Nesting Birds Research Articles

Triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) fauna in bird nests: the case of Morrinhos, Ceará, Brazil.

Triatominae are associated with various Brazilian habitats, including bird nests, animal burrows, and peridomestic structures. Despite extensive studies on triatomines in domiciliary environments in Ceará, Brazil, there has been limited research on their presence in the wild. This study focuses on the municipality of Morrinhos in Ceará, which is characterized by a Caatinga biome and riparian forests along the Acaraú River. During the study, a total of 185 nests of Pseudoseisura cristata were analyzed in rural locations and triatomines were collected in 26 nests from 12 different locations. A total of 117 triatomines was collected, belonging to three species: Psammolestes tertius, Rhodnius nasutus, and Triatoma pseudomaculata. Rhodnius nasutus was the only species found in a nest inhabited by Didelphis albiventris. Nests of P. cristata serve as shelters for various animals, providing an ideal environment for triatomines to establish colonies due to their proximity to food sources and their generalist feeding habits. The incorporation of anthropogenic materials by birds in nest construction can indirectly affect the presence of other animals that may serve as food sources for triatomines. Understanding the interactions between triatomines, birds, and their habitats is essential for assessing the risks associated with triatomine infestation in wild ecosystems.

Bird's nest defect detection of transmission lines based on domain knowledge and occlusion reasoning

AbstractBird's nest defect is an important cause of transmission line faults. To achieve accurate detection of bird nest defects in complex scenarios, a bird nest defect detection model for transmission lines was proposed that combines domain knowledge and occlusion reasoning networks. On the one hand, the model utilized the domain knowledge of the location of the bird's nest, using edge detection to obtain tower area information to constrain the location of candidate frames. This helps to reduce the false detection caused by complex backgrounds. On the other hand, on the basis of analyzing the occlusion characteristics of bird nests, the model employed occlusion reasoning networks that randomly erase features at the feature level to simulate the occlusion of bird nests in real scenes and improve the model's detection capability for occluded targets. Additionally, a multi‐scale feature fusion algorithm was designed in this paper to adapt the model to the scale variations of bird nests in aerial images. Experimental results demonstrate that the model outperforms advanced target detection models and other bird nest defect detection methods, with an AP50 of 78.8% and an AR10 of 72.4% for defect detection.

Nitrite levels and sensory quality of the bowl type edible bird's nest with different second washing times

Sarang burung walet merupakan rajutan liur yang berasal dari burung walet yang terbentuk seperti mangkok. SBW dipercaya memiliki banyak manfaat dan kandungan gizi yang sangat lengkap,namun memiliki kandungan nitrit sebagai residu yang berdampak buruk bagi kesehatan jika terkonsumsi. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah mengetahui dan mempelajari pengaruh lama waktu pencucian kedua terhadap kadar nitrit dan mutu sensori sarang burung walet tipe mangkok. Penelitian ini menggunakan Rancangan Acak Lengkap (RAL) satu faktor dengan enam taraf perlakuan (pencucian kedua selama 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, dan 30 detik) dengan tiga kali pengulangan. Analisa sarang burung walet tipe mangkok ini meliputi uji nitrit dan mutu sensori yang terdiri dari parameter warna, kebersihan sarang, terkstur (kerapatan sarang) dan aroma sarang. Sampel dengan nilai terbaik akan dipilih sebagai perlakuan terpilih yang dianggap efektif dalam melakukan proses pencucian kedua. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa lama waktu pencucian berpengaruh terhadap kadar nitrit, warna, tekstur serta aroma sarang. Namun tidak berpengaruh terhadap kebersihan sarang. Sampel dengan kadar nitrit dibawah batas maksimum (<30 ppm) dan mutu sensori terbaik terdapat pada perlakuan pencucian kedua selama 20 detik.

