Search results for "Feather"
showing 10 items of 38 documents
Curse of the black spot: spotting negatively correlates with fitness in black grouseLyrurus tetrix
2016
There is growing evidence that achromatic plumage can act as honest indicators of male quality. In some species with areas of white plumage, black melanin spots can be found on parts of the feathers. The functional significance of these spots and the relationship with male quality is yet poorly understood. We investigated the relationship between black melanin spots in an otherwise totally white ornament, the undertail covert, in relation to age, fitness and covariance with past and present expression of sexual traits, in the lekking black grouse Lyrurus tetrix. We found that spots at tips of feathers (tip spots) were negatively related to survival and reproductive success, and covaried neg…
Description of microsatellite markers and genotyping performances using feathers and buccal swabs for the Ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea)
2011
We report 22 new polymorphic microsatellites for the Ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea), and we describe how they can be efficiently co-amplified using multiplexed polymerase chain reactions. In addition, we report DNA concentration, amplification success, rates of genotyping errors and the number of genotyping repetitions required to obtain reliable data with three types of noninvasive or nondestructive samples: shed feathers collected in colonies, feathers plucked from living individuals and buccal swabs. In two populations from Greenland (n = 21) and Russia (Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago, n = 21), the number of alleles per locus varied between 2 and 17, and expected heterozygosity per populat…
Elevated oxidative stress in pied flycatcher nestlings of eumelanic foster fathers under low rearing temperatures
2019
Striking variation in melanin coloration within natural populations is likely due to the different fitness outcomes of alternative phenotypes in varying environmental conditions. There are two types of melanin: eumelanins yield blackish hues, whereas pheomelanins yield reddish hues. The production of eumelanins requires low levels of glutathione (GSH), which is the most important intracellular antioxidant, whereas the production of pheomelanins requires high levels of GSH. We investigated the oxidative status of male pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) with different degrees of melanin coloration under different temperatures during the nestling period. Moreover, we assessed the oxidative …
Urbanization, trace metal pollution, and malaria prevalence in the house sparrow.
2013
10 pages; International audience; Anthropogenic pollution poses a threat for the environment and wildlife. Trace metals (TMs) are known to have negative effects on haematological status, oxidative balance, and reproductive success in birds. These pollutants particularly increase in concentration in industrialized, urbanized and intensive agricultural areas. Pollutants can also interfere with the normal functioning of the immune system and, as such, alter the dynamics of host-parasite interactions. Nevertheless, the impact of pollution on infectious diseases has been largely neglected in natural populations of vertebrates. Here, we used a large spatial scale monitoring of 16 house sparrow (P…
The flight feather moult pattern of the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)
2015
Moult is an extremely time-consuming and energy-demanding task for large birds. In addition, there is a trade-off between the time devoted to moulting and that invested in other activities such as breeding and/or territory exploration. Moreover, it takes a long time to grow a long feather in large birds, and large birds that need to fly while moulting cannot tolerate large gaps in the wing, but only one or two simultaneously growing feathers. As a consequence, large birds take several years to complete a full moult cycle, and they resume the moult process during suboptimal conditions. A clear example of this pattern is the Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), which needs 2-3 years for chang…
Melanism is related to behavioural lateralization in nestling barn owls.
2017
5 pages; International audience; Behavioural laterality is a commonly observed phenomenon in many species suggesting there might be an advantage of using dominantly one side over the other for certain tasks. Indeed, lateralized individuals were often shown to be more successful in cognitive tasks compared to non-lateralized conspecifics. However, stressed individuals are also often, but not always, more strongly lateralized. Because barn owl (Tyto alba) females displaying larger black spots on the tip of their ventral feathers produce offspring that are more resistant to a variety of environmental stressful factors, we examined whether laterality is associated with melanin-based coloration.…
Vegetation of feather grass steppes in the western Pamir Alai Mountains (Tajikistan, Middle Asia)
2016
Aims: To propose the first syntaxonomical scheme for the graminoid steppe vegetation of the montane and alpine zones in the Pamir-Alai Mts. in Tajikistan with some remarks on its environmental gradients. Location: Tajikistan. Methods: A total of 155 relevés were sampled in 2015 using the seven-degree cover-abundance scale of Braun-Blanquet and subsequently 148 of these relevés were selected and classified by the modified TWINSPAN method using the four step interval scale with cutoff levels of 0%, 5%, 10% and 25% and total inertia as a measure of cluster heterogeneity. Diagnostic species were identified using the phi coefficient as a fidelity measure. The detrended correspondance analysis wa…
Two new varieties in Stipa (Poaceae) from Central Asia
2016
Abstract The paper presents descriptions of two new taxa, Stipa ×brevicallosa var. hissarensis and Stipa orientalis var. ladakhorum. Both of them differ from the nominal varieties in having densely pubescent (not glabrous or scabrous) leaves of vegetative shoots. First of the above mentioned taxa occurs in Tajikistan (Pamir Alai Mts) whereas the second in India (Western Himalayas). Images of type specimens of both taxa are provided.
Stipa dickorei sp. nov. (Poaceae), three new records and a checklist of feather grasses of China
2016
Stipa dickorei sp. nov. from the Western Tibetan Plateau (China) is described. The new species is morphologically similar to S. regeliana, but they differ from each other in the length of ligules of vegetative shoots. Stipa dickorei is also similar to S. aliena, however they differ in the shape of panicle, which is contracted with straight branches in S. dickorei, and lax with flexuous branches in S. aliena. Images of macromorphological and micromorphological structures of the new taxon are provided. Additionally, new records of S. borysthenica, S. richteriana, and S. zalesskii, species not listed in the recent Flora of China, as well as a checklist of Chinese feather grasses are also prese…
Age structure in a newly established and increasing population: initially high proportion of young birds among nesting Great Grey Owls
2020
AbstractThe mechanisms behind expansions of the distribution of a bird species and the ensuing establishment of new populations are poorly known. The distribution of Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa) in the western Palearctic has generally expanded towards southwest during the past fifty years, and particularly so in Fennoscandia. In the past decade, the recorded breeding population in Norway, confined to Hedmark county bordering Sweden, increased from 1 pair in 2009 to > 100 pairs in 2017–2018, extending the southwestern border of the distribution > 100 km. We studied the age structure of this expanding population based on the molting pattern of the wing feathers of birds captured at t…