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Highlights from the latest issue

July 2024 | Vol. 166, issue 3
We’re pleased to deliver the third issue of 2024 containing 2 Reviews, 16 Original Articles, 4 Short Communications, 1 Forum, our regular book reviews and the 2024 Janet Kear Union Medal citation.

Here, Editor in Chief, Jenny Gill, has selected four of her highlights.

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• REVIEW ARTICLE
  Monitoring wader breeding productivity
  David Jarrett, Aleksi Lehikoinen, Steve Willis
  Declines in breeding wader populations across the world mean that conservation interventions are increasingly required, but how do we know if they are working? Many interventions are designed to boost productivity but the mobility and camouflage of wader chicks makes monitoring their productivity notoriously tricky. In this review paper, Jarrett and colleagues explore the range of field methods employed to measure wader productivity, the metrics that they provide and circumstances in which they are used. The authors use this information to identify the metrics likely to be most suitable, given local environmental conditions, parental behaviour and observer experience, to help guide the future development of wader monitoring.
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• ORIGINAL ARTICLE | BREEDING BIOLOGY
  Nest attachment, rather than nest type, correlates with passerine bird brain size
  Abraão B. Leite, Agustín Camacho, Mercival R. Francisco
  The complex structures constructed by many birds as nests for their eggs would seem to demand substantial cognitive capacities. However, there is also a great deal of variation and complexity in how nests are attached to the substrate or vegetation in which they are constructed. In this study, Leite and colleagues collated data on brain mass for hundreds of passerine species with differing nest construction and attachment characteristics. The study reveals considerable increases in brain size with increasing complexity of nest attachment, and the authors highlight the key role that nest attachment may therefore have played in the evolution of brain size in birds.
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• SHORT COMMUNICATION
  Differential impact of anthropogenic noise during the acoustic development of begging calls in Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus)
  Javier Sierro, Selvino R. de Kort, Ian R. Hartley
  Human activities are often very noisy, raising concerns about the impacts of our noise on wildlife, particularly when it might mask important aspects of communication. In this Short Communication, Sierro and colleagues explore nestling begging calls in Blue Tits, and how the acoustic structure of these calls changes as chicks develop. Their study reveals distinct phases of development in which calls vary in frequency, amplitude and noisiness, each of which is likely to differ in vulnerability to masking by human noise. The authors highlight the platform that this study provides for future research to inform strategies for noise management.
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• FORUM
  Building bridges in the conversation on eponymous common names of North American birds
  Irene A. Liu, Eric R. Gulson-Castillo, Joanna X. Wu, Amelia-Juliette C. Demery, Nandadevi Cortes-Rodriguez, Kristen M. Covino, Susannah B. Lerman, Sharon A. Gill, Viviana Ruiz Gutierrez
  Ornithology has a long history of naming species to honour people; a practice that is increasingly criticised. Decisions on common names typically rest with ornithological committees, raising opportunities to address these issues within our community. In this Forum article, Liu and colleagues describe the outcomes of two recent events in North America at which these issues were discussed and considered within structured formats. These events provided an opportunity to identify areas of consensus and the authors highlight the value of the approaches taken in facilitating respectful dialogue and the importance of engagement with a diversity of voices across our community.
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Other items

Book reviews
British Ornithologists’ Union Janet Kear Union Medal
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Image credits
From top:
Spur-winged Lapwing chick | Dûrzan Cîrano CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Baltimore Oriole nest | Juliancolton Public domain Wikimedia Commons
Blue Tit nest | Richard Waller CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
Scott’s Oriole | Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren CC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Commons