CiteULike: lusvecica's library [30 articles]

Neophobia in the Foraging-Site Selection of a Neotropical Migrant Bird: An Experimental Study

Russell Greenberg — 2008-06-04T14:53:04-00:00

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 81, No. 12. (15 June 1984), pp. 3778-3780.

I hand-raised chestnut-sided warblers (Dendroica pensylvanica) in a room with eight experimental microhabitats; the microhabitats were removed after 6 weeks. I then measured the response of the warblers to the eight “natal” and eight “novel” microhabitats in two experiments conducted 2 and 4 months after removal. Chestnut-sided warblers responded with decreased feeding latency (neophobia) and a greater preference for foraging at the natal microhabitats. I suggest that an ontogenetic increase in neophobia restricts chestnut-sided warblers to foraging at microhabitats most similar to those experienced as juveniles. 10.1073/pnas.81.12.3778

Consistent individual differences in early exploratory behaviour of male great tits

Monica Verbeek — 2008-06-04T12:00:58-00:00

Animal Behaviour, Vol. 48, No. 5. (November 1994), pp. 1113-1121.

Abstract. Individual differences in early exploratory behaviour were investigated in hand-reared juvenile male great tits, Parus major, during the first 18 weeks of their life. The juveniles differed consistently in their reaction to a novel object in a familiar environment, either when tested with different objects or when tested again after 9 weeks. Birds that approached a novel object more quickly were also quicker to visit all artificial trees present in a novel environment than birds that approached a novel object more slowly. These behavioural differences extended to the strength of foraging habits, built up during a training period in which food was always offered at the same place. After a change in the location of food, the quicker birds would keep going to the place where the food used to be. The slower birds tended to change their behaviour and stop going to the former place. The results show that juvenile male great tits differ consistently in various aspects of their exploratory behaviour at least during the first 18 weeks of life. The variation in behaviour was not likely to arise from differences in general activity or physical condition, but seems to refer to differences in the way in which information concerning the environment is collected and dealt with.

Fitness consequences of avian personalities in a fluctuating environment

Niels Dingemanse — 2008-06-04T11:55:16-00:00

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London - B, Vol. 271, No. 1541. (2004), 847.

Neophobia by the Lesser-Antillean Bullfinch, a Foraging Generalist, and the Bananaquit, a Nectar Specialist

Sandra Webster — 2008-06-04T10:10:41-00:00

The Wilson Bulletin, Vol. 112, No. 3. (September 2000), pp. 424-427.

Why does the Common Ground Dove (Columbina passerina) colonize Caribbean islands but the Plain-Breasted Ground Dove (C. minuta) does not?

Maria — 2007-12-03T18:33:40-00:00

Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment, Vol. 42, No. 2. (August 2007), pp. 101-108.

Intraspecific differences in benefits from feeding in mixed-species flocks

Teruaki Hino — 2008-05-26T09:53:51-00:00

Journal of Avian Biology, Vol. 31, No. 4. (2000), pp. 441-446.

The Madagascar Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone mutata and Common Newtonia Newtonia brunneicauda frequently form two-species flocks in the deciduous dry forest of western Madagascar. In T. mutata, some males have long tails, while other males and females have short tails. When foraging in mixed flocks, each type of bird captured prey more rapidly than otherwise, but the degree of increase in feeding rate was smaller in long-tailed males. When in mixed flocks, all T. mutata caught prey on leaves in the canopy where N.brunneicauda foraged. Long-tailed males changed feeding habits from sallying when not in mixed flocks, whereas short-tailed birds showed no change of feeding habit. The elongated tails of long-tailed males may have made their foraging less efficient owing to decreased agility in the canopy. N. brunneicauda is monomorphic and often formed groups of three to five individuals. In monospecific flocks, subordinates fed at low rates on branches owing to frequent hostile encounters. When foraging in mixed flocks, however, subordinates foraged among leaves, and their feeding rates increased because the frequency of intraspecific interference decreased greatly. Dominants did not show any difference in feeding pattern with social situation. Thus, heterospecific flocking was more advantageous for subordinates.

Diversity and plasticity in branch-side use by birds in mixed-species flocks: niche differentiation or competitive hierarchy

Teruaki Hino — 2008-05-26T09:38:20-00:00

Ornithological Science, Vol. 6, No. 2. (December 2007), pp. 121-130.

The Effect of Within-Flock Spatial Position on the Use of Social Foraging Tactics in Free-Living Tree Sparrows

Ferenc Monus — 2008-02-15T12:39:03-00:00

Ethology, Vol. 114, No. 3. (March 2008), pp. 215-222.

