Broiler Behaviour Differs From Males to Females When Under Different Light Wavelengths

It is well established that different light wavelengths affect broiler behavior. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of four light wavelengths on broiler behavior from 1 to 42-days of age. Birds were housed at a stocking density of 13 birds/m2, in 32 boxes of 1.56 m2. The experimental design was a completely randomized factorial of 4x2 (four colors x two sexes), with four replicates. Behavioral variables were accessed through cameras and observed in person thrice a week for 30 min per day in three different periods. Data was organized according to age groups and analyzed by data mining approach with the different light wavelengths as the classes. Natural behavior of male broilers reared in environments with green. Blue light was more relevant to the classification of male broilers behavior (96.9 and 96.9% accuracy and 0.8 and 1.0 of class precision of behavior classification, respectively). Blue and green lights affected the behavior of male broilers starting at 7-days of age, increasing the presence at the bird feeder, and reducing the idle period.

Trichomonas gallinae infections in the naïve host Montifringilla nivalis subsp. nivalis

Infectious diseases bear a great risk for populations of naïve host species. In the present article we inform about the first microscopic and molecular detection of the bird pathogen Trichomonas gallinae in the White-winged Snowfinch (Montifringilla nivalis subsp. nivalis). The emergence of trichomonosis in this highly specialised alpine bird species may pose a serious threat to its already declining population. Interspecies transmission of T. gallinae most likely occurred at a bird feeder in a Swiss mountain village. Monitoring of the disease and immediate measures to prevent its spread are urgently needed.

Bird-feeder cleaning lowers disease severity in rural but not urban birds

Animals inhabiting urban areas often experience elevated disease threats, putatively due to factors such as increased population density and horizontal transmission or decreased immunity (e.g. due to nutrition, pollution, stress). However, for animals that take advantage of human food subsidies, like feeder-visiting birds, an additional mechanism may include exposure to contaminated feeders as fomites. There are some published associations between bird feeder presence/density and avian disease, but to date no experimental study has tested the hypothesis that feeder contamination can directly impact disease status of visiting birds, especially in relation to the population of origin (i.e. urban v. rural, where feeder use/densities naturally vary dramatically). Here we used a field, feeder-cleaning experimental design to show that rural, but not urban, house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) showed increased infection from a common coccidian endoparasite (Isospora spp.) when feeders were left uncleaned and that daily cleaning (with diluted bleach solution) over a 5-week period successfully decreased parasite burden. Moreover, this pattern in rural finches was true for males but not females. These experimental results reveal habitat- and sex-specific harmful effects of bird feeder use (i.e. when uncleaned in rural areas). Our study is the first to directly indicate to humans who maintain feeders for granivorous birds that routine cleaning can be critical for ensuring the health and viability of visiting avian species.

The Problem with Pretty Birds

This chapter claims that the problem with pretty birds is that they are so hard to ignore. It recounts how the author saw a painted bunting alight on their bird feeder while he was arguing with his wife about their respective workplace obligations. The painted bunting is not merely pretty; it is ridiculously pretty. Nonpareil, the French name for the bird, means “without equal.” It is hard to fathom that such a bird has evolved over millennia, existed, and exists, alongside scruffier sparrows and finches and flycatchers in North America. It is in moments like these, when a pretty bird interrupts an irascible mood, that the author is reminded of how poor a watcher he is, or has become in his harried adulthood.

ALAT PENGONTROL KADAR pH AIR DAN NUTRISI AB MIX MENGGUNAKAN ARDUINO PADA SISTEM HIDROPONIK SAYUR HIJAU

The world of technology today has developed quite rapidly with a lot of manufacture and development of various kinds of equipment that are able to help humans do work that is both control and automatic. One example of technological developments is automatic plant watering, smart home, automatic bird feeder, and many more. This study discusses a tool to control water pH levels and nutrients using Arduino in a green vegetable hydroponic system. The sensor used is the pH Electrode E201-C BNC sensor as a reader of pH levels in water, the TDS Meter V.1 sensor as a reader of nutrient density levels in water, and an ultrasonic sensor as a reader of water level in the reservoir to determine the volume of water so that it does not will run out. The software used is the Arduino Uno IDE. The way this tool works is that the input from the sensor will be processed by Arduino and the result is in the form of output conditioning, namely the actuator is on or not.

Effects of bird feeder density on the foraging behaviors of a backyard songbird (the House Finch, Haemorhous mexicanus) subject to seasonal disease outbreaks

Provisioning of wildlife, such as backyard bird feeding, can alter animal behavior and ecology in diverse ways. For species that are highly dependent on supplemental resources, it is critical to understand how variation in the degree of provisioning, as occurs naturally across backyards, alters wildlife behavior and ecology in ways potentially relevant to disease spread. We experimentally manipulated feeder density at suburban sites and tracked local abundance, foraging behaviors, body mass, and movement in House Finches (Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L. Statius Müller, 1776)), the primary host of a pathogen commonly spread at feeders. Sites with high feeder density harbored higher local House Finch abundance, and birds at these sites had longer feeding bouts and total time on feeders relative to sites with low feeder density. House Finches at high-density feeder sites had lower residual body mass despite greater apparent feeder access. Finally, birds first recorded at low-density feeder sites were more likely to move to neighboring high-density feeder sites than vice versa. Because local abundance and time spent on feeders have both been linked with disease risk in this species, the effects of heterogeneity in bird feeder density on these traits may have important consequences for disease dynamics in this system and more broadly.

Internet Webcams Provide Opportunities for College Student Research on Animal Behavior and Ecology: An Example with Birds

Live-streaming Internet webcams focused on animal subjects generally are targeted at public audiences, but have the potential to be utilized by college students for studies on animal behavior and ecology. I describe how a bird feeder webcam provided a flexible and quality visual interface for students to record video samples for an ornithology class research project. Details on the operational aspects of the webcam are provided, and factors to be considered in evaluating webcams for potential student research are discussed.