is potentially applicable to other large birds with similar structural characteristics of primary feathers.

Biochemical Genetics of Opossum Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 3: Evidence for Three ALDH3A-Like Genes and an ALDH3B-Like Gene

Mammalian ALDH3 isozymes participate in peroxidic and fatty aldehyde metabolism, and in anterior eye tissue UV-filtration. BLAT analyses were undertaken of the opossum genome using rat ALDH3A1, ALDH3A2, ALDH3B1, and ALDH3B2 amino acid sequences. Two predicted opossum ALDH3A1-like genes and an ALDH3A2-like gene were observed on chromosome 2, as well as an ALDH3B-like gene, which showed similar intron-exon boundaries with other mammalian ALDH3-like genes. Opossum ALDH3 subunit sequences and structures were highly conserved, including residues previously shown to be involved in catalysis and coenzyme binding for rat ALDH3A1. Eleven glycine residues were conserved for all of the opossum ALDH3-like sequences examined, including two glycine residues previously located within the stem of the rat ALDH3A1 active site funnel. Phylogeny studies of human, rat, opossum, and chicken ALDH3-like sequences indicated that the common ancestor for ALDH3A- and ALDH3B-like genes predates the appearance of birds during vertebrate evolution.