![]() ![]() In birds, the occurrence of hybrid zones is well documented. Hybrid zones have recently received increasing attention, and several hybrid sterility genes have been identified, e.g., in house mouse Mus musculus musculus × Mus musculus domesticus hybrids and in fruit flies Drosophila pseudoobscura pseudoobscura × Drosophila pseudoobscura bogotana. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.ĭata Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.įunding: The study was supported by the project PRVOUK P31/2012 from the Charles University in Prague.Ĭompeting interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Received: Accepted: JPublished: July 27, 2016Ĭopyright: © 2016 Heneberg et al. PLoS ONE 11(7):Įditor: Bi-Song Yue, Sichuan University, CHINA (2016) Conservation of the Red Kite Milvus milvus (Aves: Accipitriformes) Is Not Affected by the Establishment of a Broad Hybrid Zone with the Black Kite Milvus migrans migrans in Central Europe. milvus re-introduction programs.Ĭitation: Heneberg P, Dolinay M, Matušík H, Pfeiffer T, Nachtigall W, Bizos J, et al. milvus is clearly subject to free intraspecific gene flow, which has direct implications when considering the origin of individuals in M. It remains to be investigated by genomic methods whether occasional gene flow occurs through the paternal line, as the examined Myc gene displayed only marginal divergence between M. We did not find mitochondrial DNA of one species in individuals with the plumage of the other species, except in F1 hybrids, which agrees with Haldane´s Rule. Few haplotypes displayed statistically significant aggregation in one region over another. We found that populations of both examined species were characterized by a high gene flow within populations, with all of the major haplotypes distributed across the entire examined area. In agreement with previous studies, we found low heterozygosity in M. migrans and 3 F1 hybrid individuals collected across central Europe. Here, we analyzed the mitochondrial ( CO1 and CytB) and nuclear ( Myc) DNA loci of 184 M. migrans hybrid offspring have been found, F2 and F3 hybrids have only rarely been reported, with low nesting success rates of F1 hybrids and partial hybrid sterility likely playing a role. The species was in decline until the 1970s due to persecution and has declined again since the 1990s due to ingestion of rodenticide-treated baits, illegal poisoning and changes in agricultural practices, particularly in its core range. milvus is endemic to the western Palearctic and has an estimated total population of 20–24,000 breeding pairs. See also: our map of parakeet sightings in the London and south east.Among Accipitriformes sensu stricto, only a few species have been reported to form hybrid zones these include the red kite Milvus milvus and black kite Milvus migrans migrans. Image: Tony Hisgett under creative commons licence They often hang out in pairs and occasionally larger groups. Their feather patterns are also easy to distinguish, with ruddy, white and black feathers. They have distinctive fan-shaped tails that, in adults, end in two points. They're pretty much the largest bird in the London sky, and glide around without much flapping, as birds of prey generally do. How to spot a red kite Image: Synaptic Refuge under creative commons licence Now, their numbers are so great that they're a daily sight for many Londoners. Breeding pairs were reintroduced to the Chilterns in 1990s, and they've made a steady recovery ever since. The distinctive birds all-but-died-out in the UK in Victorian times, thanks to habitat loss, hunting and improvements in waste disposal (they are scavengers), though a few pairs clung on in Wales. If you'd like to add to the map, please leave a comment below or respond on our Facebook or Twitter threads. We asked readers only for sightings in the south east, and that's what we've mapped. Red kites can be found further afield, with populations all over the country. Elsewhere, Caterham, Ware and Harlow get frequent mentions. These major roads connect London to the Chilterns, and it's likely the birds gradually moved east from the hills, following the roadkill. From Reading to Yeading, the M4 corridor is particularly replete, ditto the M40. Clapham Common, Stepney and Greenwich are as central as we've heard so far. ![]() Sightings in inner London are rare, however. The deepest clusters are to the west, closer to the Chilterns where they were originally reintroduced. As you can see, the birds are reasonably widespread around the south east. ![]()
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