scholarly journals Nest concealment is associated with reproductive traits across sympatric bird species

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinlong Liu ◽  
Han Yan ◽  
Guopan Li ◽  
Shaobin Li
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Nest Concealment

Does feeding zone influence egg size in slow-breeding seabirds?

2015 ◽  
Vol 93 (8) ◽  
pp. 589-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Stephen Dobson ◽  
Pierre Jouventin
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Female Body Mass ◽  
Feeding Zone ◽  
Egg Care ◽  
Compensation Hypothesis

In several bird species, mothers that endow their eggs with additional resources benefit from more rapid development and more robust offspring. We examined egg size and associated life-history traits in 44 species of the slow-breeding procellariiform seabirds (albatrosses and petrels). The far distant foraging of some of the species should subject them to difficult ecological conditions and perhaps delays in return to the nest. Such delays might lead to poorer egg care by the remaining parent. To compensate, we predicted a positive association of egg size with foraging zone (offshore, near pelagic, far pelagic), and both with the length of incubation shifts. We tested this hypothesis and also examined egg size and fitness-related reproductive traits. Egg size scaled significantly and tightly with female body mass (β = 0.72, R2 = 0.98). After influences of both size and phylogeny were removed, however, egg size was positively and significantly associated with both mean length of incubation shift and feeding zone (r = 0.45 and 0.46, respectively), perhaps indicating a life-history syndrome of egg size, incubation, and distance that species go to forage during the breeding season, and supporting the compensation hypothesis.

scholarly journals Nesting habitat and density, nest characteristics, home ranges and group sizes of the Rufous-fronted Thornbird (Phacellodomus rufifrons) in Central Brazil

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-581
Author(s):  
Luane Reis dos Santos ◽  
Yara Ballarini ◽  
Zélia da Paz Pereira ◽  
Miguel Ângelo Marini
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Nest Size ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Nesting Habitat ◽  
Central Brazil ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Wide Geographic Distribution

Rufous-fronted Thornbird (Phacellodomus rufifrons) reproduction has been studied under a few environmental conditions but might show some variations among regions throughout its wide geographic distribution. We describe here nesting habitat and density, nest characteristics, home ranges and group sizes of Rufous-fronted Thornbird in a Cerrado reserve in central Brazil. We found 131 nests in 2003, 2004, and 2011, and studied four groups inside a 100-ha grid. Nests were found only in cerrado típico and cerrado ralo but changed in abundance and density over the years, with a higher density in 2004 (0.37 nest/ha) than in 2011 (0.23 nest/ha). Nests were built 3.2 ± 1.0 m above the ground at 6.3 ± 0.2 m high trees of 31 species, but mostly of Qualea spp. Nests were 0.66 ± 0.27 m high and 0.44 ± 0.11 m wide. Home ranges had an average of 3.1 ± 0.3 ha, used by family groups of 4.6 ± 0.5 individuals. This study consolidates the findings of previous ones, but also highlights differences in habitat use, nest size, and nesting tree among regions or study sites, and changes in density among years, stressing the importance of studying the reproductive biology of the same bird species under different environmental conditions since different conditions might affect reproductive traits, such as reproductive investment and timing.

scholarly journals Male age and its association with reproductive traits in captive and wild house sparrows

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antje Girndt ◽  
Glenn Cockburn ◽  
Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar ◽  
Moritz Hertel ◽  
Terry Burke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Quality ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
Reproductive Senescence ◽  
Young Males ◽  
Adaptive Models ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Sperm Traits

Evolutionary theory predicts that females seek extra-pair fertilisations from high-quality males. In socially monogamous bird species, it is often old males that are most successful in extra-pair fertilisations. Adaptive models of female extra-pair mate choice suggest that old males may produce offspring of higher genetic quality than young males because they have proven their survivability. However, old males are also more likely to show signs of reproductive senescence, such as reduced sperm quality. To better understand why old males account for a disproportionally large number of extra-pair offspring and what the consequences of mating with old males are, we compared several sperm traits of both captive and wild house sparrows, Passer domesticus. Sperm morphological traits and cloacal protuberance volume (a proxy for sperm load) of old and young males did not differ substantially. However, old males delivered almost three times more sperm to the female’s egg than young males. We discuss the possibility of a post-copulatory advantage for old over young males and the consequences for females mated with old males.

Planting time and mulching influenced vegetative and reproductive traits in strawberry (Fragaria×ananassaDuch.) in India

Fruits ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 395-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajbir Singh ◽  
Ram Roshan Sharma ◽  
Rajiv Kumar Jain
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Planting Time

Functional evenness of bird communities varies along the elevational gradient in Europe: Conservation implications

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Morelli ◽  
Yanina
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Elevational Gradient ◽  
Negative Association ◽  
Bird Communities ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Bird Species Richness ◽  
Large Spatial Scale ◽  
Functional Evenness

ContextThe negative association between elevation and species richness is a well-recognized pattern in macro-ecology. ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate changes in functional evenness of breeding bird communities along an elevation gradient in Europe. MethodsUsing the bird data from the EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds we estimated an index of functional evenness which can be assumed as a measure of the potential resilience of communities.ResultsOur findings confirm the existence of a negative association between elevation and bird species richness in all European eco regions. However, we also explored a novel aspect of this relationship, important for conservation: Our findings provide evidence at large spatial scale of a negative association between the functional evenness (potential community resilience) and elevation, independent of the eco region. We also found that the Natura2000 protected areas covers the territory most in need of protection, those characterized by bird communities with low potential resilience, in hilly and mountainous areas.ConclusionsThese results draw attention to European areas occupied by bird communities characterized by a potential lower capacity to respond to strong ecological changes, and, therefore, potentially more exposed to risks for conservation.