Automated deep learning system for power line inspection image analysis and processing: Architecture and design issues

The continuous growth in the scale of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications in transmission line inspection has resulted in a corresponding increase in the demand for UAV inspection image processing. Owing to its excellent performance in computer vision, deep learning has been applied to UAV inspection image processing tasks such as power line identification and insulator defect detection. Despite their excellent performance, electric power UAV inspection image processing models based on deep learning face several problems such as a small application scope, the need for constant retraining and optimization, and high R&D monetary and time costs due to the black-box and scene data-driven characteristics of deep learning. In this study, an automated deep learning system for electric power UAV inspection image analysis and processing is proposed as a solution to the aforementioned problems. This system design is based on the three critical design principles of generalizability, extensibility, and automation. Pre-trained models, fine-tuning (downstream task adaptation), and automated machine learning, which are closely related to these design principles, are reviewed. In addition, an automated deep learning system architecture for electric power UAV inspection image analysis and processing is presented. A prototype system was constructed and experiments were conducted on the two electric power UAV inspection image analysis and processing tasks of insulator self-detonation and bird nest recognition. The models constructed using the prototype system achieved 91.36% and 86.13% mAP for insulator self-detonation and bird nest recognition, respectively. This demonstrates that the system design concept is reasonable and the system architecture feasible

Ultrasound-assisted enzymatic hydrolysis enhances anti-inflammatory and hypoglycemic activities of edible Bird's nest

Edible bird's nest (EBN) is the solidified saliva of swiftlet Aerodramus fuciphagus. It is an expensive premium health food that has long been consumed, especially in China. However, the broken EBN pieces left behind after the cleaning process have low market value due to high contaminants, particularly fine feathers. Thus, EBN hydrolysate (EBNH) is the best downstream product to add value to this low-grade EBN. This study aims to investigate the effects of ultrasound pretreatment on the enzymatic process of EBNH production. Initially, the EBN was treated with ultrasound at different amplitudes (30%, 60%, 90%) and times (15 min, 30 min, 45 min), then hydrolyzed for 1.5 h at 60 °C using papain enzyme (pH 7). The viscosity, degree of hydrolysis (DH), total soluble protein (TSP), anti-lipoxygenase activity and α-amylase inhibition activity of the EBNHs produced were determined. Results suggested that ultrasound amplitude exerted a more prominent effect than time in lowering the viscosity of EBNH. Viscosity of EBNH dropped by 4.4 folds–6.58 ± 0.10 mPa s after 30 min ultrasound at 90% amplitude. Under this condition, the produced EBNH exhibited 61.66 ± 2.89% anti-lipoxygenase activity and 77.40 ± 5.41% α-amylase inhibition activity, which were >100% and 43%, respectively higher than the control. However, ultrasound had exerted no significant effects on DH and TSP. These findings speculate that ultrasound enhances bioactivities of EBNH by modifying intermolecular interactions between glycopeptides and glycoproteins. This study proved that ultrasound is a promising green pretreatment technology in EBNH production. Besides, this study also provides an insight into the importance of pretreatment in bioactive EBNH production.

A “bird nest” bioinspired strategy deployed for inducing cellulose gelation without concomitant dissolution

A “bird nest” bioinspired strategy deployed for inducing cellulose gelation without concomitant dissolution

Natural biomass carbon Dots-Based fluorescence sensor for high precision detection of vitamin B12 in serum

Vitamin B12(Vit B12) is an essential micronutrient for body growth, and abnormal levels of Vit B12 in the human body are closely associated with the prediction of certain diseases. Hence, a rapid, sensitive, and environment-friendly approach for Vit B12 detection was set up. Herein, the Bird's nest carbon dots (B-CDs) are synthesized by using a bird's nest and distilled water as precursors. One-step hydrothermal synthesis has created B-CDs without toxic ingredients or surface chemical modifications. The prepared B-CDs exhibited outstanding characteristics including excellent water solubility, brilliant fluorescence performance great biocompatibility, and fine stability in a broad pH range of 3.0–11.0 and high ionic strength solution. The experiment revealed that the fluorescence of the reaction system showed a regular decrease after the interaction of B-CDs with Vit B12. Additionally, there was an excellent linear relationship between the F/F0 of B-CDs and the concentration of Vit B12. The linear range was 0 ∼ 100 µM, R2 was 0.9929, and the detection limit was 0.24 µM. Finally, the proposed method successfully detected Vit B12 in human serum samples with recoveries of 96.2 %-100.3 %, showing broad clinical prospects.

