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1
Patrick, Samantha C., Joanne R. Chapman, Hannah L. Dugdale, John L. Quinn, and Ben C. Sheldon. "Promiscuity, paternity and personality in the great tit." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279, no. 1734 (2011): 1724–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.1820.
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Understanding causes of variation in promiscuity within populations remain a major challenge. While most studies have focused on quantifying fitness costs and benefits of promiscuous behaviour, an alternative possibility—that variation in promiscuity within populations is maintained because of linkage with other traits—has received little attention. Here, we examine whether promiscuity in male and female great tits ( Parus major )—quantified as extra-pair paternity (EPP) within and between nests—is associated with variation in a well-documented personality trait: exploration behaviour in a novel environment. Exploration behaviour has been shown to correlate with activity levels, risk-taking and boldness, and these are behaviours that may plausibly influence EPP. Exploration behaviour correlated positively with paternity gained outside the social pair among males in our population, but there was also a negative correlation with paternity in the social nest. Hence, while variation in male personality predicted the relative importance of paternity gain within and outside the pair bond, total paternity gained was unrelated to exploration behaviour. We found evidence that males paired with bold females were more likely to sire extra-pair young. Our data thus demonstrate a link between personality and promiscuity, with no net effects on reproductive success, suggesting personality-dependent mating tactics, in contrast with traditional adaptive explanations for promiscuity.
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Paton, D., and P. G. Caryl. "Communication By Agonistic Displays." Behaviour 98, no. 1-4 (1986): 213–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853986x00973.
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Abstract1. Great skuas Stercorarius skua use a range of displays in agonistic interactions in the club areas of their breeding colonies. We examine whether these displays allow reliable prediction of the signaller's future behaviour. 2. Skuas were studied on Noss, Fair Isle and Hoy over 3 seasons. Data from 5 colony-year samples were analysed separately. For each interaction, the display used, the signaller's action after displaying, and the receiver's response, were recorded. 3. Attack could be predicted less well than escape. However, variations between samples were so great that neither the absolute nor the relative probabilities of attack or escape could be reliably estimated from the display. 4. The bird that initiated the interaction was more likely to attack or stay, and less likely to escape, than its rival, but the relative probability of attack or escape after different displays was consistent, for birds in the two roles, within a sample. 5. By correlating the responses of the receiver with information about the signaller's future behaviour encoded in its display, it is possible to find whether this information is transferred in the interaction. There was variation between samples in the pattern of correlations, and no consistent evidence of information transfer could be found. 6. The data are discussed in the light of CARYL'S (1979) earlier discussion of models from games theory. The results show that a test of consistency is crucial for any hypothesis about the message carried by a particular display. They indicate that skua displays do not communicate intention in these interactions.
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Pereira, Michael E., and Peter M. Kappeler. "Divergent Systems of Agonistic Behaviour in Lemurid Primates." Behaviour 134, no. 3-4 (1997): 225–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853997x00467.
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AbstractTwo semifree-ranging groups of ringtailed lemurs (Lemur catta) and two co-ranging groups of redfronted lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus) were studied across a two-year period to characterise and contrast the adult agonistic behaviour these primates exhibit within groups. Temporal analyses of behavioural data distinguished agonistic from non-agonistic behaviour and aggressive from submissive behaviour. The ringtailed lemurs employed a diverse repertoire of behavioural elements to communicate agonistic intent. More than 50% of these elements were signals and nearly 50% of signals were submissive. The agonistic repertoire of the redfronted lemurs, by contrast, was relatively unelaborated: less than 40% of agonistic behaviour in this species comprised signals and less than 20% of signals were submissive. These structural differences underlay marked species differences in agonistic interaction and relationship. All pairs of ringtailed lemurs maintained dominance relations resembling those seen in many anthropoid primates: subordinates consistently signalled submissively to dominant partners, often in the absence of aggression. Dominance relations among members of each sex were seasonally unstable and not always transitive (hierarchical) during periods of stability, however. Redfronted lemurs, by contrast, did not maintain dominance relations, failing to respond agonistically to most aggression received (52% of interactions) and responding with aggression on many other occasions (12%). Even applying relaxed criteria, few adult redfronted dyads (14%) showed consistent asymmetries in agonistic relations and several never exhibited any asymmetry. Lacking dominance, E. f rufus relied heavily on alternate behavioural mechanisms to moderate social conflict as frequent and intense as that seen in study groups of ringtailed lemurs. These included a great inclination not to respond agonistically to aggression, a distinctive behavioural proposal to limit or terminate dyadic conflict (Look away), post-conflict reconciliation, and relatively frequent third-party aggression. The existence of such divergent systems of agonistic behaviour in partially sympatric, closely related and generally similar prosimian primates offers important opportunities for comparative study of the ecology, development, and evolution of mammalian social systems. Future research may reveal ecophysiological factors that promote the use of dominance behaviour among like-sexed ringtailed lemurs and show how the relative absence of dominance relates to other major elements of redfronted lemur biology, including 'special relationships' of variable duration between adult males and females.
