Personal details

Jesús M. Avilés

Tenured scientist
Telephone: +34 950281045 (ext. 319)
Fax: +34 950277100

e-mail: javiles@eeza.csic.es

Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
Carretera de Sacramento s/n
E-04120 La Cañada de San Urbano

Almería, Spain

Research interest

My research interest lies in behavioural and evolutionary ecology of birds in a wide context. I use birds as model systems for investigating sensory ecology and communication, co-evolution and use of social information. My work involves both field experiments and comparative analyses.

Specific research interests include:

- Coevolutionary interactions between avian brood parasites and their hosts.

- The evolution of egg colour and patterning in birds.

- The evolution of nestling colour designs in birds.

- Animal colouration.

- Visual ecology of birds.

- Parent-offspring communication.

- Sexual selection and mate choice.

- Social information use in birds.

- Roller and crane conservation.

 

Opportunities

Potencial PhD students and post-docs are welcome to contact me, and suggestions regarding areas of work or projects are encouraged. These should normally be related to my key interest, but other ideas are welcome. Undergraduates looking for summer project work can contact me about possibilities.

Publications

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

The evolutionary ecology of bird-ant interactions: a pervasive but under-studied connection

Amphibia-Reptilia

Citizen science reveals broad-scale variation of calling activity of the Mediterranean tree frog (Hyla meridionalis) in its westernmost range

Behavioral Ecology

Moonlight influence on quality of nestlings of scops owls depends on paternal coloration

Global Ecology and Biogeography

Ecogeographical patterns in owl plumage colouration: Climate and vegetation cover predict global colour variation

Oikos

Early-life environmental conditions influence parasitism at adulthood and life-history of a cuckoo host

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

The Role of Intra-Clutch Variation of Magpie Clutches in Foreign Egg Rejection Depends on the Egg Trait Considered

Oecologia

Geographical variation in pace-of-life in a long-distance migratory bird: implications for population management

Ardeola

Redness variation in the Eurasian scops owl Otus scops is due to pheomelanin but is not associated with variation in the melanocortin-1 receptor gene (MC1R).

Bird Conservation International

Physiological stress and behavioural responses of European Rollers and Eurasian Scops Owls to human disturbance differ in farming habitats in the south of Spain.

PLoS ONE

Phaeomelanin matters: Redness associates with inter-individual differences in behaviour and feather corticosterone in male scops owls (Otus scops)

Bird Study

Past and future climate-driven shifts in the distribution of a warm-adapted bird species, the European Roller Coracias garrulus

Journal Raptor Research

Iris yellowness relates to age and individual quality in two owl species

Bird Study

Past and future climate-driven shifts in the distribution of a warm-adapted bird species, the European Roller Coracias garrulus

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Avian egg and nestling detection in the wild: should we rely on visual models or behavioural experiments?

Scientific Reports

Melanism influences the use of social information in a polymorphic owl

Ardeola

Redness variation in the Eurasian scops owl Otus scops is due to pheomelanin but is not associated with variation in the melanocortin-1 receptor gene (MC1R).

Forest Ecology and Management

Pruning promotes the formation of an insufficient number of cavities for hollow-dependent birds in Iberian Holm-oak dehesas

Ibis

The reliability of achromatic displays is island-dependent in nocturnal Storm Petrels

Oecologia

Avian and rodent responses to the olfactory landscape in a Mediterranean cavity community

Journal of Ornithology

Apparent survival, growth rate and dispersal in a declining European Roller population

Nature Communications

Adaptive responses of animals to climate change are most likely insufficient

Behavioural Ecology

Great spotted cuckoos disregard information on conspecific breeding success while parasitizing magpie hosts

Oecologia

Receivers matter: the meaning of alarm calls and competition for nest sites in a bird community

Journal of Avian Biology

The evolution of iris colour in relation to nocturnality in owls

Journal of Avian Biology

Determinants of color polymorphism in the Eurasian scops owl Otus scops

Bird Conservation International

Important areas for the conservation of the European Roller Coracias garrulus during the non-breeding season in southern Africa

Oikos

Inter-specific brood parasitism and the evolution of avian reproductive strategies