Chemical and population genetic analysis show no evidence of ecotype formation in a European population of the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis

Ecotypes, subpopulations or strains of a single species locally adapted to divergent ecological conditions within the same habitat are often considered to be the first steps in sympatric speciation. It has been suggested that two ecotypes are distinguishable in Nasonia vitripennis, a prominent model organism for parasitic Hymenoptera, with one ecotype parasitizing fly pupae in bird nests, and the other one parasitizing fly pupae on carrion. This differentiation into two ecotypes has been hypothesized to indicate incipient sympatric speciation in populations of this globally distributed species. In the present study, we investigated the differentiation into these two distinct ecotypes focusing on chemical profiles and the population genetic divergence in a wild N. vitripennis population from the Netherlands. Isofemale lines were obtained from bird nest boxes and from deer carrion, respectively, representing both microhabitats. To test for phenotypic differentiation, we determined the surface cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles from wasps of both host patches. Using a panel of 14 microsatellites, we concordantly determined the population genetic structure and tested for genetic differentiation between foundresses obtained from both microhabitats. Both the phenotypic as well as the genetic datasets show no evidence for any kind of separation based on the postulated two ecotypes, but rather suggest free interbreeding with no gene flow interruption between the two distinct host patches. Our findings challenge previous assumptions on clearly distinguishable ecotypes in N. vitripennis, and demonstrate how a chemical ecological assessment coupled with population genetics can be instrumental in re-evaluating the potential of ecological differentiation and incipient speciation mechanisms in parasitoid wasps.

Fiber Sedimentation and Layer-By-Layer Assembly Strategy for Designing Biomimetic Quasi-Ordered Mullite Fiber Aerogels as Extreme Conditions Thermal Insulators.

Ceramic fiber aerogels are attractive thermal insulating materials. In a thermomechanical coupling environment, however, they often show limited mechanical strength and considerably increased heat transfer which can lead to thermal runaway. In this paper, inspired by bird's nest and nacre, we demonstrate a sample strategy combining fiber sedimentation and layer-by-layer assembly to fabricate ultrastrong mullite fiber aerogels (MFAs) with quasi-ordered structures. The fibrous layers and fiber bridges are constructed in a fiber sedimentation self-assembly process. The fiber sedimentation technique optimizes the structure of the MFAs by regulating the fiber orientation. Owing to the quasi-ordered structure, the fabricated MFAs exhibit the integrated properties of high compression fatigue resistance, temperature-invariant compression resilience from -196 to 1300 °C, and low thermal conductivity (0.034 W·m-1·K-1). By deliberately pressing multilayer MFAs into a thin paper, we substantially enhance the load-bearing capacity of the MFAs and achieve large temperature differences (563 °C) between the cold and hot surfaces by using a thin layer of MFAs (3-5 mm) under the simulated high-temperature (685 °C) and high-pressure (0.9 MPa) environment test. The combination of compression resistance, mechanical flexibility, and excellent thermal insulation provides an appealing material for efficient thermal insulation in extreme environments.

Nest Box Bacterial Loads Are Affected by Cavity Use by Secondary Hole Nesters.