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Rivera-Gutierrez, Hector Fabio, Rianne Pinxten, and Marcel Eens. "Songs differing in consistency elicit differential aggressive response in territorial birds." Biology Letters 7, no. 3 (2010): 339–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0962.
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Acoustic signals during intrasexual interactions may help receivers to establish the cost and benefits of engaging in a confrontation versus avoiding the cost of escalation. Although birdsong repertoires have been previously suggested as providing information during agonistic encounters, the cost (time/neural resources) of assessing large repertoires may decrease the efficiency of the signal for mutual assessment. Acoustic-structural features may, therefore, be used to enable a fast and accurate assessment during this kind of encounters. Recently, it has been suggested that the consistency of songs may play a key role during intrasexual interactions in bird species. Using a playback experiment in a colour-ringed great tit population, we tested the hypothesis that songs differing in consistency may elicit a differential response, indicating that the signal is salient for the receivers. Great tit males clearly responded more aggressively towards highly consistent songs. Our findings, together with previous evidence of increased song consistency with age in the great tit, suggest that song consistency provides information on experience or dominance in this species, and this phenomenon may be more widespread than currently acknowledged.
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Paton, D. "Communication By Agonistic Displays: Ii. Perceived Information and the Definition of Agonistic Displays." Behaviour 99, no. 1-2 (1986): 157–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853986x00469.
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Abstract1) Great skua (Stercorarius skua) interactions were studied in the club areas of colonies on Hoy and Fair Isle. Attention was centred on reactor response to postures given by actors which did not attack or escape after displaying. 2) The regression of the reactor's escape probability on distance from the actor was analysed for Facing and Not Facing orientations of the actor. 3) Responses shown to the postures Oblique/Long Call/Wing-raising (Facing and Not Facing), Neck Straight/Bill Straight (Not Facing) and Neck Straight/Bill Straight/Long Call (Not Facing) were similar, and depended on distance, rather than the posture. This rules out the possibility that these postures constitute distinct threat signals. However, Neck Straight/Bill Straight (and Neck Straight/Bill Straight/Long Call) Facing showed a distinct pattern of response which indicated that they formed a (single) threat signal. 4) This pattern was consistent across the different colony-year samples. 5) It was concluded that the great skua behaviour patterns analysed here acted to define different situations rather than providing information about signaller intentions.
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LESSELLS, C. M., K. R. ODDIE, and A. C. MATEMAN. "Parental behaviour is unrelated to experimentally manipulated great tit brood sex ratio." Animal Behaviour 56, no. 2 (1998): 385–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1998.0763.
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Higham, James P., and Andrew G. Gosler. "Speckled eggs: water-loss and incubation behaviour in the great tit Parus major." Oecologia 149, no. 4 (2006): 561–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0484-2.
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van Overveld, Thijs, Vincent Careau, Frank Adriaensen, and Erik Matthysen. "Seasonal- and sex-specific correlations between dispersal and exploratory behaviour in the great tit." Oecologia 174, no. 1 (2013): 109–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2762-0.
