The importance of wild birds as potential vectors of disease has received recent renewed
empirical interest, especially regarding human health. Understanding the spread of bacterial …

Enteric illnesses remain the second largest source of communicable diseases worldwide,
and wild birds are suspected sources for human infection. This has led to efforts to reduce …

The gut microbiomes of birds and other animals are increasingly being studied in ecological
and evolutionary contexts. Numerous studies on birds and reptiles have made inferences …

Background Gastrointestinal bacteria play a central role in the health of animals. The
bacteria that individuals acquire as they age may therefore have profound consequences for …

Simple Summary Wildlife are important reservoirs of bacterial pathogens associated with
human diseases. Campylobacteriosis is a relevant gastrointestinal disease in humans and …

The gastrointestinal tract microbiota is known to play very important roles in the well being of
animals. It is a complex community composed by hundreds of microbial species interacting …

We comprehensively reviewed information on maximum life spans of wild birds (based on
banding recoveries) and nine ecological, physiological and behavioral variables that have …

Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 1515–1524 Abstract Sexual transmission is an important mode of
disease propagation, yet its mechanisms remain largely unknown in wild populations. Birds …

Despite their potential ecological and evolutionary importance, factors shaping the
composition of bacterial communities in wild vertebrate populations remain poorly …

Theory strongly suggests that beneficial symbiotic bacteria could be common within birds.
Our argument is based on the existence of within-host competition for resources between …