Behavioural Ecology

Can hosts tolerate avian brood parasites? An appraisal of mechanisms

Behavioural Ecology

Integrating mechanisms in the study of tolerance to brood parasites: A response to comments on Avilés

Oecologia

Colour polymorphism in owls is linked to light variability

Behavioural Ecology

Host nest site choice depends on risk of cuckoo parasitism in magpie hosts

Ecosistemas

Kestrels rely on two different types of social information from conspecifics when choosing breeding habitats

Ecosistemas

Papel de los estudios comportamentales en ecología

Ecosistemas

The value of long-term studies in behavioural ecology

Journal of Avian Biology

Multi-functional crest display in hoopoes Upupa epops

Behavioural Ecology

Criteria for host selection in a brood parasite vary depending on parasitism rate

Behavioural Processes

Exploratory behaviour modulates the relationship between colony familiarity and helping in a cooperative bird

Ecosphere

Social information use by competitors: Resolving the enigma of species coexistence in animals?

Ibis

Short- and long-term effects of tracking devices on the European Roller Coracias garrulus

Acta Ornithologica

Parentage Analyses Reveal Hidden Breeding Strategies of European Rollers Coracias garrulus

Diversity and Distributions

A pan-European, multipopulation assessment of migratory connectivity in a near-threatened migrant bird

PLoS ONE

Disentangling migratory routes and wintering grounds of Iberian near-threatened European rollers Coracias garrulus

Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis

Characterization of 28 microsatellite loci in the European roller Coracias garrulus (Coracidae, AVES)

PLoS ONE

Are female starlings able to recognize the scent of their offspring?

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Ambient light in domed nests and discrimination of foreign egg colors

European Journal of Wildlife Research

Characterization of 28 microsatellite loci in the European roller Coracias garrulus (Coracidae, AVES)

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Ambient light in domed nests and discrimination of foreign egg colors

PLoS ONE

Are female starlings able to recognize the scent of their offspring?

Oikos

Climatic effects and phenological mismatch in cuckoo-host interactions: A role for host phenotypic plasticity in laying date?

Evolution

Cuckoo hosts shift from accepting to rejecting parasitic eggs across their lifetime

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

The multidimensionality of behavioural defences against brood parasites: Evidence for a behavioural syndrome in magpies?

Oecologia

Eavesdropping cuckoos: Further insights on great spotted cuckoo preference by magpie nests and egg colour

Oecologia

Eavesdropping cuckoos: further insights on great spotted cuckoo preference by magpie nests and egg colour

Ibis

Sexual differences in colour and size in the Great Spotted Cuckoo Clamator glandarius

Journal of Animal Ecology

Evidence of long-term structured cuckoo parasitism on individual magpie hosts

Oecologia

Does avian conspicuous colouration increase or reduce predation risk?

Oecologia

Colour also matters for nocturnal birds: owlet bill coloration advertises quality and influences parental feeding behaviour in little owls

PLoS ONE

Armed Rollers: Does Nestling's Vomit Function as a Defence against Predators?

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Supplemental food affects egg size but not hatching asynchrony in rollers

Journal of Animal Ecology

Sex recognition by odour and variation in the uropygial gland secretion in starlings

Biology Letters

Rollers smell the fear of nestlings

Animal Behaviour

Factors affecting natal and breeding magpie dispersal in a population parasitized by the great spotted cuckoo

Egg phenotype matching by cuckoos in relation to discrimination by hosts and climatic conditions

Journal of Avian Biology

Covariation between bill colouration and fitness components in a nocturnal bird

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Alarm calls modulate the spatial structure of a breeding owl community

Ibis

Age-related sexual plumage dimorphism and badge framing in the European Robin Erithacus rubecula

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society -pdf

Attractive blue egg coloration and cuckoo-host coevolution

Ibis

The value of nestboxes in the conservation of Eurasian Rollers Coracias garrulus in southern Spain

Journal of Evolutionary Biology

The common cuckoo Cuculus canorus is not locally adapted to its reed warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus host

Ethology

Egg Discrimination in an Open Nesting Passerine Under Dim Light Conditions

Journal of Avian Biology -pdf

Blue-green eggshell coloration reflects yolk antioxidant content in spotless starlings Sturnus unicolor

