Search results for "Flycatcher"

Geographical variation in egg mass and egg content in a passerine bird

2011

Reproductive, phenotypic and life-history traits in many animal and plant taxa show geographic variation, indicating spatial variation in selection regimes. Maternal deposition to avian eggs, such as hormones, antibodies and antioxidants, critically affect development of the offspring, with long-lasting effects on the phenotype and fitness. Little is however known about large-scale geographical patterns of variation in maternal deposition to eggs. We studied geographical variation in egg components of a passerine bird, the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca), by collecting samples from 16 populations and measuring egg and yolk mass, albumen lysozyme activity, yolk immunoglobulins, yolk and…

Phenological sensitivity to climate change is higher in resident than in migrant bird populations among European cavity breeders

2018

Many organisms adjust their reproductive phenology in response to climate change, but phenological sensitivity to temperature may vary between species. For example, resident and migratory birds have vastly different annual cycles, which can cause differential temperature sensitivity at the breeding grounds, and may affect competitive dynamics. Currently, however, adjustment to climate change in resident and migratory birds have been studied separately or at relatively small geographical scales with varying time series durations and methodologies. Here, we studied differential effects of temperature on resident and migratory birds using the mean egg laying initiation dates from 10 European n…

Low male return rate due to clutch enlargements in the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca)

1997

Abstract:Increased investment in reproduction during current breeding event may entail future fitness costs. Even though a wide array of both theoretical and empirical work has been devoted to solve the problem of optimal reproductive rate, evidence for costs of reproduction has been equivocal. In the present study we examined the survival of pied flycatcher parents after a clutch size manipulation where we altered clutch size with one or two eggs. We monitored return rates and dispersal of parents during subsequent years after manipulation. An artificial increase in reproductive effort caused lowered return rates of males. Results on breeding dispersal did not support the explanation that …

Active hiding of social information from information-parasites

2014

Background: Coevolution between pairs of different kind of entities, such as providers and users of information, involves reciprocal selection pressures between them as a consequence of their ecological interaction. Pied flycatchers ( Ficedula hypoleuca ) have been shown to derive fitness benefits (larger clutches) when nesting in proximity to great tits ( Parus major ), presumably because they this way discover and obtain information about nesting sites. Tits suffer from the resulting association (smaller clutches). An arms race between the tits (information host) and the flycatchers (information parasite) could thus result . Great tits often cover eggs with nesting material before, but no…

Female-female aggression and male polyterritoriality in the pied flycatcher

1994

Female reactions to male absence after pairing in the pied flycatcher

1994

Mating with an already mated pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) male is costly for a female. Two hypotheses explain why some females still mate with already mated males. The deception hypothesis suggests that some females mate with already mated males since it is difficult to assess perfectly the mating status of a male with separate territories (polyterritoriality). The search cost hypothesis states that females are aware of male mating status but the costs of searching for an unmated male exceed costs associated with the status of secondary female. One potential cue that could disclose a male's mating status is the existence of brief visits to the primary territory by polyterritorial ma…

A Trade-Off Between Current Reproduction and Moult in the Pied Flycatcher- an Experiment

1994

1. Mechanisms causing costs of reproduction in birds are poorly understood. Here we focus on the renewing of feathers (= moult) which may be a possible physiological link between successive breeding attempts. 2. We performed clutch size manipulations to study whether the reproductive effort of the Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) has any effect on the initiation and progress of the moult in the late nesting period. 3. The absolute timing of breeding did not affect the onset of parents' moult, i.e. latebreeding individuals did not start moulting before nestlings were fledged more frequently than early ones. This indicates that moult was closely related to the breeding schedule of each in…

Variation in clutch size in relation to nest size in birds

2014

© 2014 The Authors. Nests are structures built to support and protect eggs and/or offspring from predators, parasites, and adverse weather conditions. Nests are mainly constructed prior to egg laying, meaning that parent birds must make decisions about nest site choice and nest building behavior before the start of egg-laying. Parent birds should be selected to choose nest sites and to build optimally sized nests, yet our current understanding of clutch size-nest size relationships is limited to small-scale studies performed over short time periods. Here, we quantified the relationship between clutch size and nest size, using an exhaustive database of 116 slope estimates based on 17,472 nes…

Ultraviolet reflection and female mate choice in the pied flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca

2002

In pied flycatchers females seem to prefer male territory quality rather than male characteristics, and the results of female mate choice experiments are divergent. In this outdoor aviary study, we examined how altering the ultraviolet reflection of males affects female mate choice behaviour. We chose pairs of males with similar human-visible dorsal colour and morphological traits. We then reduced the proportional ultraviolet reflectance in one male with sunscreen chemicals. The other male was treated with a chemical that slightly increased the ultraviolet reflectance of the plumage. In the experiment females clearly preferred males with slightly increased ultraviolet reflection. Our result…

Singing rate and female attraction in the pied flycatcher: an experiment

1990

«Attirer les femelles» est une des principales fonctions du chant des oiseaux. Beaucoup d'etudes ont mis en evidence l'effet de variations du repertoire sonore sur le succes d'accouplement mais peu d'entre elles sont consacrees a l'intensite du chant. Dans une telle optique, cette etude examine les effets de manipulations experimentales de chants sur la selection du partenaire par les femelles