Experimentally increased costs of parental care are shunted to offspring in species with extended care

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen F. Wagner ◽  
Emeline Mourocq ◽  
Michael Griesser
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Total Duration ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Life History Strategy ◽  
Experimental Treatment ◽  
Cost Of Care ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Trade Offs

Biparental care systems are a valuable model to examine conflict, cooperation, and coordination between unrelated individuals, as the product of the interactions between the parents influences the fitness of both individuals. A common experimental technique for testing coordinated responses to changes in the costs of parental care is to temporarily handicap one parent, inducing a higher cost of providing care. However, dissimilarity in experimental designs of these studies has hindered interspecific comparisons of the patterns of cost distribution between parents and offspring. Here we apply a comparative experimental approach by handicapping a parent at nests of five bird species using the same experimental treatment. In some species, a decrease in care by a handicapped parent was compensated by its partner, while in others the increased costs of care were shunted to the offspring. Parental responses to an increased cost of care primarily depended on the total duration of care that offspring require. However, life history pace (i.e., adult survival and fecundity) did not influence parental decisions when faced with a higher cost of caring. Our study highlights that a greater attention to intergenerational trade-offs is warranted, particularly in species with a large burden of parental care. Moreover, we demonstrate that parental care decisions may be weighed more against physiological workload constraints than against future prospects of reproduction, supporting evidence that avian species may devote comparable amounts of energy into survival, regardless of life history strategy.

Elevated nest predation risk promotes offspring size variation in birds with prolonged parental care.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen F. Wagner ◽  
Emeline Mourocq ◽  
Michael Griesser
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Reproductive Cycle ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Nest Predation ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Natural Predation ◽  
Risk Spreading

Predation of offspring is the main cause of reproductive failure in many species, and the mere fear of offspring predation shapes reproductive strategies. Yet, natural predation risk is ubiquitously variable and can be unpredictable. Consequently, the perceived prospect of predation early in a reproductive cycle may not reflect the actual risk to ensuing offspring. An increased variance in investment across offspring has been linked to breeding in unpredictable environments in several taxa, but has so far been overlooked as a maternal response to temporal variation in predation risk. Here, we experimentally increased the perceived risk of nest predation prior to egg-laying in seven bird species. Species with prolonged parent-offspring associations increased their intra-brood variation in egg, and subsequently offspring, size. High risk to offspring early in a reproductive cycle can favour a risk-spreading strategy particularly in species with the greatest opportunity to even out offspring quality after fledging.

Three hundred years of House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) persecution in Germany

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. SEITZ
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
House Sparrow ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
World War ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Second World

Modernization of agriculture, economic development and population increase after the end of the Thirty Years' War caused authorities in many parts of Germany to decree the eradication of so-called pest animals, including the House Sparrow. Farmers were given targets, and had to deliver the heads of sparrows in proportion to the size of their farms or pay fines. At the end of the eighteenth century German ornithologists argued against the eradication of the sparrows. During the mid-nineteenth century, C. L. Gloger, the pioneer of bird protection in Germany, emphasized the value of the House Sparrow in controlling insect plagues. Many decrees were abolished because either they had not been obeyed, or had resulted in people protecting sparrows so that they always had enough for their “deliveries”. Surprisingly, various ornithologists, including Ernst Hartert and the most famous German bird conservationist Freiherr Berlepsch, joined in the war against sparrows at the beginning of the twentieth century, because sparrows were regarded as competitors of more useful bird species. After the Second World War, sparrows were poisoned in large numbers. Persecution of sparrows ended in Germany in the 1970s. The long period of persecution had a significant but not long-lasting impact on House Sparrow populations, and therefore cannot be regarded as a factor in the recent decline of this species in urban and rural areas of western and central Europe.

JENIS BURUNG DI KAMPUS UNIVERSITAS TANJUNGPURA

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sutarto Kusuma Indra ◽  
Kustiati Kustiati ◽  
Rafdinal Rafdinal
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Loss ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Residential Land ◽  
Encounter Rates ◽  
Passer Montanus ◽  
Quality Degradation

Quality degradation, modification, and habitat loss are significant threats to bird species. The natural habitat of birds has been modified into residential land and facilities to meet the needs of human life as happened at Tanjungpura University. This study aims to determine of birds species at Tanjungpura University. Observations were carried out from January to March 2019. The method used in collecting the data from bird was “Encounter rates” which was conducted in the morning starting at 6 – 9 am and at 3 - 6 pm. The data obtained were analyzed with the formula of simple abundance scale and frequency of attendance. The birds found at Universitas Tanjungpura are 28 species classified into 23 genera, 17 families, and seven orders. Birds found to have an abundance order scale are classified into abundant, general, frequent and, unusual categories. Birds included in the abundant category are Collocalia fuciphaga and Passer montanus. The types of bird foods at Tanjungpura University consist of frugivore, insectivore, granivore, herbivore, carnivore, piscivore, omnivore, molluscivore, and nectarivore. The value of attendance frequency have range between 10-100%. The bird species with highest frequency of attendance’s value is Passer montanus, Pycnonotus aurigaster, Pycnonotus goiavier, Collocalia fuciphaga, and Anthreptes malacensis.

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