The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is widely distributed in the northern Hemisphere and is thus an ideal candidate to explore large-scale biogeographic patterns. In recent years, Golden Eagle population genetics has gained considerable attention. However, the Eastern Palearctic region, a numerical stronghold for the species, is one of the least genetically studied regions within its geographic range. In West Mongolia, the Altai (Altay) Kazakhs collect wild Golden Eagle nestlings from eyries or trap juveniles and subadults on passage during seasonal movement and migration for traditional hunting, providing easy access for researchers to sample falconry eagles for population genetic analyses. We analyzed a 402-bp fragment of the mitochondrial control region and 14 nuclear microsatellite loci in combination with previously published genetic data to assess phylogeographic patterns, levels of genetic diversity, and fine-scale structuring of the Golden Eagle population within the Mongol-Altai Mountains. Golden Eagles in the Mongol-Altai Mountains exhibited overall high levels of genetic diversity. Mitochondrial DNA data across the species' geographic range reveal various stages of differentiation within the Holarctic clade: whereas divergence between the Western and Eastern Palearctic is relatively shallow, the Eastern Palearctic and Nearctic show a deeper divergence, although these geographic regions have not yet reached reciprocal monophyly. These patterns might reflect past climatic oscillations: Northern Europe may have been recolonized by Golden Eagles from the Eastern Palearctic region, and continental populations might still be connected by long-distance dispersers, but the Eastern Palearctic and Nearctic were likely connected via Beringia during the Quaternary and are today largely isolated from each other.

Understanding the range and behaviour of an invasive species is critical to identify key habitat areas to focus control efforts. Patterns of range use in parasites can differ temporally, across life stages and between sexes. The invasive avian vampire fly, Philornis downsi, spends the larval stage of its life within bird nests, feeding on developing nestlings and causing high levels of mortality and deformation. However, little is known of the ecology and behaviour of the non-parasitic adult fly life stage. Here, we document sex-specific temporal and spatial patterns of abundance of adult avian vampire flies during a single Darwin’s finch breeding season. We analyse fly trapping data collected across 7 weeks in the highlands (N = 405 flies) and lowlands (N = 12 flies) of Floreana Island (Galápagos). Lowland catches occurred later in the season, which supports the hypothesis that flies may migrate from the food-rich highlands to the food-poor lowlands once host breeding has commenced. Fly abundance was not correlated with host nesting density (oviposition site) but was correlated with distance to the agricultural zone (feeding site). We consistently caught more males closer to the agricultural zone and more females further away from the agricultural zone. These sex differences suggest that males may be defending or lekking at feeding sites in the agricultural zone for mating. This temporal and sex-specific habitat use of the avian vampire fly is relevant for developing targeted control methods and provides insight into the behavioural ecology of this introduced parasite on the Galápagos Archipelago.

Urbanisation is occurring around the world at a rapid rate and is generally associated with negative impacts on biodiversity at local, regional, and global scales. Examining the behavioural response profiles of wildlife to urbanisation helps differentiate between species that do or do not show adaptive responses to changing landscapes and hence are more or less likely to persist in such environments. Species-specific responses to urbanisation are poorly understood in the Southern Hemisphere compared to the Northern Hemisphere, where most of the published literature is focussed. This is also true for raptors, despite their high diversity and comparably high conservation concern in the Southern Hemisphere, and their critical role within ecosystems as bioindicators of environmental health. Here, we explore this knowledge gap using community science data sourced from eBird to investigate the urban tolerance of 24 Australian raptor species at a continental scale. We integrated eBird data with a global continuous measure of urbanisation, artificial light at night (ALAN), to derive an urban tolerance index, ranking species from positive to negative responses according to their tolerance of urban environments. We then gathered trait data from the published literature to assess whether certain traits (body mass, nest substrate, habitat type, feeding guild, and migratory status) were associated with urban tolerance. Body size was negatively associated with urban tolerance, as smaller raptors had greater urban tolerance than larger raptors. Out of the 24 species analysed, 13 species showed tolerance profiles for urban environments (positive response), and 11 species showed avoidance profiles for urban environments (negative response). The results of this study provide impetus to conserve native habitat and improve urban conditions for larger-bodied raptor species to conserve Australian raptor diversity in an increasingly urbanised world.