READERS Current issue | All issues || AUTHORS Submit a paper | Author guidelines

Highlights from the latest issue

January 2026 | Vol. 168, issue 1
We’re pleased to deliver the first issue of 2026, full of reviews, original articles, short communications and forum articles. Here, Editor in Chief, Jenny Gill, has selected four of her highlights.

View all papers in this issue

• REVIEW ARTICLE
  A narrative review of the impact of anthropogenic light and noise on owls
  Romain Sordello, Aurelie Coulon, Yorick Reyjol
  Owls rely on their excellent vision and hearing to move around and capture prey in poor light, and might therefore be particularly impacted by the increases in artificial light and anthropogenic noise that are occurring across the world. In this article, Romain Sordello and colleagues review published studies of owls over the last seven decades to reveal how bright light and noise can influence their communication, hunting success, movement, distribution and stress levels. This fascinating review highlights the growing importance of preserving and expanding quiet and dark areas to support these enigmatic species.
  View

• ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  Meta-analysis of predator identity in nest-camera studies in the British Islands
  Madeleine G. Barton, Greg J. Conway, Ian G. Henderson, Jack Baddams, Chris S. Balchin, Kane Brides, Nigel Butcher, Tom C. Cameron, Tony Davis, John Eyre, Robert Foster, Daniel Gornall, Nilesh Karipal Kallamballi, Patrick Laurie, Adam Nixon, Paul Noyes, David M. B. Parish, Louise Samson, Jennifer Smart, Nigel Wilde, Max A. Wright, Paul M. Dolman
  Birds’ eggs can be highly valuable sources of protein for a wide range of mammal, bird, reptile and even insect predators and, for many bird species, egg predation is typically the main cause of nest loss. Knowing which predators are responsible is key when designing interventions to reduce nest predation, and efforts to identify egg predators have been greatly helped by the development of nest-cameras which can capture predation events. In this study, Madeleine Barton and colleagues collate nest-camera studies from across the British Islands to reveal the array of predator species involved and their contributions to nest losses of different species in different settings. This important study highlights the complex and often context-specific nature of these predator-prey communities and interactions.
  View

• SHORT COMMUNICATION
  Effect of a previous high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAIV) infection on the breeding success of Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus)
  Sue Lewis, Emily Burton, James Butcher, Ian Cleasby, Amy King, Emma Marriott, Dave O’Hara, Maggie Sheddan, Mal Watson, Saskia Wischnewski, Lucy Wright, Sarah Wanless, Jude V. Lane
  The current outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI H5N1) has had devastating impacts on seabird populations across the world. Last year, a study published in IBIS reported evidence of black irises in gannets that had survived exposure to H5N1. In this issue, Sue Lewis and colleagues follow up on this important finding by monitoring nesting gannets with black or normal blue irises in the year after a major outbreak. Encouragingly, they report no differences in breeding success at either of two large colonies, suggesting that exposed birds can go on to fledge chicks and hopefully contribute to population recovery. However, the authors caution that overall breeding success was low, possibly through the loss of experienced birds and disruption to pairs following the epidemic.
  View

• FORUM
  A Neolithic rock engraving apparently showing a Great Auk being captured
  Tim R. Birkhead, Robert Montgomerie
  The extinction of the Great Auk in the middle of the 19th century is a famous, and heartbreaking, example of the consequences of human exploitation of wildlife. This large-bodied, flightless and once-numerous species was an easy target for hunters from at least the 16th century onwards. In this Forum article, Tim Birkhead and Bob Montgomerie present evidence that a bird depicted in a Norwegian cave painting, dating from some 5000 to 2000 years ago, is a Great Auk. The Alta archaeological site in Finnmark contains wonderful cave paintings, many depicting hunting. The authors highlight that this image of a bird being held by the neck suggests hunting on land, raising the possibility of Great Auk colonies having existed in Northern Norway in neolithic times.
  View

Other items

Book reviews
British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee (BOURC): 58th Report
View all papers in this issue
Sign up for content e-alerts

Image credits
From top:
Spotted Owlet | Parth Kansara CC BY 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Eurasian Jay | Giles Laurent CC BY-SA CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Northern Gannets on Bass Rock | Odd Wellies CC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
Neolithic image at Hjemmeluft, Alta, northern Norway | K. Tansem