0000000000312374
AUTHOR
Bengt Silverin
The design of artificial nestboxes for the study of secondary hole-nesting birds: A review of methodological inconsistencies and potential biases
The widespread use of artificial nestboxes has led to significant advances in our knowledge of the ecology, behaviour and physiology of cavity nesting birds, especially small passerines. Nestboxes have made it easier to perform routine monitoring and experimental manipulation of eggs or nestlings, and also repeatedly to capture, identify and manipulate the parents. However, when comparing results across study sites the use of nestboxes may also introduce a potentially significant confounding variable in the form of differences in nestbox design amongst studies, such as their physical dimensions, placement height, and the way in which they are constructed and maintained. However, the use of …
Testosterone and male mating success on the black grouse leks
On black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) leks females prefer dominant, viable males that have managed to acquire relatively central territories. The immunocompetence hypothesis predicts that, because high levels of testosterone are costly to the immune system, male sexual traits that are controlled by testosterone are likely to serve as reliable indicators of male health. Indeed, testosterone concentrations of black grouse males were highly variable, and strongly correlated with male mating success. This is related to the fact that males with high testosterone levels had most central territories. However, the association of testostestorone level with male mating success was not solely related to cen…