Aims Several bird-pollinated or ornithophilous flowers are present on the Macaronesian archipelagos, the Canary Islands and Madeira, but absent from nearby NW Africa and Europe. In Macaronesia, no specialist nectar-feeding birds are found, but several generalist passerine bird species visit flowers for nectar. Two hypotheses attempt to explain the origin and evolution of ornithophily in the Mac...

The avifaunal diversity and density in Anekere wetland, Karkala, Udupi district, Karnataka, India, was studied for a period of three years. Anekere pond inhabits several local and migratory bird species. Reduction in water retention in this pond in summer, weed infestation, variations in food availability in different seasons and threat of predation on the breeding activity of birds affected th...

West Nile virus causes sporadic disease in the Eastern hemisphere that is often asymptomatic or mild, whereas in the Western hemisphere, West Nile virus has been associated with illness and profound mortality in many avian species. West Nile virus might have been transported to North America by an infected mosquito or the virus could have entered within a vertebrate host like a bird. Although t...