The blue whistling thrush (Myophonus caeruleus) is a bird belonging to the order Passeriformes and family Muscicapidae. M. caeruleus is widely distributed in China, Pakistan, India, and Myanmar and is a resident bird in the southern part of the Yangtze River in China and summer migratory bird in the northern part of the Yangtze River. At present, there are some controversies about the classification of M. caeruleus. We use complete mitochondrial genomes to provide insights into the phylogenetic position of M. caeruleus and its relationships among Muscicapidae. The mitochondrial genome (GenBank: MN564936) is 16,815 bp long and contains 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a non-coding control region (D-loop). The thirteen PCGs started with GTG and ATG and ended with five types of stop codons. The nucleotide composition of T was 23.71%, that of C was 31.45%, that of A was 30.06%, and that of G was 14.78%. The secondary structures of 22 tRNAs were predicted, all of which could form typical cloverleaf structures. There were 24 mismatches, mainly G–U mismatches. Through phylogenetic tree reconstruction, it was found that Saxicola, Monticola, Oenanthe, and Phoenicurus were clustered into one clade, together with the sister group of Myophonus.

Accurate assessment of avian community structure and bird-strike risk within airport ecosystems is vital for balancing aviation safety with biodiversity conservation. From October 2019 to July 2020, we conducted systematic bird surveys at Lincang Boshang Airport (Yunnan, China) and its surrounding area. By integrating taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity analyses, we examined spatial–temporal patterns of bird diversity and characterized bird-strike risk. In total, 4859 individuals of 148 species were recorded, representing 51 families and 15 orders. The avifauna was dominated by broadly distributed Oriental–Palearctic species, reflecting the pronounced biogeographic transition of southwestern Yunnan. Functional diversity (FD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD) differed significantly among habitats: wetlands exhibited the highest FD and PD, indicating strong functional and lineage overdispersion driven by high environmental heterogeneity, whereas farmland showed the lowest FD and PD, consistent with stronger environmental filtering. Seasonal dynamics also shaped community structure, with the highest individual abundance in winter and the lowest species richness in spring. Standardized effect sizes (SES) revealed an overall tendency toward functional and phylogenetic clustering (SES < 0), most pronounced in forest and urban communities, while wetland assemblages consistently showed greater overdispersion across seasons. Risk evaluation indicated that low-risk species comprised 76.35% of the fauna, whereas high and very-high risk species accounted for only 3.38%, mainly large raptors (Accipitriformes) and pelicans/herons (Pelecaniformes). Integrating community patterns with risk distribution, we propose zone-specific management: remove standing water and tall grass in wetlands and farmland; optimize vegetation structure along forest–urban edges; and adopt acoustic/visual deterrents and dynamic management within core airport areas to reduce strike risk. Our findings provide a comprehensive baseline of airport bird diversity and bird-strike risk in southwestern China, offering evidence-based guidance for airport ecological safety management and regional biodiversity conservation.

Vespa soror, is an important resource insect that is widely distributed in China. However, there have been few reports on the genetic diversity of this species so far. We based our study on Cytochrome c Oxidase Subunit I (COI) gene as a molecular marker, to estimate the genetic diversity of V. soror. The length of the COI gene is 614 base pairs (bp), and a total of 26 haplotypes were obtained. Among these haplotypes, Hap_3 and Hap_13 are the dominant haplotypes. Overall, V. soror exhibits high genetic diversity, with a haplotype diversity (Hd) of 0.941 ± 0.010 and a nucleotide diversity (Pi) of 0.01068 ± 0.00079. Significant genetic differentiation has occurred among populations, with pairwise Fixation Index (Fst) values greater than 0.25 accounting for over two-thirds of all comparisons. The overall FST value was 0.47872. Despite fluctuations in the degree of genetic differentiation among different populations (−0.076 to 1.00), the overall level of genetic differentiation remained within a relatively high range. For most populations, the Tajima’s D and Fu’s Fs test results were positive, and both were non-significant (p > 0.10). AMOVA attributed 15.82%, 36.37%, and 47.81% of total variation to among-group, among-population within-group, and within-population variation, respectively. Overall, it exhibits high genetic diversity, significant genetic differentiation.