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EAST, M. L., and H. HOFER. "The use of radio-tracking for monitoring Great Tit Parus major behaviour: a pilot study." Ibis 128, no. 1 (2008): 103–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919x.1986.tb02097.x.
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van Overveld, Thijs, Frank Adriaensen, and Erik Matthysen. "No evidence for correlational selection on exploratory behaviour and natal dispersal in the great tit." Evolutionary Ecology 29, no. 1 (2014): 137–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10682-014-9737-4.
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Bibi, Nehafta, Yusheng Wei, Hongwei Xu, et al. "Personality is associated with dominance in a social feeding context in the great tit." Behaviour 156, no. 13-14 (2019): 1419–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-00003572.
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Abstract Despite the growing interest in consistent individual differences in behaviour (animal personality), the influence of social context on different behavioural types remains poorly understood. The suite of correlated behaviours within and across contexts is called behavioural syndromes. Most personality studies have investigated consistent individual behavioural types and their consequences in a asocial context, however few studies have considered the influence of social context on individual behaviour. In addition, the evolutionary and ecological consequences of personality differences in social context remain unknown. In the present study, we confirm individual personality in Great tits (Parus major) using room exploration and neophobia tests. As a result of these two tests, repeatability and correlational structure of two personality traits were investigated. Additionally we assessed the extent to which personality influences dominance in a social feeding context. Great tits remained consistent in their personality traits (exploration and neophobia). Individuals who explored a novel environment faster also approached a novel object faster, while those who spent more time exploring a novel environment were also slower to approach a novel object. In a social feeding context personality was linked to dominance: with proactive individuals being more likely to be dominant. Our result provides evidence of the importance of social context in a wild population of birds and may have fitness consequence, both for focal individuals and their conspecifics.
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Carrascal, Luis M., and Eulalia Moreno. "Proximal costs and benefits of heterospecific social foraging in the Great Tit, Parus major." Canadian Journal of Zoology 70, no. 10 (1992): 1947–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z92-264.
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The feeding and vigilance schedules of Great Tits (Parus major) at artificial feeders were studied in winter. We compared the behaviour of birds that foraged in pairs (mono- or hetero-specific) and solitarily. The percentage of time spent foraging was higher when a Great Tit was with an individual belonging to a subordinate species rather than with another Great Tit or a member of the dominant species. When a bird was solitary, time spent foraging was less than when it was with an individual belonging to a subordinate species, and greater than when it was with one belonging to the dominant species. The proportion of time spent vigilant did not differ between Great Tits that foraged with an individual from a dominant species or a subordinate species or with a conspecific, but was higher for solitary birds. Vigilance time of solitary Great Tits, Nuthatches, and three other Parus species was not negatively correlated with interspecific dominance status. In these small passerines, vigilance does not seem to be directed towards the detection of a competitor species. Surveillance for predators and detection of competitor species may be synchronous, nonexclusive tasks. Scanning rate (number of scans per minute of feeding) was the same for Great Tits that fed either solitarily or in pairs, but mean scan duration was significantly shorter for individuals in groups than when solitary. Individual Great Tits benefited from the presence of Coal, Blue, and Crested tits (subordinate Parus species), by a lengthening of the time spent at feeding patches and by conversion of vigilance time into feeding time.
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Travis, J. M. J., and S. C. F. Palmer. "Spatial processes can determine the relationship between prey encounter rate and prey density." Biology Letters 1, no. 2 (2005): 136–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2004.0293.
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Theoretical models frequently assume that the rate at which a searching predator encounters prey increases linearly with prey density. In a recent experiment using great tits searching for winter moth caterpillars, the time to find the first prey item did not decline as quickly with density as the standard theory assumes. Using a spatial simulation model, we show that prey aggregation and/or spatially correlated searching behaviour by the predator can generate a range of relationships, including results that are qualitatively similar to those found in the great tit experiment. We suggest that further experiments are required to determine whether the explanation proposed here is correct, and that theoretical work is needed to determine how this behaviour is likely to influence the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of predator–prey communities.