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology -pdf

Sexual selection based on egg colour: physiological models and egg discrimination experiments in a cavity-nesting bird

Journal of Avian Biology

Blue-green eggshell coloration reflects yolk antioxidant content in spotless starlings (Sturnus unicolor)

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Sexual selection based on egg colour: Physiological models and egg discrimination experiments in a cavity-nesting bird

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Parental favouritism strategies in the asynchronously hatching European Roller (Coracias garrulus)

Journal of Evolutionary Biology

Common cuckoos are not locally adapted to their reed warbler hosts

Journal of Avian Biology

Informative content of melanin-based plumage colour in adult Eurasian kestrels

Journal of Ornithology -pdf

Experimental feeding affects the relationship between hematocrit and body weight in spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor) nestlings

Oecologia

Predation risk determines breeding territory choice in a Mediterranean cavity-nesting bird community

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

Developmental plasticity varied with sex and position in hatching hierarchy in nestlings of the asynchronous European roller, Coracias garrulus

PLoS ONE -pdf

Sibling competition and conspicuousness of nestling gapes in altricial birds. A comparative study

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology -pdf

Beak colour reflects circulating carotenoid and vitamin A levels in spotless starlings (Sturnus unicolor)

Naturwinschaften -pdf

Do spotless starlings place feathers at their nests by ultraviolet colour?

Biology Letters -pdf

Visual cues and parental favouritism in a nocturnal bird

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society -pdf

Developmental plasticity varied with sex and position in hatching hierarchy in nestlings of the asynchronous European roller

Journal of Evolutionary Biology -pdf

Nestling coloration is adjusted to parent visual performance in altricial birds irrespective of assumptions on vision system for Laniidae and owls, a reply to Renoult et al.

Journal of Evolutionary Biology -pdf

Avian colour perception predicts behavioural responses to experimental brood parasitism in chaffinches

Animal Behaviour -pdf

Increased host tolerance of multiple cuckoo eggs leads to higher fledging success of brood parasites

Journal of Evolutionary Biology -pdf

Nestling coloration is adjusted to parent visual performance in altricial birds

Auk -pdf

Common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) do not rely on indicators of parental abilities when searching for host nests: the importance of host defences

Animal Behaviour -pdf

Male spotless starlings adjust feeding effort based on egg spots revealing ecto-parasite load

American Naturalist

Dark nests and conspicuousness in color patterns of nestlings of altricial birds

Journal of Avian Biology -pdf

Female and male plumage brightness correlate with nesting failure in azure-winged magpies

American Naturalist -pdf

Dark nests and nestling conspicuousness in color patterns of altricial birds

American Naturalist -pdf

Sexually selected egg coloration in spotless starlings

Behavioural Ecology -pdf

Winter male plumage coloration correlates with breeding status in a cooperative breeding species

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology -pdf

Do great tits rely on inadvertent social information produced by blue tits? A habitat selection experiment

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology -pdf

Experimental support for the use of egg uniformity in parasite egg discrimination by cuckoo hosts

Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences -pdf

Egg colour mimicry in the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus as revealed by modelling host retinal function

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology -pdf

Informative content of multiple plumage coloured traits in female and male European Rollers

Animal Behaviour -pdf

Spotless starlings rely on public information while visiting conspecific nests: an experiment

Journal of Avian Biology

Within-brood size differences affect innate and acquired immunity in roller Coracias garrulus nestlings

Animal Cognition -pdf

Do avian brood parasites eavesdrop on heterospecific sexual signals revealing host quality? A review of the evidence

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology -pdf

Environmental conditions influence egg colour of reed warblers Acrocephalus scirpaceus and their parasite, the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus

Ethology -pdf

Egg rejection and brain size among potential hosts of the common cuckoo

Journal of Avian Biology -pdf

How do vigilance and feeding by common cranes depend on age, habitat, and flock size?

Journal of Avian Biology -pdf

Within-brood size differences affect innate and acquired immunity in roller nestlings

Behavioural Ecology -pdf

A comparative study of the function of heterospecific vocal mimicry in European passerines

Animal Behaviour -pdf

Is the relation between colour and immune response mediated by nutritional condition in spotless starling nestlings?

