Behavioural and physiological correlates of personality in greylag geese (Anser anser)

2009 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Kralj-Fišer ◽  
Brigitte M. Weiß ◽  
Kurt Kotrschal
Keyword(s):  
Anser Anser ◽  
Greylag Geese

scholarly journals From individual to population level: Temperature and snow cover modulate fledging success through breeding phenology in greylag geese (Anser anser)

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Didone Frigerio ◽  
Petra Sumasgutner ◽  
Kurt Kotrschal ◽  
Sonia Kleindorfer ◽  
Josef Hemetsberger
Keyword(s):  
Ambient Temperature ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Breeding Phenology ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Fledging Success ◽  
Average Annual Temperature ◽  
Greylag Geese

AbstractLocal weather conditions may be used as environmental cues by animals to optimize their breeding behaviour, and could be affected by climate change. We measured associations between climate, breeding phenology, and reproductive output in greylag geese (Anser anser) across 29 years (1990–2018). The birds are individually marked, which allows accurate long-term monitoring of life-history parameters for all pairs within the flock. We had three aims: (1) identify climate patterns at a local scale in Upper Austria, (2) measure the association between climate and greylag goose breeding phenology, and (3) measure the relationship between climate and both clutch size and fledging success. Ambient temperature increased 2 °C across the 29-years study period, and higher winter temperature was associated with earlier onset of egg-laying. Using the hatch-fledge ratio, average annual temperature was the strongest predictor for the proportion of fledged goslings per season. There is evidence for an optimum time window for egg-laying (the earliest and latest eggs laid had the lowest fledging success). These findings broaden our understanding of environmental effects and population-level shifts which could be associated with increased ambient temperature and can thus inform future research about the ecological consequences of climate changes and reproductive output in avian systems.

scholarly journals Social context modulates digestive efficiency in greylag geese (Anser anser)

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Didone Frigerio ◽  
Kurt Kotrschal ◽  
Carla Fabro ◽  
Verena Puehringer-Sturmayr ◽  
Lara Iaiza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Digestive Efficiency ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Greylag Geese

scholarly journals Latitudinal-Related Variation in Wintering Population Trends of Greylag Geese (Anser Anser) along the Atlantic Flyway: A Response to Climate Change?

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. e0140181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Ramo ◽  
Juan A. Amat ◽  
Leif Nilsson ◽  
Vincent Schricke ◽  
Mariano Rodríguez-Alonso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Population Trends ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Related Variation ◽  
Atlantic Flyway ◽  
Greylag Geese ◽  
Wintering Population

scholarly journals Social and life-history correlates of hormonal partner compatibility in greylag geese (Anser anser)

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte M. Weiß ◽  
Kurt Kotrschal ◽  
Erich Möstl ◽  
Katharina Hirschenhauser
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Greylag Geese

scholarly journals Physiological implications of pair-bond status in greylag geese

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia A. F. Wascher ◽  
Brigitte M. Weiß ◽  
Walter Arnold ◽  
Kurt Kotrschal
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Energy Expenditure ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Pair Bond ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
The Social ◽  
Greylag Geese ◽  
Free Ranging

In group-living vertebrates, reliable social allies play a decisive role in dealing with stressors. For example, support by social allies is known to dampen glucocorticoid responses. It remains unknown, however, how social embedding affects the sympatho-adrenergic axis as indicated by heart rate (HR) in non-human animals. We studied the relationships between HR, pair-bond status and distance from the pair-partner in twenty-five free-ranging greylag geese ( Anser anser ) in a natural social environment. In three individuals, we investigated HR responses following partner loss. Overall, we found a context- and sex-dependent difference in HR between paired and unpaired individuals, paired males having a lower HR during agonistic encounters, and unpaired females having a lower HR during resting. Also, in paired females HR increased with increasing distance from the partner. Our data suggest that HR is modulated by pair-bond status in greylag geese in a context- and sex-dependent manner, which may be representative for social vertebrates in general. Despite the low sample size, the present study indicates that proper social embedding may optimize an individual's physiological investment in the social domain. This reduces individual energy expenditure and may benefit health and reproductive success.

All you can eat: do peck rates of Greylag Geese (Anser anser) vary with age and social status?

2012 ◽  
Vol 153 (4) ◽  
pp. 1025-1029 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friederike Woog ◽  
Konrad Schwarz ◽  
Mark Hulme
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Greylag Geese

scholarly journals Adoption as a gosling strategy to obtain better parental care? Experimental evidence for gosling choice and age-dependency of adoption in greylag geese

Behaviour ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 142 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 1515-1533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Komdeur ◽  
Ellen Kalmbach ◽  
Pascal van der Aa
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Alloparental Care ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Generational Conflict ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
State Dependent ◽  
Greylag Goose ◽  
Large Brood ◽  
Greylag Geese

AbstractAdoptions of unrelated young by successful breeders are a form of alloparental care which has been observed in many species of geese. Depending on costs and benefits to the parents, adoptions might represent an inter-generational conflict or a mutually beneficial strategy. Although most studies of wild populations suggest benefits of large brood sizes, incidental observations mostly report aggressive behaviour of parents towards lone goslings. No studies have investigated mechanisms and behaviour during adoptions in order to test whether adoptions are driven by parents or goslings. To test whether goslings might use adoption as a strategy to obtain better parental care, we carried out an experiment where lone greylag goose (Anser anser) goslings could choose between a dominant and a subordinate foster family. In a second experiment we also tested whether adoption was age-dependent. Except for one case, all lone goslings (N = 16) chose the dominant family. Parents showed very little aggression towards lone goslings at three days after hatch, but aggression increased until 9 days and remained high thereafter. At the same time as aggression increased, the chance of successful adoption decreased. In the first five weeks of life, goslings which had been adopted were no further away from parents than original goslings during grazing. These results show that goslings might choose foster families according to dominance. The fact that with increasing gosling age parents are less willing to adopt could be due to improved individual recognition and reflect decreasing benefits of gaining an additional family member. More detailed studies on state-dependent costs and benefits of adoptions are required to determine whether adoptions in geese represent conflict or mutualism, and why this changes with gosling age.

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