scholarly journals Análisis de los factores que determinan la ocupación de cajas-nido para aves insectívoras en parques urbanos de Donostia/San Sebastián.

Author(s):  
Maite Laso ◽  
Urtzi Iturriotz ◽  
Sergio Delgado ◽  
Nere Zorrozua ◽  
Nerea Pagaldai ◽  
...  

Las cajas-nido constituyen una herramienta muy útil para el desarrollo de diversos estudios en aves, pues permiten el diseño experimental y la comparación de muestras sometidas a distintos tratamientos o localizaciones. Igualmente, son útiles para la conservación de aves en hábitats con muy poco arbolado maduro, como ocurre en muchos parques urbanos. Con el fin de impulsar la biodiversidad en el ámbito urbano, la Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi inició en 2018 el proyecto Hirilife, entre cuyas acciones estaba la colocación de cajasnido para aves paseriformes insectívoras en arbolado en calles, paseos y parques urbanos de la ciudad de San Sebastián. Este artículo se presenta con el fin de (1) determinar la tasa de ocupación de estas cajas-nido; y (2) explorar los factores que condicionan esta ocupación, con el fin de establecer, a futuro, una guía de buenas prácticas orientada a optimizar su colocación. A lo largo de la primavera de 2020 se revisaron 202 cajas en total, de las 220 que se habían colocado. Se ocuparon un total de 91 (45%). La tasa de ocupación, no obstante, varió significativamente entre zonas. Las cajas en las que se pudo determinar la especie fueron ocupadas por dos especies de páridos: el herrerillo común Cyanistes caeruleus y el carbonero común Parus major. Se observa una dominancia del carbonero común (31 versus 10 cajas; el resto se corresponde con las que no se pudo determinar la especie). Según los modelos las cajas son ocupadas con más probabilidad cuando se sitúan en entornos con una gran cantidad de hábitat natural.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liisa Hämäläinen ◽  
William Hoppitt ◽  
Hannah M. Rowland ◽  
Johanna Mappes ◽  
Anthony J. Fulford ◽  
...  

AbstractSocial transmission of information is taxonomically widespread and could have profound effects on the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of animal communities. Demonstrating this in the wild, however, has been challenging. Here we show by field experiment that social transmission among predators can shape how selection acts on prey defences. Using artificial prey and a novel approach in statistical analyses of social networks, we find that blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and great tit (Parus major) predators learn about prey defences by watching others. This shifts population preferences rapidly to match changes in prey profitability, and reduces predation pressure from naïve predators. Our results may help resolve how costly prey defences are maintained despite influxes of naïve juvenile predators, and suggest that accounting for social transmission is essential if we are to understand coevolutionary processes.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Kaliński ◽  
Jarosław Wawrzyniak ◽  
Mirosława Bańbura ◽  
Joanna Skwarska ◽  
Piotr Zieliński ◽  
...  

Parasitology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 141 (8) ◽  
pp. 1044-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. A. HEYLEN ◽  
A. R. VAN OOSTEN ◽  
N. DEVRIENDT ◽  
J. ELST ◽  
L. DE BRUYN ◽  
...  

SUMMARYBird-specific ticks do not infest humans and livestock, but these ticks often share their avian hosts with generalist ticks that do. Therefore, their feeding activity may have an impact on the transmission of pathogens outside bird–tick transmission cycles. Here we examined the seasonal feeding activity of the tree-hole tick (Ixodes arboricola) in relation to the activity of its hole-breeding hosts (Parus major and Cyanistes caeruleus). We analysed data on ticks derived from birds, on the abundance of engorged ticks inside nest boxes, and on bird nests that were experimentally exposed to ticks. We observed a non-random pattern of feeding associated with the tick instar and host age. The majority of adult ticks fed on nestlings, while nymphs and larvae fed on both free-flying birds and nestlings. Due to their fast development, some ticks were able to feed twice within the same breeding season. The highest infestation rates in free-flying birds were found during the pre-breeding period and during autumn and winter when birds roost inside cavities. Except during winter, feeding of I. arboricola overlapped in time with the generalist Ixodes ricinus, implying that tick-borne microorganisms that are maintained by I. arboricola and birds could be bridged by I. ricinus to other hosts.


Author(s):  
Marta Szulkin ◽  
Colin J. Garroway ◽  
Michela Corsini ◽  
Andrzej Z. Kotarba ◽  
Davide Dominoni

Environmental variation was quantified at nestboxes monitored as part of a prospectively long-term project on the ecology and evolution of great tits Parus major and blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus in Warsaw, Poland. Nine axes of environmental variation were investigated across 9 different urban sites, for a total of 565 specific locations (here: nestboxes). Data was collected on the ground, with the use of GIS and remote sensing using the following methodology:...


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 152-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Kaliñski ◽  
Mirostawa Bańbura ◽  
Michat Glądalski ◽  
Marcin Markowski ◽  
Joanna Skwarska ◽  
...  