Enciclopedia virtual de los vertebrados de españoles. (Ed. by L. M. Carrascal and A. Salvador). Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid. http://www.vertebradosibericos.org/ -pdf

Carraca (Coracias garrulus)

Auk -pdf

Responses of currently parasitized and unparasitized common redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) populatons against artificial cuckoo parasitism.

Evolutionary Ecology Research -pdf

Nest predation and the evolution of egg appearance in passerine birds in Europe and North America

Ethology, Ecology and Evolution -pdf

Nest defense by Iberian azure-winged magpies (Cyanopica cyanus): do they recognize the threat of brood parasitism?

Journal of Evolutionary Biology -pdf

Rapid increase in cuckoo egg matching in a recently parasitized reed warbler population

Evolutionary Ecology -pdf

Relationship between nest predation suffered by hosts and brown-headed cowbird parasitism: a comparative study

Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences -pdf

Dark nests and egg colour in birds: a possible functional role of ultraviolet reflectance in egg detectability

Behavioural Ecology -pdf

Ultraviolet reflectance of great spotted cuckoo eggs and egg discrimination by magpies

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Should the redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus accept or reject cuckoo Cuculus canorus eggs?

Conservación de la naturaleza en Extremadura.

Proporción de sexos en polladas de cernícalo primilla Falco naumanni: Reproductores más viejos prefieren producir hembras

Behavioural Ecology -pdf

The hetero-specific habitat copying hypothesis: can competitors indicate habitat quality?

Oecologia -pdf

Brood parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds and the expression of sexual characters in their hosts

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology -pdf

Should the redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) accept or reject cuckoo eggs?

Evolution -pdf

Blue and green egg color intensity is associated with parental effort and mating system in passerines: support for the sexual selection hypothesis.

Journal of Avian Biology

Egg rejection by Iberian azure-winged magpies Cyanopica cyanus in the absence of brood parasitism

Libro Rojo de los Vertebrados de España.

La Carraca Coracias garrulus

Biodiversity and Conservation -pdf

Common cranes Grus grus and habitat management in holm oak dehesas of Spain

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society -pdf

How host egg mimicry is maintained in the cuckoo Cuculus canorus?

Bird Conservation International -pdf

Farming practices and Roller Coracias garrulus conservation in south-west Spain

Journal of Avian Biology -pdf

Egg rejection by Iberian azure-winged magpies in absence of brood parasitism

Animal Behaviour -pdf

Rejection of parasitic eggs in relation to egg appearance in magpies

Anuario Ornitológico Extremeño

Dieta invernal del aguilucho pálido (Circus cyaneus) en una localidad extremeña

Anuario Ornitológico Extremeño

Biometría de los pollos de Carraca Coracias garrulus en la comarca de la Serena, Badajoz

Canadian Journal of Zoology -pdf

Time budget and habitat use of the Common Crane Grus grus wintering in dehesas of southwest Spain

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society -pdf

Meadow pipits (Anthus pratensis) egg appearance in cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) sympatric and allopatric populations

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society -pdf

Evolution of host egg mimicry in a brood parasite, the great spotted cuckoo

Alauda -pdf

Diet and prey type selection by rollers (Coracias garrulus) during the breeding season in southwestern Iberian Peninsula

Journal of Zoology -pdf

Food selection of wintering common cranes (Grus Grus) in Holm Oak (Quercus ilex) dehesas of Southwest of Spain in a rainy season

Waterbirds -pdf

Does temporal variability of winter common cranes in the dehesas depend on farming practices?

Ornis Fennica

Breeding biology of the Little Egret Egretta garzetta in the Southwest of the Iberian Peninsula

Ardeola -pdf

Breeding biology of the Black-Crowned Nigh Heron Nycticorax Nycticorax in the Southwest of the Iberian Peninsula

Journal Raptor Research -pdf

Breeding rates of the Eurasian kestrel Falco tinnunculus in relation to the habitat around nests in the southwest of Spain

Bird Study

Breeding biology of the Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis in the Southwest of the Iberian Peninsula

Journal Raptor Research

Communal roosting and diet of Black-shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus wintering in the southwest of Spain

Folia Zoologica

Nest-boxes used by Eurasian kestrels Falco tinnunculus are preferred by rollers Coracias garrulus.