Among the environmental factors that affect bird nesting in nest boxes, the influence of microbial communities is relatively poorly understood. In this study, nest boxes used for breeding by secondary cavity nesters were sampled before the start of the breeding season to assess the bacterial loads of the nest box in relation to their previous year status. Different parts of the wooden nest box offer variable conditions for the development of bacteria. During the breeding season, the nest box entrance hole is wiped out by birds, delivering bacteria to their bodies, but during winter, it is exposed to unfavourable external conditions. The interior of the nest box, in turn, is also wiped by birds, but the conditions during winter are more stable there. Therefore, samples from the entrance hole and the interior of the nest box were taken at two different study sites: an urban parkland and a natural forest. We predicted that both the occupancy of the nest boxes during the previous breeding season by birds and the nesting sites would influence the bacterial load of the nest box. To verify this prediction, two categories of nest boxes were sampled at both study sites: nest boxes occupied by any of the two tit species (Great Tit or Blue Tit) in the previous season for breeding and nest boxes that had remained empty that year. The interior bacterial load of the nest box was higher in the nest boxes occupied in the previous breeding season, but only in the forest area. Furthermore, the bacterial load of both the entrance hole of the nest box and the interior was significantly higher in the forest study area in both occupied and unoccupied nest boxes. Our results show that the bacterial load of the nest box is positively related to the presence of nests in the previous breeding season and can vary between different sites.

Potential impacts of land‐management schedules on grassland bird nests and fledglings

AbstractTrade‐offs exist between timing of grassland habitat management activities (e.g., weed and brush control) while also ensuring other conservation objectives (e.g., grassland bird reproductive success) are met. On land set aside for grassland conservation (e.g., lands enrolled in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Reserve Program and some state and federal wildlife management areas), federal and state agencies set time frames for land management based on avoiding disturbance of grassland bird nests. However, recent calls for considering the needs of dependent fledglings in conservation plans imply a need to evaluate whether current time frames are adequate. We used initiation and end dates for 3,257 nests of 8 obligate grassland bird species in Illinois and Wisconsin and a simulation approach for fledgling survival to estimate the potential proportion of active nests at risk when management (e.g., mowing, fire) occurred on the 1st and 15th day of May, June, July, and August during the breeding season. Management during June had the potential to impact 24–61% of nests, depending on the species. Management during July had the potential to impact 4–52% of nests, depending on the species. If disturbance occurred during August, proportionately few active nests were at risk for any species (0–9% of nests on 1 August, 0–<0.5% on 15 August). Potential proportions of fledglings at risk from management were greatest in July for 7 of the 8 species (7–18%). Our study suggests that on lands where a primary conservation objective is to increase or ensure survival of grassland birds, delaying management activities until August could be beneficial for protecting both grassland bird nests and fledglings.

A swin transformer based bird nest detection approach with unmanned aerial vehicle images for power distribution and pole towers

AbstractThe authors propose a novel object detection algorithm for identifying bird nests in medium voltage power line aerial images, which is crucial for ensuring the safe operation of the power grid. The algorithm utilises an improved Swin Transformer as the main feature extraction network of Fast R‐CNN, further enhanced with a channel attention and modified binary self‐attention mechanism to improve the feature representation ability. The proposed algorithm is evaluated on a newly constructed image dataset of medium voltage transmission lines containing bird nests, which are annotated and classified. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm achieves satisfied accuracy and robustness in recognising bird nests compared to traditional algorithms.

EFFECTS OF SOAKING PROCESS AND ROTATING METHOD ON EDIBLE BIRD NEST CLEANING TIME AND CLEANLINESS

The paper examines the effects of rotation and soaking processes on the cleaning time and cleanliness of edible bird nests (EBN). During breeding season, swift’s species known as Aerodramus secrete salivary glands to build a nest that humans harvest. To be sold, the harvested EBN must be cleaned. The raw EBN cleaning process consists of four operations: soaking, cleaning, reshaping, and drying. Generally, harvested EBN is cleaned manually using tweezers. However, this procedure is time-consuming, as cleaning one EBN take about an hour. Therefore, several mechanical cleaning methods were required to clean raw EBN to improve cleaning time and cleanliness. This research aims to improve the two mechanical cleaning methods, rotating and soaking. The Taguchi Method is used to design and optimize the overall parameter setup. The selected optimized parameter set will be tested to determine the best parameter sets. For the current study, EBN wetting process has time settings of 12, 18, and 24 hours. The rotating method's time settings were 30, 45, and 60 seconds. The soaking time can be set to 2, 4, or 6 minutes. Each of these parameters is thoroughly tested to determine the best-optimized one. The experiment is then carried out by combining the two parameters chosen in a sequence to determine the cleanliness of the raw EBN. According to the experiments' results, the cleaning sequence contributes 63.75 percent cleanliness at a cleaning time of 5 minutes, which includes a soaking time of 4 minutes and a rotating method of 60 seconds.