Haematological and blood chemistry variables are widely used in ecophysiological research as physiological indices of body condition in various vertebrate taxa. In this study, we analysed relationships between blood glucose and blood haemoglobin concentrations of adult birds in wild populations of Blue Tits ( Cyanistes caeruleus) and Great Tits ( Parus major) during the breeding season in central Poland. We found that blood glucose and blood haemoglobin concentrations are negatively correlated. We also show that individual Blue Tits have higher mean haemoglobin levels adjusted for the common value of glucose concentration than individual Great Tits and that females of both species have higher mean haemoglobin concentrations than males. Our results suggest that haematological as well as biochemical variables may be used in tune as complementary indices of body condition in wild bird populations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
Iván Alambiaga ◽  
Elena Álvarez ◽  
David Diez-Méndez ◽  
José Verdejo ◽  
Emilio Barba

Evolutionary selection pressures, and species-specific ecology and behavior, promote a great variability in the size and composition of nests. However, it would be expected that phylogenetically close species, with similar ecological needs, breeding at the same time in the same place, would also build similar nests. In contrast with this, previous studies have found differences in nest mass and composition among closely related sympatric species. These differences have been attributed to small differences in body size (smaller species building larger and/or more insulated nests), or to the different ways in which species perceive the environment (e.g. perceived predation risk). In this study, for the first time, we searched for differences between nest mass, composition, and importance of the different functional parts of the nest between Blue ( Cyanistes caeruleus), Great ( Parus major) and Coal tits ( Periparus ater) breeding under the same conditions. We found that smaller species built larger nests and/or include more thermoregulatory materials, probably having greater insulating capacity, which agrees with previous hypotheses. In particular, Blue Tits made greater use of bark, feathers and vegetable fiber, while Great Tits used wild boar hair in greater proportions. In addition, for the first time, we described in detail the nest composition of Coal Tits, which contained large amounts of fluff compared to the other two species. All these results are in line with previous hypothesis linking nest size and composition to the size of the birds, and the existence of species-specific characteristics in the selection of materials for nest building.


2019 ◽  
Vol 143 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 352-352
Author(s):  
Zdravko Dolenec

Conservation of the biodiversity of the forest ecosystems is becoming one of the priority issues in the forest management. Birds play an important role in the overall life of the forest ecosystem, for instance, as an important component of the trophic chains. Recent studies worldwide suggest decline in the population size and richness of the forest bird species, especially those nesting in the cavity of the forest trees. Special emphasis is placed on the secondary cavity nesters. In contrast to the primary cavity excavators, which are making a tree cavity by themselves, secondary cavity nesters for their nesting use cavities made by the primary cavity excavators or natural cavities formed by gradual wood decay process. In order to maintain bird diversity in the forests with a lack of nesting cavities, installation of the nestboxes is an important strategy in many countries. This applies mainly to young deciduous, coniferous stands, and monocultural plantations and areas afforested with exotic tree species. In this paper, occupation of the nestboxes in the young deciduous stands was investigated. According to some researchers, the colour of the nestbox and its height above the ground could be important factors of the nestbox occupation in some bird species. In this study, a total of 120 standard wooden nestboxes were used (60 green and 60 brown). Nestboxes were installed in pairs on a single tree, at a height of 4.0 to 4.5 m (“high” position) and 2.0 to 2.5 m (“low” position). On the first tree, the green nestbox was in the “high” position, on the next tree in the “low” position and so on. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of occupancy of the nestboxes with a respect to the colour and the position on the tree. Because of the intra- and interspecific competition, only one of the nestbox pair was inhabited. Of the total 60 nestbox pairs, 44 (73.3%) nestboxes were occupied; 35 (79, 5%) by a Great Tit (Parus major) and 9 (20.5%) by a Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). Great Tits occupied mainly “green” nestboxes (88.6%), with no significant differences in the height position of the chosen nestbox. In conclusion, the colour of the nestboxes is more important factor than the height position on the tree during the occupation of the nestboxes by a Great Tit.


2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Okulewicz ◽  
J. Sitko

AbstractParasitic helminths were the probable cause of death of 41 passeriform birds (29 adults and 12 juveniles in their first year of life) caught in the net during the spring and autumn ringing (1986–2010). The birds (1 Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, 1 House Martin Delichon urbica, 2 Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus, 9 Great Tit Parus major, 3 Willow Tit Poecile palustris, 1 Great Reed Acrocephalus arundinaceus, 1 Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita, 3 Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla, 2 Dunnock Prunella modularis, 1 Magpie Pica pica, 5 Robin Erithacus rubecula, 9 Common Blackbird Turdus merula and 3 Song Thrush T. philomelos) were caught in the environs of Přerov (Czech Republic). The helminths: trematodes, tapeworms, nematodes and hook worms, were located in the intestine, glandular and muscular stomach, cloaca, rectum, gall bladder, liver, pulmonary cavity, air sac, nasal and orbital cavity and subcutaneous tissue of the hosts. The intensity of invasion with different species of parasites was up to 734 per host. Some parasites Brachydistomum ventricosum, Mosesia sittae, Aprocta cylindrica, Diplotriaena tridens were acquired at the wintering grounds. All the helmniths were heteroxenous, with development cycle involving intermediate hosts (invertebrates) which are part of the birds’ diet.


2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1807) ◽  
pp. 20141958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils Chr. Stenseth ◽  
Joël M. Durant ◽  
Mike S. Fowler ◽  
Erik Matthysen ◽  
Frank Adriaensen ◽  
...  

Climate change is expected to have profound ecological effects, yet shifts in competitive abilities among species are rarely studied in this context. Blue tits ( Cyanistes caeruleus ) and great tits ( Parus major ) compete for food and roosting sites, yet coexist across much of their range. Climate change might thus change the competitive relationships and coexistence between these two species. Analysing four of the highest-quality, long-term datasets available on these species across Europe, we extend the textbook example of coexistence between competing species to include the dynamic effects of long-term climate variation. Using threshold time-series statistical modelling, we demonstrate that long-term climate variation affects species demography through different influences on density-dependent and density-independent processes. The competitive interaction between blue tits and great tits has shifted in one of the studied sites, creating conditions that alter the relative equilibrium densities between the two species, potentially disrupting long-term coexistence. Our analyses show that long-term climate change can, but does not always, generate local differences in the equilibrium conditions of spatially structured species assemblages. We demonstrate how long-term data can be used to better understand whether (and how), for instance, climate change might change the relationships between coexisting species. However, the studied populations are rather robust against competitive exclusion.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document