Avocetta

Avian responses to nest-box installation in steppes of the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula (Extremadura)

Anuario Ornitológico Extremeño

Selección de presas aportadas a pollos de Carraca (Coracias garrulus) en una zona mediterránea

Anuario Ornitológico Extremeño

Importancia de las zonas húmedas extremeñas en la ruta de migración occidental de aves acuáticas

Avocetta

Differences in reproductive performance in two colonies of Egrets in two areas with different human influence

Alauda

Incubation period and weather conditions in a Roller Coracias garrulus population from south-west Iberian Peninsula

Journal of Raptor Research

Breeding biology of Kestrel Falco tinnunculus in steppes of the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula

Journal für Ornithologie -pdf

Nest-site selection and breeding success in the Roller Coracias garrulus in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula

Bird Study -pdf

The Roller Coracias garrulus in Extremadura SW of Spain does not show a preference for breeding in clean nest-boxes

Miscelanea Zoologica

Descripción de las agrupaciones de aves limícolas (Charadrii) en un embalse del centro de la península ibérica durante un ciclo anual: zonas interiores vs. zonas litorales

Boletín de la Asociación Herpetológica Española

Análisis mediante escuchas de la distribución de Pelodytes punctatus en la provincia de Badajoz

Avocetta

Egg dimensions of the Roller Coracias garrulus in farming areas of the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula

Alauda

Uncommon helper behaviour in the Roller Coracias garrulus

Ardeola -pdf

Distribución de la Carraca (Coracias garrulus) nidificante en España

Ardeola -pdf

Factors affecting the nest location of three ardeidae species in heronries in the south west of Spain.

Bird Study -pdf

Breeding biology of Roller Coracias garrulus l. 1758 in farming areas of the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula

Holarctic Birds of Prey

Variaciones en la fecha de puesta de Falco tinnunculus en Extremadura

Miscelanea Zoologica

Influencia de la edad del nidal y la presencia de otras especies sobre la fecha de puesta de la Carraca (Coracias garrulus) en estepas de Extremadura (SO Península Ibérica)

Butlletí Del Grup Català D’anellament

Diferencias intraespecíficas en el uso de un basurero por parte de la cigüeña blanca (Ciconia ciconia) en el oeste de la Península Ibérica

Miscelanea Zoologica

Crecimiento de los pollos de Carraca (Coracias garrulus) en medios esteparios del sudoeste de la península ibérica: influencia de las precipitaciones

Butlletí Del Grup Català D’anellament

A Roller Coracias garrulus presumably nesting in a nest of white stork Ciconia ciconia

Butlletí Del Grup Català D’anellament

Evolución del número de parejas reproductoras de Carraca Coracias garrulus en cinco hábitats de Extremadura

Vogelwarte

Selection of breeding habitats by the Roller (Coracias garrulus) in farming areas of the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula

Vogelwarte

Responses of the Crane (Grus grus) to potential predators in traditional wintering areas

Alauda

Détermination de l’age des poussins de Rollier d’Europe Coracias garrulus

Bird Conservation International

Status and trends of the Common Crane Grus grus in the western route

Atlas Ornitológico de España

Andarríos chico.

Ardeola -pdf

Dieta de los pollos de carraca (Coracias garrulus) en una zona mediterránea (Extremadura, suroeste de España)

Butlletí Del Grup Català D’anellament

Depredación de rabilargo Cyanopica cyana sobre golondrina común Hirundo rustica



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Direccion

Ctra. de Sacramento s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04120, Almería (Spain)

Tel: (+34) 950281045 Fax: (+34) 950277100 ISN: 0*1592 sip: 120000@eeza.csic.es Skype: voip.eeza

Derechos

©2013 Se permite el uso personal de los textos e informaciones contenidos en estas páginas. Se exige, sin embargo, permiso del CSIC para publicarlas en cualquier soporte o para utilizarlas, distribuirlas o incluirlas en otros contextos accesibles a terceras personas.