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Lessells, C. (Kate) M., Katharina Riebel, and Tudor Ion Draganoiu. "Individual benefits of nestling begging: experimental evidence for an immediate effect, but no evidence for a delayed effect." Biology Letters 7, no. 3 (2010): 336–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0870.
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The evolutionary stability of honest signalling by offspring is thought to require that begging displays be costly, so the costs and benefits of begging—and whether they are experienced individually or by the whole brood—are crucial to understanding the evolution of begging behaviour. Begging is known to have immediate individual benefits (parents distribute more food to intensely begging individuals) and delayed brood benefits (parents increase provisioning rate to the brood), but the possibility of delayed individual benefits (previous begging affects the current distribution of food) has rarely, if ever, been researched. We did this using playback of great tit Parus major chick begging and a control sound from either side of the nest. Male parents fed chicks close to the speaker more when great tit chick begging, but not other stimuli, was played back. In contrast, there was no effect of playback at the previous visit on the chicks that male parents fed. We have thus demonstrated an immediate individual benefit to begging, but found no evidence of a delayed individual benefit in this species.
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Estók, Péter, Sándor Zsebők, and Björn M. Siemers. "Great tits search for, capture, kill and eat hibernating bats." Biology Letters 6, no. 1 (2009): 59–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2009.0611.
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Ecological pressure paired with opportunism can lead to surprising innovations in animal behaviour. Here, we report predation of great tits ( Parus major ) on hibernating pipistrelle bats ( Pipistrellus pipistrellus ) at a Hungarian cave. Over two winters, we directly observed 18 predation events. The tits specifically and systematically searched for and killed bats for food. A substantial decrease in predation on bats after experimental provisioning of food to the tits further supports the hypothesis that bat-killing serves a foraging purpose in times of food scarcity. We finally conducted a playback experiment to test whether tits would eavesdrop on calls of awakening bats to find them in rock crevices. The tits could clearly hear the calls and were attracted to the loudspeaker. Records for tit predation on bats at this cave now span more than ten years and thus raise the question of whether cultural transmission plays a role for the spread of this foraging innovation.
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Mueller, Jakob C., Peter Korsten, Christine Hermannstaedter, et al. "Haplotype structure, adaptive history and associations with exploratory behaviour of theDRD4gene region in four great tit (Parus major) populations." Molecular Ecology 22, no. 10 (2013): 2797–809. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mec.12282.
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Van Duyse, Els, Marcel Eens, and Rianne Pinxten. "DOES TESTOSTERONE AFFECT THE TRADE-OFF BETWEEN INVESTMENT IN SEXUAL/TERRITORIAL BEHAVIOUR AND PARENTAL CARE IN MALE GREAT TITS?" Behaviour 137, no. 11 (2000): 1503–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853900502691.
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AbstractBreeding testosterone (T) profiles of free-living male birds are hypothesized to reflect a trade-off between investment in competitive behaviour for mates or territories, typically accompanied by high T-levels, and investment in paternal care, typically accompanied by low T-levels. To test this hypothesis we monitored song activity, as a measure of territorial advertisement or mate attraction, and feeding efforts, as a measure of paternal care, in great tit Parus major males that either received T-filled or empty implants in the middle of the feeding phase, a period of high paternal commitment and low T-levels. In support of the trade-off hypothesis, T-implanted males sang significantly more than controls. However, we found no significant effect of the elevated T-levels on male and female feeding behaviour despite the large increase in T following implantation. Also, no short-term effects on male fitness were found. Taken together these results do not support the trade-off hypothesis. We discuss that the low overall responsiveness in our study might be related to a high fitness cost of neglecting offspring in favour of T-enhanced behaviour.
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Rivera-Gutierrez, Hector Fabio, Rianne Pinxten, and Marcel Eens. "Songbirds never forget: long-lasting behavioural change triggered by a single playback event." Behaviour 152, no. 9 (2015): 1277–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1568539x-00003278.