The origin and spread of innovations in starlings

Neeltje Boogert — 2008-05-26T09:07:54-00:00

Animal Behaviour, Vol. 75, No. 4. (April 2008), pp. 1509-1518.

There are numerous reports of novel learned behaviour patterns in animal populations, yet the factors influencing the invention and spread of these innovations remain poorly understood. Here we investigated to what extent the pattern of spread of innovations in captive groups of starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, could be predicted by knowledge of individual and social group variables, including association patterns, social rank orders, measures of neophobia and asocial learning performance. We presented small groups of starlings with a series of novel extractive foraging tasks and recorded the latency for each bird to contact and solve each task, as well as the orders of contacting and solving. We then explored which variables best predicted the observed diffusion patterns. Object neophobia and social rank measures characterized who was the first of the group to contact the novel foraging tasks, and the subsequent spread of contacting tasks was associated with latency to feed in a novel environment. Asocial learning performance, measured in isolation, predicted who was the first solver of the novel foraging tasks in each group. Association patterns did not predict the spread of solving. Contact latency and solving duration were negatively correlated, consistent with social learning underlying the spread of solving. Our findings indicate that we can improve our understanding of the diffusion dynamics of innovations in animal groups by investigating group-dependent and individual variables in combination. We introduce novel methods for exploring predictors of the origin and spread of behavioural innovations that could be widely applied.

Adaptive Phenotypic Plasticity and the Successful Colonization of a Novel Environment

Pamela Yeh — 2008-05-15T14:11:44-00:00

The American Naturalist, Vol. 164, No. 4. (October 2004), pp. 531-542.

Reduced territorial responses in dark-eyed juncos following population establishment in a climatically mild environment

Melissa Newman — 2008-05-15T14:02:09-00:00

Animal Behaviour, Vol. 71, No. 4. (April 2006), pp. 893-899.

Colonization of novel environments may often lead to changes in socially and sexually selected traits, but there are few documented examples. We examined territorial responses of male dark-eyed juncos, Junco hyemalis thurberi, to song playback in association with colonization of an environment very different from that experienced by the ancestral population. A small population of dark-eyed juncos became established on the campus of the University of California at San Diego in the early 1980s. This population experiences a milder climate than the nearby mountain population from which it was probably derived. The San Diego juncos have a breeding season that is more than twice as long and rear about twice as many young per individual. When confronted with song playback, male responses in such traits as the total number of songs and total number of swoops in the San Diego population were about half those recorded in the mountain population. Previous work has shown that the amount of white in the tail of this species (a trait used in aggressive displays) has also decreased in the San Diego population, and lowered territorial response may be one reason favouring the evolution of less white.

Demography of an Introduced Red-Billed Leiothrix Population in Hawaii

John Ralph — 2008-05-13T11:39:29-00:00

THE CONDOR, Vol. 100, No. 3. (August 1998), pp. 468-473.

Song Properties of Indigo Buntings in Open and Forested Habitats

Rebecca Hylton — 2008-05-09T15:27:00-00:00

The Wilson Bulletin, Vol. 113, No. 2. (June 2001), pp. 243-245.

Coexistence in Mediterranean warblers: ecological differences or interspecific territoriality?

Jean Martin — 2008-05-09T14:59:58-00:00

Journal of Biogeography, Vol. 23, No. 2. (1996), pp. 169-178.

We studied the coexistence of four species of Sylvia warblers living in Mediterranean matorral in order to identify the respective role of ecological segregation and of interspecific territoriality in explaining the local distribution of these four species. Data on habitat use, foraging behaviour and interspecific spacial segregation were collected on Corsica and on Spargi (Sardinia) islands. Despite large overlap in patch selection and in foraging behaviour the four species did segregate ecologically and behaviourally while foraging (differences in the choice of plant species used for foraging, in the height of the plant selected, in the selection of the portion of the plant volume used and in the selection of the plant structure explored). Complementarity in foraging behaviour was observed in the morphologically and ecologically closest species: the Dartford (Sylvia undata) and the Marmora's (Sylvia sarda) warblers. We did not observe any evidence of direct interspecific interactions in song, alarm, or aggressive behaviour. Nor did we observe patterns of spatial distribution that would support the idea of coexistence by interspecific territorial exclusion. These results contrast with the results of Cody & Walter (1976) suggesting interspecific territoriality in Mediterranean Sylvia warblers. They are consistent with other published results emphasizing ecological differences as explanation for species coexistence.

