Effects of experimental increase of corticosterone levels on begging behavior, immunity and parental provisioning rate in house sparrows

2008 ◽  
Vol 155 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Loiseau ◽  
Gabriele Sorci ◽  
Stéphanie Dano ◽  
Olivier Chastel
Keyword(s):  
House Sparrows ◽  
Provisioning Rate ◽  
Parental Provisioning ◽  
Begging Behavior

Counter culture: Causes, extent and solutions of systematic bias in the analysis of behavioural counts

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel L Pick ◽  
Nyil Khwaja ◽  
Michael A. Spence ◽  
Malika Ihle ◽  
Shinichi Nakagawa
Keyword(s):  
Recent Literature ◽  
Null Model ◽  
Mechanistic Explanation ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Systematic Bias ◽  
Intra Class Correlation ◽  
Counter Culture ◽  
Provisioning Rate ◽  
Parental Provisioning ◽  
Observation Period

We often quantify a behaviour by counting the number of times it occurs within a specific, short observation period. Measuring behaviour in such a way is typically unavoidable but induces error. This error acts to systematically reduce effect sizes, including metrics of particular interest to behavioural and evolutionary ecologists such as R2, repeatability (intra-class correlation, ICC) and heritability. Through introducing a null model, the Poisson process, for modelling the frequency of behaviour, we give a mechanistic explanation of how this problem arises and demonstrate how it makes comparisons between studies and species problematic, because the magnitude of the error depends on how frequently the behaviour has been observed (e.g. as a function of the observation period) as well as how biologically variable the behaviour is. Importantly, the degree of error is predictable and so can be corrected for. Using the example of parental provisioning rate in birds, we assess the applicability of our null model for modelling the frequency of behaviour. We then review recent literature and demonstrate that the error is rarely accounted for in current analyses. We highlight the problems that arise from this and provide solutions. We further discuss the biological implications of deviations from our null model, and highlight the new avenues of research that they may provide. Adopting our recommendations into analyses of behavioural counts will improve the accuracy of estimated effect sizes and allow meaningful comparisons to be made between studies.

Parental provisioning and nestling mortality in house sparrows

2009 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 677-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas W. Mock ◽  
P.L. Schwagmeyer ◽  
Matthew B. Dugas
Keyword(s):  
House Sparrows ◽  
Parental Provisioning ◽  
Nestling Mortality

Can changes in provisioning by parent birds account for seasonally declining patterns of offspring recruitment?

2011 ◽  
Vol 89 (10) ◽  
pp. 921-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.E. Bortolotti ◽  
V.B. Harriman ◽  
R.G. Clark ◽  
R.D. Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Food Abundance ◽  
Tachycineta Bicolor ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Tree Swallows ◽  
Proximate Mechanisms ◽  
Audio Recordings ◽  
Provisioning Rate ◽  
Parental Provisioning ◽  
Seasonal Decline

Declining reproductive success among individuals that breed later in the season occurs in numerous taxa and is particularly well-documented in birds. Principal ideas advanced to explain this pattern, the date and parental quality hypotheses, consider the ultimate causes of this phenomenon and have received much attention; however, proximate mechanisms have not been clearly elucidated. Parental provisioning could mediate a seasonal decline in nestling fitness. We delayed hatch dates and manipulated brood sizes of Tree Swallows ( Tachycineta bicolor (Vieillot, 1808)) to assess the ability of parents to compensate for deteriorating environmental conditions and increased demands of more chicks. We measured provisioning rates using audio recordings of nestlings begging. Brood size was the best predictor of provisioning frequency, with parents feeding larger broods more frequently than smaller ones. Delayed hatching did not reduce provisioning rate despite declining food abundance. Date and food abundance were unrelated to provisioning rate, suggesting no seasonal change in the quantity of food nestlings receive. However, provisioning frequency was informative about life-history strategies of Tree Swallows, showing that late breeders incurred the costs of deteriorating environmental conditions rather than passing these costs on to their offspring.

scholarly journals Hierarchical fear: parental behaviour and corticosterone release mediate nestling growth in response to predation risk

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devin R. de Zwaan ◽  
Kathy Martin
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Cold Temperatures ◽  
Predator Cues ◽  
Nestling Growth ◽  
Nestling Development ◽  
Provisioning Rate ◽  
Parental Provisioning ◽  
Wing Growth ◽  
Perceived Predation Risk