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Many behavioural studies rely on playback experiments. While it is known that songbirds decrease behavioural responses after short-term repeated stimulation, long-term behavioural changes due to playbacks are unknown. We studied the response to playbacks in a free-living songbird in the long-term, while also studying the repeatability of the behaviour. Locomotor behaviour (a proxy of aggressiveness) decreased one year after first exposure to a single playback. Song response, however, remained consistent, suggesting that these two behaviours may provide different information. Locomotor behaviour was less repeatable than the song response to playback, the latter showing significant between-years repeatability. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to report long-term decrease in response to playbacks in a songbird, and that some aspects of the response to playback are repeatable. Similar studies in other species or populations of the great tit are important, to examine the generality of our findings.
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Slagsvold, Tore, and Karen L. Wiebe. "Learning the ecological niche." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274, no. 1606 (2006): 19–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3663.
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A cornerstone of ecological theory is the ecological niche. Yet little is known about how individuals come to adopt it: whether it is innate or learned. Here, we report a cross-fostering experiment in the wild where we transferred eggs of blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus , to nests of great tits, Parus major , and vice versa, to quantify the consequences of being reared in a different social context, but in an environment otherwise natural to the birds. We show that early learning causes a shift in the feeding niche in the direction of the foster species and that this shift lasts for life (foraging conservatism). Both species changed their feeding niches, but the change was greater in the great tit with its less specialized feeding behaviour. The study shows that cultural transmission through early learning is fundamental to the realization of ecological niches, and suggests a mechanism to explain learned habitat preference and sympatric speciation in animals.
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Kim, J. ‐M, A. W. Santure, H. J. Barton, et al. "A high‐density SNP chip for genotyping great tit ( Parus major ) populations and its application to studying the genetic architecture of exploration behaviour." Molecular Ecology Resources 18, no. 4 (2018): 877–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12778.
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Spoelstra, Kamiel, Irene Verhagen, Davy Meijer, and Marcel E. Visser. "Artificial light at night shifts daily activity patterns but not the internal clock in the great tit ( Parus major )." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285, no. 1875 (2018): 20172751. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.2751.
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Artificial light at night has shown a dramatic increase over the last decades and continues to increase. Light at night can have strong effects on the behaviour and physiology of species, which includes changes in the daily timing of activity; a clear example is the advance in dawn song onset in songbirds by low levels of light at night. Although such effects are often referred to as changes in circadian timing, i.e. changes to the internal clock, two alternative mechanisms are possible. First, light at night can change the timing of clock controlled activity, without any change to the clock itself; e.g. by a change in the phase relation between the circadian clock and expression of activity. Second, changes in daily activity can be a direct response to light (‘masking’), without any involvement of the circadian system. Here, we studied whether the advance in onset of activity by dim light at night in great tits ( Parus major ) is indeed attributable to a phase shift of the internal clock. We entrained birds to a normal light/dark (LD) cycle with bright light during daytime and darkness at night, and to a comparable (LDim) schedule with dim light at night. The dim light at night strongly advanced the onset of activity of the birds. After at least six days in LD or LDim, we kept birds in constant darkness (DD) by leaving off all lights so birds would revert to their endogenous, circadian system controlled timing of activity. We found that the timing of onset in DD was not dependent on whether the birds were kept at LD or LDim before the measurement. Thus, the advance of activity under light at night is caused by a direct effect of light rather than a phase shift of the internal clock. This demonstrates that birds are capable of changing their daily activity to low levels of light at night directly, without the need to alter their internal clock.
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de Jong, Maaike, Jenny Q. Ouyang, Arnaud Da Silva, et al. "Effects of nocturnal illumination on life-history decisions and fitness in two wild songbird species." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 370, no. 1667 (2015): 20140128. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0128.