Habitat-dependent song divergence in the little greenbul: an analysis of environmental selection pressures on acoustic signals.

Hans Slabbekoorn — 2008-05-09T14:37:41-00:00

Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, Vol. 56, No. 9. (September 2002), pp. 1849-1858.

Bird song is a sexual trait important in mate choice and known to be shaped by environmental selection. Here we investigate the ecological factors shaping song variation across a rainforest gradient in central Africa. We show that the little greenbul (Andropadus virens), previously shown to vary morphologically across the gradient in fitness-related characters, also varies with respect to song characteristics. Acoustic features, including minimum and maximum frequency, and delivery rate of song notes showed significant differences between habitats. In contrast, we found dialectal variation independent of habitat in population-typical songtype sequences. This pattern is consistent with ongoing gene flow across habitats and in line with the view that song variation in the order in which songtypes are produced is not dependent on habitat characteristics in the same way physical song characteristics are. Sound transmission characteristics of the two habitats did not vary significantly, but analyses of ambient noise spectra revealed dramatic and consistent habitat-dependent differences. Matching between low ambient noise levels for low frequencies in the rainforest and lower minimal frequencies in greenbul songs in this habitat suggests that part of the song divergence may be driven by habitat-dependent ambient noise patterns. These results suggest that habitat-dependent selection may act simultaneously on traits of ecological importance and those important in prezygotic isolation, leading to an association between morphological and acoustic divergence. Such an association may promote assortative mating and may be a mechanism driving reproductive divergence across ecological gradients.

Singing in the rain forest: how a tropical bird song transfers information.

Nicolas Mathevon — 2008-05-09T14:26:10-00:00

PLoS ONE, Vol. 3, No. 2. (2008)

How information transmission processes between individuals are shaped by natural selection is a key question for the understanding of the evolution of acoustic communication systems. Environmental acoustics predict that signal structure will differ depending on general features of the habitat. Social features, like individual spacing and mating behavior, may also be important for the design of communication. Here we present the first experimental study investigating how a tropical rainforest bird, the white-browed warbler Basileuterus leucoblepharus, extracts various information from a received song: species-specific identity, individual identity and location of the sender. Species-specific information is encoded in a resistant acoustic feature and is thus a public signal helping males to reach a wide audience. Conversely, individual identity is supported by song features susceptible to propagation: this private signal is reserved for neighbors. Finally, the receivers can locate the singers by using propagation-induced song modifications. Thus, this communication system is well matched to the acoustic constraints of the rain forest and to the ecological requirements of the species. Our results emphasize that, in a constraining acoustic environment, the efficiency of a sound communication system results from a coding/decoding process particularly well tuned to the acoustic properties of this environment.

Cities Change the Songs of Birds

Hans Slabbekoorn — 2008-05-09T14:15:57-00:00

Current Biology, Vol. 16, No. 23. (5 December 2006), pp. 2326-2331.

Summary Worldwide urbanization and the ongoing rise of urban noise levels form a major threat to living conditions in and around cities 1, 2, 3 and 4. Urban environments typically homogenize animal communities, and this results, for example, in the same few bird species' being found everywhere 5 and 6. Insight into the behavioral strategies of the urban survivors may explain the sensitivity of other species to urban selection pressures. Here, we show that songs that are important to mate attraction and territory defense have significantly diverged in great tits (Parus major), a very successful urban species. Urban songs were shorter and sung faster than songs in forests, and often concerned atypical song types. Furthermore, we found consistently higher minimum frequencies in ten out of ten city-forest comparisons from London to Prague and from Amsterdam to Paris. Anthropogenic noise is most likely a dominant factor driving these dramatic changes 7, 8 and 9. These data provide the most consistent evidence supporting the acoustic-adaptation hypothesis since it was postulated in the early seventies 10, 11 and 12. At the same time, they reveal a behavioral plasticity that may be key to urban success and the lack of which may explain detrimental effects on bird communities that live in noisy urbanized areas or along highways.

Integrating animal temperament within ecology and evolution

Denis Reale — 2008-04-30T11:13:25-00:00

Biological Reviews, Vol. 82, No. 2. (2007), pp. 291-318.

