New paper on blood parasitism in wintering migrants in Zambia

Feb 15, 2016

Migratory birds breeding in Europe often have chronic malaria infections which are assumed to have been picked up on their wintering grounds in Africa. But we know little about their effects in Africa where it’s assumed acute infections might occur. Dr Marjorie Sorensen studied willow warblers during her PhD and found, surprisingly, no obvious ill-effects of malaria parasites on the birds wintering in Zambia. Read more in the original paper by Marjorie SorensenMuhammad AsgharStaffan BenschGraham FairhurstSusanne Jenni-Eiermann and Claire Spottiswoodeavailable open access in Journal of Avian Biology.

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Chima Nwaogu presents research lecture at Uppsala University, Sweden

Dr Chima Nwaogu visited the Animal Ecology Unit at the Evolutionsbiologisk centrum (EBC) at Uppsala University, Sweden, to present the 2025 Christer Hemborg lecture. He gave a research lecture on why Afrotropical birds breed when they do, based on analyses of breeding records derived from Major John Colebrook-Robjent’s egg collection currently held at the Livingstone Museum. He explored how the effects of pre-rain tree green-up and rainfall onset differentially drive invertebrate and grass seed abundance, influencing multiple seasonal bird breeding patterns throughout the year.

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