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The effects of artificial night lighting on animal behaviour and fitness are largely unknown. Most studies report short-term consequences in locations that are also exposed to other anthropogenic disturbance. We know little about how the effects of nocturnal illumination vary with different light colour compositions. This is increasingly relevant as the use of LED lights becomes more common, and LED light colour composition can be easily adjusted. We experimentally illuminated previously dark natural habitat with white, green and red light, and measured the effects on life-history decisions and fitness in two free-living songbird species, the great tit ( Parus major ) and pied flycatcher ( Ficedula hypoleuca ) in two consecutive years. In 2013, but not in 2014, we found an effect of light treatment on lay date, and of the interaction of treatment and distance to the nearest lamp post on chick mass in great tits but not in pied flycatchers. We did not find an effect in either species of light treatment on breeding densities, clutch size, probability of brood failure, number of fledglings and adult survival. The finding that light colour may have differential effects opens up the possibility to mitigate negative ecological effects of nocturnal illumination by using different light spectra.
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Cole, Ella F., and John L. Quinn. "Shy birds play it safe: personality in captivity predicts risk responsiveness during reproduction in the wild." Biology Letters 10, no. 5 (2014): 20140178. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0178.
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Despite a growing body of evidence linking personality to life-history variation and fitness, the behavioural mechanisms underlying these relationships remain poorly understood. One mechanism thought to play a key role is how individuals respond to risk. Relatively reactive and proactive (or shy and bold) personality types are expected to differ in how they manage the inherent trade-off between productivity and survival, with bold individuals being more risk-prone with lower survival probability, and shy individuals adopting a more risk-averse strategy. In the great tit ( Parus major ), the shy–bold personality axis has been well characterized in captivity and linked to fitness. Here, we tested whether ‘exploration behaviour’, a captive assay of the shy–bold axis, can predict risk responsiveness during reproduction in wild great tits. Relatively slow-exploring (shy) females took longer than fast-exploring (bold) birds to resume incubation after a novel object, representing an unknown threat, was attached to their nest-box, with some shy individuals not returning within the 40 min trial period. Risk responsiveness was consistent within individuals over days. These findings provide rare, field-based experimental evidence that shy individuals prioritize survival over reproductive investment, supporting the hypothesis that personality reflects life-history variation through links with risk responsiveness.
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Fidler, Andrew E., Kees van Oers, Piet J. Drent, Sylvia Kuhn, Jakob C. Mueller, and Bart Kempenaers. "Drd4 gene polymorphisms are associated with personality variation in a passerine bird." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274, no. 1619 (2007): 1685–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.0337.
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Polymorphisms in several neurotransmitter-associated genes have been associated with variation in human personality traits. Among the more promising of such associations is that between the human dopamine receptor D4 gene ( Drd4 ) variants and novelty-seeking behaviour. However, genetic epistasis, genotype–environment interactions and confounding environmental factors all act to obscure genotype–personality relationships. Such problems can be addressed by measuring personality under standardized conditions and by selection experiments, with both approaches only feasible with non-human animals. Looking for similar Drd4 genotype–personality associations in a free-living bird, the great tit ( Parus major ), we detected 73 polymorphisms (66 SNPs, 7 indels) in the P. major Drd4 orthologue. Two of the P. major Drd4 gene polymorphisms were investigated for evidence of association with novelty-seeking behaviour: a coding region synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP830) and a 15 bp indel (ID15) located 5′ to the putative transcription initiation site. Frequencies of the three Drd4 SNP830 genotypes, but not the ID15 genotypes, differed significantly between two P. major lines selected over four generations for divergent levels of ‘early exploratory behaviour’ (EEB). Strong corroborating evidence for the significance of this finding comes from the analysis of free-living, unselected birds where we found a significant association between SNP830 genotypes and differing mean EEB levels. These findings suggest that an association between Drd4 gene polymorphisms and animal personality variation predates the divergence of the avian and mammalian lineages. Furthermore, this work heralds the possibility of following microevolutionary changes in frequencies of behaviourally relevant Drd4 polymorphisms within populations where natural selection acts differentially on different personality types.
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Psorakis, Ioannis, Stephen J. Roberts, Iead Rezek, and Ben C. Sheldon. "Inferring social network structure in ecological systems from spatio-temporal data streams." Journal of The Royal Society Interface 9, no. 76 (2012): 3055–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2012.0223.
