Search results for "Flycatcher"

Geolocators reveal variation and sex‐specific differences in the migratory strategies of a long‐distance migrant

2021

Trade-offs between sexual advertisement and immune function in the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca).

2004

Good genes models of sexual selection assume that sexual advertisement is costly and thus the level of advertisement honestly reveals heritable viability. Recently it has been suggested that an important cost of sexual advertisement might be impairment of the functioning of the immune system. In this field experiment we investigated the possible trade-offs between immune function and sexual advertisement by manipulating both mating effort and activity of immune defence in male pied flycatchers. Mating effort was increased in a non-arbitrary manner by removing females from mated males during nest building. Widowed males sustained higher haematocrit levels than control males and showed higher…

The search cost in mate choice of the pied flycatcher

1988

TRYPANOSOMES OF SOME FENNOSCANDIAN BIRDS

1994

Linear measurements and derived indices of trypanosomes from species of Fennoscandian birds were compared to those reported form Trypanosoma avium, T. everetti, T. ontarioensis and T. paddae. The trypanosomes encountered in the Fennoscandian birds were identified as T. avium from Tengmalm's owl Aegolius funereus and the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca, T. everetti from the great tit Parus major and collared flycatcher F. albicollis and T. ontarioensis from the collared flycatcher; T. paddae was not seen.

SICILIAN NATURALISTIC NEWS: 8 Muscicapa striata tyrrhenica; 9 Garella (Characoma) nilotica; 10 Mycterus curculioides.

2021

SICILIAN NATURALISTIC NEWS: 8 aMediterranean Flycatcher Muscicapa striata tyrrhenica Schiebel, 1910 (Aves Muscicapidae); 9 Garella (Characoma) nilotica (Rogenhofer, 1881) (Lepidoptera Nolidae) 10 Mycterus curculioides Fabricius, 1781 (Coleoptera Mycteridae)

Polyterritorial Polygyny in the Pied Flycatcher

1990

Publisher Summary The chapter discusses on the evolution of polyterritoriality in Ficedulu hypofeuca species. It estimates the costs and benefits to males and females, and uses the results to evaluate current alternative polygyny models. This chapter also explains that secondary females raise fewer offspring that most likely are of poorer quality than offspring of monogamous and primary females. This is probably not because the secondary females are of lower quality than other females settling at the same time, but because one could not find any differences in age or morphology of simultaneously mated monogamous and secondary females. The main reason is that offspring raised by polygynously…

The design of artificial nestboxes for the study of secondary hole-nesting birds: A review of methodological inconsistencies and potential biases

2010

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 …

Male coloration and species recognition in sympatric flycatchers

1994

Currently favoured views for explaining ornaments in males emphasize female preference such that females benefit from increased offspring production, good genes of the offspring, or the attractiveness of sons. Results from long-term studies in the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca suggest that factors associated with species recognition may also be important for male coloration. In sympatry the collared flycatcher F. albicollis is dominant in competition for nesting sites over the pied flycatcher. Bright pied flycatcher males resemble collared flycatcher males and suffer from interspecific interference, whereas dull and female-like males can acquire nesting sites close to those of the coll…

Heterospecific female mimicry in Ficedula flycatchers

2014

Mimicry is a widespread phenomenon. Vertebrate visual mimicry often operates in an intraspecific sexual context, with some males resembling conspecific females. Pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) dorsal plumage varies from the ancestral black to female-like brown. Experimental studies have shown that conspecific and heterospecific (collared flycatcher, F. albicollis) individuals of both sexes respond, at least initially, to brown individuals as if they were female. We quantified the perceptual and biochemical differences between brown feathers and found that brown pied flycatcher males are indistinguishable from heterospecific, but not from conspecific, females in both aspects. To our kno…

Patterns of variation in tail ornament size in birds

1988

In recent years several different kinds of sexual selection models have been developed, and tail ornaments in birds have frequently been used as an example of a sexually selected character where the models might apply. However, very little is known about intra- and interpopulation variation in ornament size. We have studied the elongated tail ornaments in four species of whydahs Vidua, the forktailed flycatcher Tyrannus savana and the Asian paradise flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi. Ornaments were relatively longer in males with the longest tarsi (‘heterogony’ with positive allometry). Also, tail lengths were remarkably variable within each geographical area, the coefficient of variation (av…