Abstract Temperament describes the idea that individual behavioural differences are repeatable over time and across situations. This common phenomenon covers numerous traits, such as aggressiveness, avoidance of novelty, willingness to take risks, exploration, and sociality. The study of temperament is central to animal psychology, behavioural genetics, pharmacology, and animal husbandry, but relatively few studies have examined the ecology and evolution of temperament traits. This situation is surprising, given that temperament is likely to exert an important influence on many aspects of animal ecology and evolution, and that individual variation in temperament appears to be pervasive amongst animal species. Possible explanations for this neglect of temperament include a perceived irrelevance, an insufficient understanding of the link between temperament traits and fitness, and a lack of coherence in terminology with similar traits often given different names, or different traits given the same name. We propose that temperament can and should be studied within an evolutionary ecology framework and provide a terminology that could be used as a working tool for ecological studies of temperament. Our terminology includes five major temperament trait categories: shyness-boldness, exploration-avoidance, activity, sociability and aggressiveness. This terminology does not make inferences regarding underlying dispositions or psychological processes, which may have restrained ecologists and evolutionary biologists from working on these traits. We present extensive literature reviews that demonstrate that temperament traits are heritable, and linked to fitness and to several other traits of importance to ecology and evolution. Furthermore, we describe ecologically relevant measurement methods and point to several ecological and evolutionary topics that would benefit from considering temperament, such as phenotypic plasticity, conservation biology, population sampling, and invasion biology.

A taste for novelty in invading house sparrows, Passer domesticus

Lynn Martin — 2005-06-16T08:52:29-00:00

Behavioral Ecology, Vol. 16, No. 4. (July 2005), pp. 702-707.

Artificial selection, naturalization, and fitness: Darwin's pigeons revisited

Daniel Sol — 2008-03-15T05:24:17-00:00

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Vol. 93, No. 4. (April 2008), pp. 657-665.

Social learning and innovation are positively correlated in pigeons (Columba livia)

Julie Bouchard — 2007-04-15T16:46:28-00:00

Animal Cognition, Vol. 10, No. 2. (April 2007), pp. 259-266.

Problem solving and neophobia in a columbiform-passeriform assemblage in Barbados

Sandra Webster — 2008-04-30T09:58:10-00:00

Animal Behaviour, Vol. 62, No. 1. (July 2001), pp. 23-32.

Previous research suggests a link between innovation rate, neophobia and behavioural flexibility in the field and in captivity. In this paper we examine three correlates of flexibility in five opportunistic avian species that feed together in Barbados: three Passeriformes (the Carib grackle, Quiscalus lugubris, the Lesser Antillean bullfinch,Loxigilla noctis , and the shiny cowbird, Molothrus bonariensis) and two Columbiformes (the zenaida dove,Zenaida aurita and the common ground dove, Columbina passerina). The flexibility measures are habituation to a new food patch, willingness to feed near a novel object (neophobia) and ability to obtain food from a new apparatus (problem solving). Passeriformes (in particular grackles and bullfinches), as predicted from their high innovation rate in anecdotal data, outperformed Columbiformes on all three measures. The three tests yielded similar results in the field and in captivity. Grackles, which are members of the most innovative passeriform genus in North America after Corvus, were by far the most successful species on the problem solving test. Individual variation in attempts to obtain food from the new apparatus was predicted by latency to approach it, which was in turn predicted by latency to feed near novel objects. This study provides experimental evidence, both in the field and in captivity, for the taxonomic differences in innovative flexibility seen in anecdotal data and suggests that neophobia is an important intervening variable in response to new feeding problems.

ECOLOGICAL AND FITNESS CONSEQUENCES OF SPECIES COEXISTENCE: A REMOVAL EXPERIMENT WITH WOOD WARBLERS

Paul Martin — 2008-04-29T16:00:21-00:00

Ecology, Vol. 8, No. 11. (January 2001), pp. 189-206.

INVASIVE FRUITS, NOVEL FOODS, AND CHOICE: AN INVESTIGATION OF EUROPEAN STARLING AND AMERICAN ROBIN FRUGIVORY

Nancy Lafleur — 2008-04-29T15:50:43-00:00

The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, Vol. 119, No. 3. (2007), pp. 429-438.

Nest-site selection of the Red-billed Leiothrix and Japanese Bush Warbler in Japan

Hitoha Amano — 2008-04-29T15:45:20-00:00

ORNITHOLOGICAL SCIENCE, Vol. 1, No. 1. (January 2002), pp. 101-110.

Foraging niches of introduced Red-billed Leiothrix and native species in Japan

Hitoha Amano — 2008-04-29T15:35:44-00:00

ORNITHOLOGICAL SCIENCE, Vol. 1, No. 2. (September 2002), pp. 123-131.

Breeding density of exotic Red-billed Leiothrix and native bird species on Mt. Tsukuba, central Japan

TOJO Hitoshi — 2008-04-29T15:29:58-00:00

ORNITHOLOGICAL SCIENCE, Vol. 3, No. 1. (January 2004), pp. 23-32.