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We propose a methodology for extracting social network structure from spatio-temporal datasets that describe timestamped occurrences of individuals. Our approach identifies temporal regions of dense agent activity and links are drawn between individuals based on their co-occurrences across these ‘gathering events’. The statistical significance of these connections is then tested against an appropriate null model. Such a framework allows us to exploit the wealth of analytical and computational tools of network analysis in settings where the underlying connectivity pattern between interacting agents (commonly termed the adjacency matrix ) is not given a priori . We perform experiments on two large-scale datasets (greater than 10 6 points) of great tit Parus major wild bird foraging records and illustrate the use of this approach by examining the temporal dynamics of pairing behaviour, a process that was previously very hard to observe. We show that established pair bonds are maintained continuously, whereas new pair bonds form at variable times before breeding, but are characterized by a rapid development of network proximity. The method proposed here is general, and can be applied to any system with information about the temporal co-occurrence of interacting agents.
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Nicolaus, Marion, Kimberley J. Mathot, Yimen G. Araya-Ajoy, et al. "Does coping style predict optimization? An experimental test in a wild passerine bird." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282, no. 1799 (2015): 20142405. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.2405.
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A number of studies have suggested that avian brood size is individually optimized. Yet, optimal reproductive decisions likely vary owing to among-individual differences in environmental sensitivity. Specifically, ‘proactive’ individuals who do not track environmental changes may be less able to produce optimal brood sizes than ‘reactive’ individuals who have more precise local environmental knowledge. To test this, we quantified exploratory behaviour (a proxy for proactivity) in a great tit ( Parus major ) population, manipulated brood sizes (reduced, control, enlarged) and evaluated whether individuals of dissimilar coping style differed in their level of optimization. If reactive females behaved optimally, any deviation from their original brood size should lower fitness, whereas this should not be the case for proactive females. Reactive females indeed performed best at their natural brood size, whereas proactive females performed best when raising an enlarged brood. These findings imply that proactive females produced sub-optimal brood sizes. We speculate that proactive females might (i) take decisions based on biased perception of their environment, (ii) face energetic constraints in offspring production and/or (iii) be more willing to invest into current reproduction when given the option. Our findings provide experimental evidence for coping style-related differences in optimal reproductive decisions and life-history strategies.
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Ouyang, Jenny Q., Maaike de Jong, Michaela Hau, Marcel E. Visser, Roy H. A. van Grunsven, and Kamiel Spoelstra. "Stressful colours: corticosterone concentrations in a free-living songbird vary with the spectral composition of experimental illumination." Biology Letters 11, no. 8 (2015): 20150517. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0517.
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Organisms have evolved under natural daily light/dark cycles for millions of years. These cycles have been disturbed as night-time darkness is increasingly replaced by artificial illumination. Investigating the physiological consequences of free-living organisms in artificially lit environments is crucial to determine whether nocturnal lighting disrupts circadian rhythms, changes behaviour, reduces fitness and ultimately affects population numbers. We make use of a unique, large-scale network of replicated field sites which were experimentally illuminated at night using lampposts emanating either red, green, white or no light to test effect on stress hormone concentrations (corticosterone) in a songbird, the great tit ( Parus major ). Adults nesting in white-light transects had higher corticosterone concentrations than in the other treatments. We also found a significant interaction between distance to the closest lamppost and treatment type: individuals in red light had higher corticosterone levels when they nested closer to the lamppost than individuals nesting farther away, a decline not observed in the green or dark treatment. Individuals with high corticosterone levels had fewer fledglings, irrespective of treatment. These results show that artificial light can induce changes in individual hormonal phenotype. As these effects vary considerably with light spectrum, it opens the possibility to mitigate these effects by selecting street lighting of specific spectra.
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Harcourt, A. H., M. Hauser, and K. J. Stewart. "Functions of Wild Gorilla 'Close' Calls. I. Repertoire, Context, and Interspecific Comparison." Behaviour 124, no. 1-2 (1993): 89–122. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853993x00524.