Flexible and Transformable Ceramic Aerogels via a Fire‐Reborn Strategy for Thermal Superinsulation in Extreme Conditions

AbstractEffective thermal superinsulation in extremely high temperatures (EHT) is crucial for aerospace, industrial, and civilization activities. However, current strategies relying on ceramic materials face limitations due to their high thermal conductivity and brittleness in specific conditions. In this study, a feasible and scalable method for synthesizing a flexible, lightweight, and transformable fire‐reborn silica‐alumina hybrid ceramic aerogel (FR‐SACA) is presented, which is achieved by rearranging silica aerogel microparticles and Al2O3 ceramic fibers using a self‐sacrifice polymer, resulting in a bio‐inspired bird nest structured FR‐SACA. The SACA exhibits exceptional properties, including an ultra‐low density of 0.01 g cm−3, a low thermal conductivity of 0.029 W m−1 K−1, and a reversible compression of up to 80%. Notably, a 20 mm‐thick FR‐SACA demonstrates a remarkable temperature reduction of 1179.6 °C when exposed directly to a 1300 °C flame, suggesting its potential as a thermal superinsulation material in EHT environments. Furthermore, the transformability of SACA enables in situ fabrication on surfaces with diverse heteromorphic structures, such as flat, bent, and angled shapes, thereby providing thermal superinsulation for various constructions. The Phoenix Nirvana process opens up new possibilities for synthesizing ceramic aerogels with desirable flexibility and adaptive properties, facilitating effective thermal management under extreme conditions.

Enhanced Q-factor and effective length silicon photonics filter utilizing nested ring resonators

In this study, we investigate a novel design of an on-chip nested coupled ring resonator to enhance the quality factor and the effective length of the resonator. The configuration consists of an open ring and racetrack resonator, with lengths of 340 μm and 184.4 μm, respectively, with a coupling ratio of 97/3. In this regard, the proposed nested cavity has been experimentally characterized and compared with a single cavity ring resonator. Our results show a significant improvement in the quality factor by a factor of four. This improvement in performance opens up exciting new possibilities for state-of-the-art applications, such as compact optical sensors and delay lines. Our proposed design represents a significant advancement in the field of integrated optics, and we believe that it has the potential to enable a broad range of applications in the future.

Revealing Edible Bird Nest as Novel Functional Foods in Combating Metabolic Syndrome: Comprehensive In Silico, In Vitro, and In Vivo Studies.

Metabolic dysfunction, which includes intra-abdominal adiposity, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and hypertension, manifests into metabolic syndrome and related diseases. Therefore, the discovery of new therapies in the fight against metabolic syndrome is very challenging. This study aims to reveal the existence of an edible bird nest (EBN) as a functional food candidate that may be a new alternative in fighting metabolic syndrome. The study included three approaches: in silico molecular docking simulation, in vitro, and in vivo in rats fed on cholesterol- and fat-enriched diets. Four terpenoids of Bakuchiol, Curculigosaponin A, Dehydrolindestrenolide, and 1-methyl-3-(1-methyl-ethyl)-benzene in EBN have been identified through LCMS/MS-QTOF. In molecular docking simulations, Bakuchiol and Dehydrolindestrenolide are considered very potent because they have higher inhibitory power on the four receptors (iNOS, ROS1 kinase, FTO, and lipase) than standard drugs. In vitro tests also provide insight into the antioxidant, antidiabetic, and antiobesity activities of EBN, which is quite feasible due to the smaller EC50 value of EBN compared to standard drugs. Interestingly, in vivo studies also showed significant improvements (p < 0.05) in the lipid profile, blood glucose, enzymatic levels, and inflammatory biomarkers in rats given high-dose dietary supplementation of EBN. More interestingly, high-dose dietary supplementation of EBN upregulates PGC-1α and downregulates HMG-CoA reductase. Comprehensively, it has been revealed that EBN can be novel functional foods for combating metabolic syndrome.