Spread of exotic birds in Japan

Kazuhiro Eguchi — 2008-04-29T15:25:00-00:00

ORNITHOLOGICAL SCIENCE, Vol. 3, No. 1. (January 2004), pp. 3-11.

CONTRASTING NATURAL EXPERIMENTS CONFIRM COMPETITION BETWEEN HOUSE FINCHES AND HOUSE SPARROWS

Caren Cooper — 2008-04-29T14:46:09-00:00

Vol. 88, No. 4., pp. 864-870.

Long-Term Population Changes of Native and Introduced Birds in the Alaka‘i Swamp, Kaua‘i

Jeffrey Foster — 2008-04-29T14:25:44-00:00

Conservation Biology, Vol. 18, No. 3. (2004), pp. 716-725.

Abstract: Within the last 30 years, five endemic bird species of the Alaka‘i Swamp, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, have likely gone extinct. We documented population trends of the remaining avifauna in this time period to identify a common pattern in the Hawaiian Islands: decline of native species and expansion of introduced species. We conducted bird surveys over 100 km2 of the Alaka‘i and Koke‘e regions of Kaua‘i in March-April 2000 to estimate population size, distribution, and range limits of seven native and six introduced forest birds. We compared the results with four previous surveys conducted over the last 30 years. Five of the seven native species we studied have fared well, maintaining sizeable populations (>20,000 individuals) and unchanged or increasing numbers. The endemic ‘Akikiki (Oreomystis bairdi), however, declined from 6296 (SE +- 1374) to 1472 (SE +- 680) individuals and exhibited range contraction from 88 to 36 km2. The ‘I‘iwi (Vestiaria coccinea) also experienced a decline and contraction, though not as severe. Populations of several introduced forest birds are increasing, but all species, excluding the Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus), were at low numbers (<5,500 individuals in survey area). One introduced species, the Japanese Bush-Warbler (Cettia diphone) recently invaded, whereas another, the Red-billed Leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea), has been extirpated. Two hurricanes in the past 20 years appear to have most strongly affected nectarivores and may have contributed to the decline or extinction of several other species. Overall, native bird populations on Kaua‘i have exhibited species-specific responses to limiting factors. Although most native populations appear stable, the extant native avifauna is vulnerable as a result of limited distributions and the potential for widespread habitat degradation. Cambios Poblacionales a Largo Plazo de Aves Nativas e Introducidas en el Pantano Alaka‘i, Kaua‘i Resumen: Es probable que se hayan extinguido cinco especies endemicas del Pantano Alaka‘i, Kaua‘i en los ultimos 30 anos. Documentamos las tendencias poblacionales de la avifauna remanente en este periodo para evaluar un patron comun en las Islas Hawaianas: declinacion de especies nativas y expansion de especies introducidas. Realizamos muestreos de aves en las regiones Alaka‘i y Koke‘e de Kaua‘i en marzo-abril 2000 para estimar el tamano, la distribucion y los limites poblacionales de siete especies nativas y seis especies introducidas de aves de bosque. Comparamos los resultados con datos de cuatro muestreos previos llevados a cabo en los ultimos 30 anos. Cinco de las siete especies nativas estudiadas han estado bien, manteniendo poblaciones de >20,000 individuos y numeros sin cambio o en incremento. Sin embargo, el ‘Akikiki (Oreomystis bairdi) endemico declino de 6,296 (ES +- 1,374) a 1,472 (ES +- 680) individuos y exhibio una contraccion en su rango de 88 a 36 km2. El‘ I‘iwi (Vestiaria coccinea) tambien sufrio una declinacion y contraccion, aunque no tan severa. Las poblaciones de varias especies de aves de bosque introducidas estan incrementando, pero todas las especies, excluyendo Zosterops japonicus, tuvieron numeros bajos (<5,500 individuos en el area muestreada). Una especie introducida, Cettia diphone, invadio recientemente, mientras que otra, Leiothrix lutea, ha sido extirpada. Parece que dos huracanes en los ultimos 20 anos han afectado severamente a las nectarivoras y pueden haber contribuido a la declinacion o extincion de varias otras especies. En general, las poblaciones nativas en Kaua‘i han exhibido respuestas especie-especificas a los factores limitantes. Aunque la mayoria de las poblaciones nativas parecen estables, la avifauna nativa existente es vulnerable debido a distribuciones limitadas y a la degradacion generalizada potencial del habitat.