AbstractNestling development, a critical life-stage for altricial songbirds, is highly vulnerable to predation, particularly for open-cup nesting species. Since nest predation risk increases cumulatively with time, rapid growth may be an adaptive response that promotes early fledging. However, greater predation risk can reduce parental provisioning rate as a risk aversion strategy and subsequently constrain nestling growth, or directly elicit a physiological response in nestlings with adaptive or detrimental effects on development rate. Despite extensive theory, evidence for the relative strength of these effects on nestling development in response to prevailing predation risk and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. For an alpine population of horned lark (Eremophila alpestris), we elevated perceived predation risk (decoys/playback) during the nestling stage to assess the influence of predator cues and parental care on nestling wing growth and the glucocorticoid hormone corticosterone. We used piecewise path analysis to test a hypothesized causal response structure composed of direct and indirect pathways. Nestlings under greater perceived predation risk reduced corticosterone and increased wing growth, resulting in an earlier age at fledge. This represented both a direct response that was predator-specific, and an indirect response dependent on parental provisioning rate. Parents that reduced provisioning rate most severely in response to predator cues had smaller nestlings with greater corticosterone. Model comparisons indicated the strongest support for a directed, causal influence of corticosterone on nestling wing growth, highlighting corticosterone as a potential physiological mediator of the nestling growth response to predation risk. Finally, cold temperatures prior to the experiment constrained wing growth closer to fledge, illustrating the importance of considering the combined influence of weather and predation risk across developmental stages. We present the first study to separate the direct and indirect effects of predation risk on nestling development in a causal, hierarchical framework that incorporates corticosterone as an underlying mechanism and provides experimental evidence for an adaptive developmental response to predation risk in ground-nesting songbirds.

Photoperiodism in House Sparrows: Testing for Induction with Nonphotic Zeitgebers

1990 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 587-599
Author(s):  
Stéphan G. Reebs ◽  
N. Mrosovsky
Keyword(s):  
House Sparrows

scholarly journals Proximate Factors Determining Age and Mass at Fledging in Rhinoceros Auklets (Cerorhinca Monocerata): Intra- and Interyear Variations

The Auk ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 452-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomohiro Deguchi ◽  
Akinori Takahashi ◽  
Yutaka Watanuki
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Wing Length ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Major Effect ◽  
Timing Of Breeding ◽  
Hatching Date ◽  
Cerorhinca Monocerata ◽  
Parental Provisioning ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Abstract In alcids, growth rate and hatching date of chicks appear to affect fledging age and mass. Underlying mechanisms are hypothesized to be (1) critical wing length at fledging for postfledging survival, (2) synchronization of fledging to dilute predation risk, and (3) variable parental provisioning according to timing of breeding. To elucidate the effects of growth rate and hatching date on fledging age and mass, and to test those mechanistic hypotheses, we measured chick growth and fledging periods in Rhinoceros Auklets (Cerorhinca monocerata) at Teuri Island from 1995 to 2000. The multiple-linear regression analysis showed that intrayear variations of fledging age and mass were explained by growth rate or hatching date in five out of six years. Faster-growing chicks fledged younger and heavier, and earlier-hatched chicks fledged older and heavier. Consequently, no apparent correlation between fledging age and mass was observed in five out of six years. Analysis of interyear variation showed a negative correlation between fledging age and mass, which indicates that growth rates rather than hatching dates had a major effect. Wing length at fledging was independent of growth in mass. More than 80% of chicks fledged when they attained a narrow range of wing length (130–150 mm), presumably because they remained in their nests until they attained the critical wing length. In five out of six years, the chicks did not synchronize timing of fledging relative to timing of hatching. Later-hatched chicks attained lighter peak masses and at younger ages, which may indicate that their parents decreased provisioning rates when the chicks were still young. We suggest that (1) critical wing length at fledging and (2) variable parental provisioning according to timing of breeding could be underlying mechanisms determining these relationships between fledging age and mass.

House Sparrows Feeding Young at Night

The Auk ◽  
1971 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 924-925
Author(s):  
Maurice Broun
Keyword(s):  
House Sparrows
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document