Unravelling bird nest arthropod community structure using metabarcoding

Bird nests are fascinating microcosms harboring a wide range of arthropods parasitizing the nesting birds or feeding on prey remains, feces, and the nest material. Studies of these communities have been entirely based on emergence traps which collect live organisms out of the nests. The analysis of nest contents and environmental DNA (eDNA) via metabarcoding could expand our knowledge and identify prey, exuviae, and other animal remains in bird nests. Here, we investigated the potential of arthropod remains, nest dust, and feathers to better describe arthropod diversity accumulated in 20 bird nests collected in Guelph (Canada). We used subsampling strategies and tested two extraction approaches to investigate the distribution of DNA in nests, account for low-quality DNA, and the presence of inhibitory substances. In total, 103 taxa were detected via metabarcoding. Arthropod remains delivered the highest number of taxa (n = 67), followed by nest dust (n = 29). Extractions with the PowerSoil kit outperformed DNeasy extractions coupled with PowerClean Pro inhibitor removal. Per nest, on average 5.5% taxonomic overlap between arthropod remains of different size classes was detected and subsamples of nest dust extracted with the PowerSoil kit showed 47.3% taxonomic overlap indicating a heterogeneous eDNA distribution in nests. Most detected species were either feeding in the nest, i.e., herbivorous / predatory, or bird food. We also detected molecular traces of 25 bird species, whose feathers were likely used as nest material. Consequently, the metabarcoding of bird nest materials provides a more complete picture of nest communities, which can enable future studies on functional diversity and better comparisons between nesting species.

Habitat geometry rather than visual acuity limits the visibility of a ground-nesting bird's clutch to terrestrial predators.

The nests of ground-nesting birds rely heavily on camouflage for their survival, and predation risk, often linked to ecological changes from human activity, is a major source of mortality. Numerous ground-nesting bird populations are in decline, so understanding the effects of camouflage on their nesting behavior is relevant to their conservation concerns. Habitat three-dimensional (3D) geometry, together with predator visual abilities, viewing distance, and viewing angle, determine whether a nest is either visible, occluded, or too far away to detect. While this link is intuitive, few studies have investigated how fine-scale geometry is likely to help defend nests from different predator guilds. We quantified nest visibility based on 3D occlusion, camouflage, and predator visual modeling in northern lapwings, Vanellus vanellus, on different land management regimes. Lapwings selected local backgrounds that had a higher 3D complexity at a spatial scale greater than their entire clutches compared to local control sites. Importantly, our findings show that habitat geometry-rather than predator visual acuity-restricts nest visibility for terrestrial predators and that their field habitats, perceived by humans as open, are functionally closed with respect to a terrestrial predator searching for nests on the ground. Taken together with lapwings' careful nest site selection, our findings highlight the importance of considering habitat geometry for understanding the evolutionary ecology and management of conservation sites for ground-nesting birds.

