scholarly journals Affiliative social relationships and coccidian oocyst excretion in a cooperatively breeding bird species

2019 ◽  
Vol 158 ◽  
pp. 121-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia A.F. Wascher ◽  
Daniela Canestrari ◽  
Vittorio Baglione
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Oocyst Excretion ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Coccidian Oocyst

scholarly journals Affiliative social relationships and coccidian oocyst excretion in a cooperatively breeding bird species

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia A.F. Wascher ◽  
Daniela Canestrari ◽  
Vittorio Baglione
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Oocyst Excretion ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Nematode Eggs ◽  
Coccidian Oocyst

AbstractIn group living animals, behavioural interactions with conspecifics strongly modulate an individual’s physiological stress response. Stable social relationships may reduce an individual’s stress response, which in turn can affect the immune system and health. Ultimately, positive health effects of stable social bonds may contribute to maintain group living. We investigated whether, in cooperatively breeding carrion crows (Corvus corone), the quality of social relationships correlates with coccidian oocyst and nematode eggs excretion. We repeatably collected behavioural data on dyadic social interactions and individual droppings to quantify parasite eggs and oocysts from 36 individuals in a captive population of carrion crows in northern Spain. Individuals with strong social bonds, living with more relatives and in larger groups excreted a significantly smaller proportion of droppings containing coccidian oocysts. The probability to excrete droppings containing nematode eggs was not affected by social factors. The relationship between social interactions and coccidian oocyst excretion is consistent with the idea that high quality social relationships can positively affects individual’s health, setting the stage for the evolution of stable social living.

scholarly journals Climate predicts which sex acts as helpers among cooperatively breeding bird species

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 20160863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guoyue Zhang ◽  
Qingtian Zhao ◽  
Anders Pape Møller ◽  
Jan Komdeur ◽  
Xin Lu
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
Sex Bias ◽  
Tropical Species ◽  
Ecological Constraints ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Demographic Response ◽  
Potential Determinant

Among avian cooperative breeders, help in raising offspring is usually provided by males or by both sexes. Sex bias in helping should evolve in response to sex-specific ecological constraints on independent reproduction, with mate shortage for males and breeding vacancy shortage for each sex. Given that male-biased adult sex ratios are prevalent among birds, we predict that male-only helping mainly occurs in temperate species where fast population turnovers deriving from low adult annual survival allow all adult females to hold breeding vacancies, whereas some males overflow as helpers, and both-sex helping in tropical species where saturated habitats prevent not only males, but also females from breeding themselves. As expected, we found that across species, adult survival increased towards tropical zones and warmer climates, and higher adult survival tended to be associated with both-sex helping. Furthermore, sex bias in helping was predicted by latitude and ambient temperature. Our findings of demographic response of species to climate as a potential determinant of bias in helper sex uncover how ecological constraints operate to limit independent reproduction in sex-specific ways.

Influence of Winter Ranging Behaviour on the Social Organization of a Cooperatively Breeding Bird Species, The Apostlebird

Ethology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 115 (9) ◽  
pp. 888-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Griesser ◽  
Jonathan Barnaby ◽  
Nicole A. Schneider ◽  
Nina Figenschau ◽  
Jonathan Wright ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Ranging Behaviour ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding

Acorn woodpeckers vocally discriminate current and former group members from nongroup members

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 1120-1128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A Pardo ◽  
Casey E Hayes ◽  
Eric L Walters ◽  
Walter D Koenig
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Current Group ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Melanerpes Formicivorus ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Valuable Relationships ◽  
Acorn Woodpeckers

Abstract In species with long-term social relationships, the ability to recognize individuals after extended separation and the ability to discriminate between former social affiliates that have died and those that have left the group but may return are likely to be beneficial. Few studies, however, have investigated whether animals can make these discriminations. We presented acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus), a group-living, cooperatively breeding bird, with playbacks of current group members, former group members still living nearby, former group members that had died or left the study area, and familiar nongroup members. Subjects responded more quickly to the calls of nongroup members than to the calls of current group members or former group members still living in the study area but did not discriminate between nongroup members and former group members that had died or disappeared. This suggests that acorn woodpeckers can vocally recognize both current group members and former group members that have dispersed to nearby groups and that they either forget former group members that no longer live in the vicinity or classify them differently from former group members that still live nearby. This study suggests an important role for vocal recognition in maintaining valuable relationships with social affiliates postdispersal.

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.

Die Brutvogelfauna eines Nadelwaldes der nördlichen Voralpen nach dem Sturm Lothar

2017 ◽  
Vol 168 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
Pierre Mollet ◽  
René Hardegger ◽  
Res Altwegg ◽  
Pius Korner ◽  
Simon Birrer
Keyword(s):  
Forest Succession ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Mountain Forest ◽  
Breeding Bird ◽  
Point Counts ◽  
Federal Institute ◽  
Central Switzerland ◽  
Bird Fauna

Breeding bird fauna in a coniferous forest in the northern Prealps after storm Lothar In a 70-hectare large coniferous forest located on the northern edge of the Alps in central Switzerland, Canton of Obwalden, at an altitude of 1260 to 1550 metres above sea level, we surveyed the local breeding bird fauna in 2002 and 2013 by means of point counts as well as additional area searches for rare species. In December 1999, hurricane Lothar caused two large windthrow areas and several smaller areas with scattered throws in the survey range. We found a total of 48 breeding bird species, which is a very diverse species composition for a mountain forest. In the eleven years between surveys, a decline in distribution or abundance was recorded for four species, while seven species showed an increase; a further four species showed no change. For the remaining species, the data sets were too small to reliably estimate changes. A comparison with forest structure data provided by the Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL revealed that for five bird species, the changes in distribution or abundance could be explained at least partially by forest succession. In order to obtain realistic distribution and abundance values in this kind of breeding bird survey, it is essential to collect large enough samples and to consider the detection probability of each individual species using appropriate statistical methods.

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