Consequences conferred at a distance: Migratory animals have adapted to life in multiple, sometimes very different environments. Thus, they may show particularly complex responses as climates rapidly change. Van Gils et al. show that body size in red knot birds has been decreasing as their Arctic breeding ground warms (see the Perspective by Wikelski and Tertitski). However, the real toll of this change appears not in the rapidly changing northern part of their range but in the apparently more stable tropical wintering range. The resulting smaller, short-billed birds have difficulty reaching their major food source, deeply buried mollusks, which decreases the survival of birds born during particularly warm years. Science , this issue p. 819 ; see also p. 775

Individual cloacal swabs of mallards ( Anas platyrhynchos ) and of herring gulls ( Larus argentatus ), as well as samples of waterbird feces obtained in 2008 and 2009, were cultivated for Escherichia coli . Isolates of E. coli were tested for susceptibilities to 12 antimicrobial agents by the disk diffusion method. Moreover, the samples were subcultivated on MacConkey agar (MCA) containing cefotaxime (2 mg liter ⁻¹ ) to detect E. coli with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) and subsequently on MCA supplemented with ciprofloxacin (0.05 mg liter ⁻¹ ) and MCA with nalidixic acid (20 mg liter ⁻¹ ) to isolate fluoroquinolone-resistant E. coli . PCR was used to detect specific antibiotic resistance genes. We found 9 E. coli isolates producing ESBL with bla genes: bla _CTX-M-1 (6 isolates), bla _CTX-M-9 plus bla _TEM-1b (1 isolate), bla _CTX-M-15 plus bla _OXA-1 (1 isolate), and bla _SHV-12 (1 isolate). In the isolate with bla _CTX-M-15 , the gene aac(6)-Ib-cr was also detected. The bla genes were harbored by transferable plasmids of the IncN and IncI1 groups. Nine quinolone-resistant E. coli isolates with qnrS genes were found and characterized. The gene qnrS was associated with a Tn 3 -like transposon on the IncX1 plasmid together with bla _TEM-1 in two isolates. The gene qnrS was also harbored by conjugative plasmids of the IncN and IncX2 groups. Even if populations of wild birds are not directly influenced by antibiotic practice, we have demonstrated that antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains, including strains with various ESBL and qnrS genes, are found in the feces of wild birds on the coast of the Baltic Sea in Poland.

Aim: Species are responding to climate change by changing their distributions, creating debate about the effectiveness of existing networks of protected areas. As a contribution to this debate, we assess whether regional winter abundances and distribution of the SmewMergellus albellus, a migratory waterbird species listed on Annex I (EUBirds Directive) that overwinters exclusively in European wetlands, changed during 1990–2011, the role of global warming in driving distributional changes and the effectiveness of the network of Special Protection Areas (SPAs,EUBirds Directive) in the context of climate change.Location: Europe.Methods: We used site‐specific counts (6,883 sites) from 16 countries covering the entire flyway to estimate annual abundance indices and trends at country, region (north‐eastern, central and south‐western) and flyway scales, inside and outsideSPAs. We fitted autoregressive models to assess the effect of winter temperature on the annual abundance indices whilst accounting for autocorrelation.Results: The Smew wintering distribution shifted north‐eastwards in Europe in accordance with the predictions of global warming, with increasing numbers in the north‐eastern region and declines in the central region. Trends in wintering numbers were more positive inSPAs on the north‐eastern and south‐western part of the flyway. However, a large proportion of the wintering population remains unprotected in north‐eastern areas outside of the existingSPAnetwork.Main conclusions: SPAs accommodated climate‐driven abundance changes in the north‐eastern region of the wintering distribution by supporting increasing numbers of Smew in traditional and newly colonized areas. However, we highlight gaps in the current network, suggesting that urgent policy responses are needed. Given rapid changes in species distributions, we urge regular national and international assessments of the adequacy of theEUNatura 2000 network to ensure coherence in site‐safeguard networks for this and other species.

Summary: In 2022, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) virus clade 2.3.4.4b became enzootic and caused mass mortality in Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisand other seabird species across north-western Europe. We present data on the characteristics of the spread of the virus between and within breeding colonies and the number of dead adult Sandwich Terns recorded at breeding sites throughout north-western Europe. Within two months of the first reported mortalities, 20,531 adult Sandwich Terns were found dead, which is >17% of the total north-western European breeding population. This is probably an under-representation of total mortality, as many carcasses are likely to have gone unnoticed and unreported. Within affected colonies, almost all chicks died. After the peak of the outbreak, in a colony established by late breeders, 25.7% of tested adults showed immunity to HPAI subtype H5. Removal of carcasses was associated with lower levels of mortality at affected colonies. More research on the sources and modes of transmission, incubation times, effective containment, and immunity is urgently needed to combat this major threat for colonial seabirds.

Extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing, AmpC beta-lactamase-producing, and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) gene-positive strains of Escherichia coli were investigated in wintering rooks ( Corvus frugilegus ) from eight European countries. Fecal samples ( n = 1,073) from rooks wintering in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Spain, and Switzerland were examined. Resistant isolates obtained from selective cultivation were screened for ESBL, AmpC, and PMQR genes by PCR and sequencing. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multilocus sequence typing were performed to reveal their clonal relatedness. In total, from the 1,073 samples, 152 (14%) cefotaxime-resistant E. coli isolates and 355 (33%) E. coli isolates with reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin were found. Eighty-two (54%) of these cefotaxime-resistant E. coli isolates carried the following ESBL genes: bla _CTX-M-1 ( n = 39 isolates), bla _CTX-M-15 ( n = 25), bla _CTX-M-24 ( n = 4), bla _TEM-52 ( n = 4), bla _CTX-M-14 ( n = 2), bla _CTX-M-55 ( n = 2), bla _SHV-12 ( n = 2), bla _CTX-M-8 ( n = 1), bla _CTX-M-25 ( n = 1), bla _CTX-M-28 ( n = 1), and an unspecified gene ( n = 1). Forty-seven (31%) cefotaxime-resistant E. coli isolates carried the bla _CMY-2 AmpC beta-lactamase gene. Sixty-two (17%) of the E. coli isolates with reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin were positive for the PMQR genes qnrS1 ( n = 54), qnrB19 ( n = 4), qnrS1 and qnrB19 ( n = 2), qnrS2 ( n = 1), and aac(6′)-Ib-cr ( n = 1). Eleven isolates from the Czech Republic ( n = 8) and Serbia ( n = 3) were identified to be CTX-M-15-producing E. coli clone B2-O25b-ST131 isolates. Ninety-one different sequence types (STs) among 191 ESBL-producing, AmpC-producing, and PMQR gene-positive E. coli isolates were determined, with ST58 ( n = 15), ST10 ( n = 14), and ST131 ( n = 12) predominating. The widespread occurrence of highly diverse ESBL- and AmpC-producing and PMQR gene-positive E. coli isolates, including the clinically important multiresistant ST69, ST95, ST117, ST131, and ST405 clones, was demonstrated in rooks wintering in various European countries.