Antropogenic materials in the nests of Passerine birds in the west of Ukraine

Background. Traditionally birds build their nests out of natural materials that are usually found near the location of the future nest. However, along with the expansion of human economic activity and the appearance of various types of antropogenic mate­rials (hereafter debris) that pollute environment, they appeared in bird nests. Although it is hard to predict with certainty what significance this behavior will have for birds in the future, it is possible to investigate which species are prone to such behavior, which unnatural materials birds choose to build nests, and which factors influence it. This makes it possible to predict how changes in the environment by humans affect the nest-building behavior of different species of birds and the species-specific appearance of the nest. Moreover, incorporation of debris into birds’ nests may be used as an indicator of environmental pollution. Materials and Methods. Materials for this article included 382 nests of 42 passerine species. Nests were collected unevenly during the last two decades in different stations across the western part of Ukraine. Among them, 18.3 % of the nests were located within the borders of human settlements, 48.2 % on their outskirts, and 37.5 % in the natural or close to the natural environment far beyond settlements. Nests were decomposed with laboratory forceps and nest components were identifined as natural (grass, plant stems, tree leaves, grass roots, moss, mammalian hair, bird feather and others) and antropogenic (threads, synthetic fibers, fluff, ropes, fishing line, cigarette butts, paper, tissue, wires and others), and their percentage by volume was defined. Results and Discussion. To construct nests, birds use antropogenic materials in the form of debris/solid waste, which they find in the surroundings. Among 382 analyzed passerine nests (42 species) collected in the west of Ukraine, artificial or man-changed materials were recorded in nest construction of 103 nests (27.0 %) of 26 species (61.9 %). Most frequently antropogenic materials are incorporated in the nests of the Fringillidae family (Linaria cannabina – 85.7 % of the analysed nests, Chloris chloris – 71.4 %, Fringilla coelebs – 66.7 %). The amount of artificial materials in the nest composition varied from minimal to up 100 %. More than a half (55.3 %) of the investigated passerine nests contain only a minimal or small amount of debris (≤ 1 % by volume). We found 17 types of anthropogenic materials in the nests. The most popular were threads (in 47.1 % of the analyzed nests with antropogenic materials), synthetic fibers (31.7 %), fluff (20.2 %, among them artificial fluff 14.4 %, cotton wool 4.8 %, fiberglass 1.0 %), plastic film (17.4 %), ropes (14.4 %), and fishing line (12.5 %). The number of various types of antropogenic materials in one nest varied from 1 (in 55.3 % nests), 2 (31.1 %), 3 (9.7 %), and 4 to 7 (3.9 %). The higher number of artificial material types in the structure of a bird’s nest may imply purposefulness of such beha­vior in the environment transformed by the human. Some selectivity of the types of solid waste (debris) that birds use for nest construction was noted. We assume that in most cases birds use antropogenic materials closely resembling the traditional natural ones usually used by birds of certain species. The new artificial components in the composition of the nest imply that nest buil­ding is not completely genetically programmed but there is a possibility to change it by adding something new – similar, or even different. It looks quite reasonable, as it facilitates adaptation in changed environments. Using antropogenic materials as nest components is still controversial. The species specific look of the nest has changed by a different degree in polluted environments. It is still questionable weather such behavior is beneficial for birds in the long-term perspective. We suppose that antropogenic components may have appeared as part of the nest in the environments with available solid waste. Intentional/unintentional substitution of some natural components for nest with antropogenic ones may occur because of their high resemblance. Sometimes debris is incorporated into the nest while suitable natural components are accessible. In a polluted environment the species specific appearance of a nest may change to a certain degree. Conclusion. Passerine birds use antropogenic materials (in the form of debris) for nest construction quite often. Debris was found in nests of 26 passerines species. Synantropic species used various types of artificial materials more often. 17 types of various anthropogenic materials were found in the nests. Some selectivity was noted. Birds use antropogenic materials that resemble natural materials, but occasionally choose completely different ones.

Colonial Nesting Sea Birds (Charadriiformes: Laridae) of Peter the Great Bay, the Sea of Japan

The paper presents the recent data on the distribution and breeding abundance and distribution of the Mongolian Gull, Slaty-backed Gull, Black-tailed Gull and the Common Tern nesting within Peter the Great Bay of the Sea of Japan. Over the past 30 years, all species of gulls increased their abundance, while the Common Tern has almost ceased to nest on the islands of the bay.