A fundamental aspect of symbiotic relationships is host specificity, ranging from extreme
specialists associated with only a single host species to generalists associated with many …

Researchers often examine symbiont host specificity as a species‐level pattern, but it can
also be key to understanding processes occurring at the population level, which are not as …

In host-symbiont systems, interspecific transmissions create opportunities for host switches,
potentially leading to cophylogenetic incongruence. In contrast, conspecific transmissions …

Host specificity is a fundamental life history trait of symbionts and exists on a broad
continuum from symbionts that are specific to one or a few hosts (host specialists), to those …

The effects of ectosymbiotic feather mites on avian host fitness and factors driving the
variation in mite infestation levels, such as host mating and brood care system, are poorly …

Microscopic symbionts represent crucial links in biological communities. However, they
present technical challenges in high-throughput sequencing (HTS) studies due to their small …

Darwin's finches are an iconic example of adaptive radiation. The size and shape of the
beaks of different finch species are diversified for feeding on different size seeds and other …

Birds host a wide range of ectoparasites and have developed behavioural strategies to
combat them, such as preening, dust bathing and water bathing. In addition, a wide range of …

Four new feather mite species of the genus Amerodectes (Proctophyllodidae: Pterodectinae)
are described from New World warblers (Passeriformes: Parulidae) of USA: Amerodectes …

Many birds use conspicuous plumage coloration to signal quality for sexual or social
selection. However, it is still often unclear how intraspecific coloration and associated …