As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Thursday 2 May 2019

Human activity can influence the gut microbiota of Darwin's finches in the Galapagos


Date:  April 25, 2019
Source:  University of Connecticut
In the Galapagos Islands, Darwin's finches drawn to junk food are experiencing changes in their gut microbiota and their body mass as compared to finches that don't encounter human food, according to a new University of Connecticut study.
The study of Darwin's Finches, published today in Molecular Ecology, builds upon a study on the effects of human activity on finch diet in the same location, says Sarah Knutie, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UConn.
Researchers studied fecal samples and body mass data from female finches, who are the main caretakers for nestlings, or baby birds. They collected the fecal samples from birds in urban areas, where they would encounter human food, and in rural areas, where they were less likely to encounter human food, and used those to characterize the birds' gut microbiota.
Previous studies have shown that finch populations living near humans recognized human food as food, whereas the finches living in areas with less human activity don't recognize human food as something they can eat.
In total, researchers studied close to 100 finches, focusing on breeding female small ground finches (Geospiza fuliginosa) and medium ground finches (Geospiza fortis) in March 2016 on the eastern coast of Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.

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