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AbstractIndividuals in social groups of a number of species produce and exchange among themselves frequent, quiet vocalisations. The function of most such vocalisations, here termed 'close' calls, remains obscure, because of the lack of any obvious context of behaviour associated with their production. In this first of two papers that attempt to determine the function of these calls in wild girilla groups, we describe the call repertoire, the age-sex distribution of frequencies of call-types, the contexts in which the calls are given, compare the above measures with available descriptions for the other African great apes, the common and bonobo chimpanzees, and briefly speculate on possible functions. We provide sonograms and 21 acoustical measures of 15 calls in total, including eight 'close' calls, recorded from identified individuals of two habituated heterosexual groups of wild gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) of average composition for the region. In so doing, we provide the most detailed description yet of any great ape's within-group vocalisations. The age-sex classes differed in their use of 'close' calls: adult males called the most in total, immatures the least; and while most classes gave all calls, they gave them at differing frequencies. The differences were consistent across the two-year study period. We suggest two main contexts of production, namely situations of potential separation, and potentially agonistic situations. Thus animals called when far from others and before changes in group activity, and they called when unusually close to one another, especially while feeding. In comparison to the closely related common and bonobo chimpanzees, gorillas apparently had no calls specific to subordinate individuals behaving submissively: subordinate gorillas gave calls in such a situation, but they and dominants gave the same calls (at our current level of analysis) in other situations also. Acoustically and functionally, the gorilla's 'close' calls can be separated into 'syllabled' grunts and non-syllabled' longer calls, we suggest. 'Syllabled' calls might function to maintain contact between animals, to coordinate activity, and to act as mild threats; 'non-syllabled' calls might function as appeasement signals, and to cohere and coordinate group movement when given at good feeding sites, both by attracting animals to the site, and by inhibiting competition at it.
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"Blue Tit (Parus Caeruleus) Agonistic Displays: A Reappraisal." Behaviour 135, no. 6 (1998): 665–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853998792640431.
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Abstract1. In order to reappraise work by Stokes (1962a, b) and subsequent interpretations of his results, a data set involving 906 dyadic Blue Tit interactions was coIlected and analysed using video playback. 2. A number of shortcomings in Stokes' original approach were highlighted, including his broad definition of attack and a lack of information on the true frequency of behaviours and of combinations of elements at an instance in time. 3. A total of 16 behaviours and actions with a clear agonistic context were identified. Similarity indices (Jaccard Index) were calculated based on the co-occurrence of behaviours at an instance in time. No behaviours were associated at a high enough level to warrant their consideration solely as compound displays. 4. True attack was rare, unpredictable and effective. Escalated fights occurred in < 1% of interactions, with peck attacks which were not escalated into fighting in a further 2% of interactions. The rarity of true attack makes it more useful to look at the relationship between behaviour and interaction outcome (win/lose), than between behaviour and subsequent actions (attack/stay/escape). 5. Seven behaviours were associated with winning (e.g. Wings out, Nape erect) and three (e.g. Crest erect) with losing. However, no behaviour was restricted to only one of these roles, no behaviour precisely predicted winning or losing, and many birds won or lost without showing these behaviours. Crest erect is associated with fear but is not simply a surrender signal. 6. In addition to the displays investigated, several other factors are thought to be involved in contest resolution. These are briefly discussed.
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Gallizzi, K., L. Gern, and H. Richner. "A flea-induced pre-hatching maternal effect modulates tick feeding behaviour on great tit nestlings." Functional Ecology, October 9, 2007, 071018050741001—??? http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2007.01344.x.
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Slagsvold, Tore, and Karen L. Wiebe. "No evidence that nest site choice in Pied Flycatchers is mediated by assessing the clutch size of a heterospecific, the Great Tit." Journal of Ornithology, May 29, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10336-021-01900-1.
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AbstractAmong species that use similar resources, an individual may benefit by observing and copying the behavioural decision of a heterospecific. We tested the hypothesis of heterospecific social learning in passerine birds, namely that a migrant species, the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca, uses external markings on the nest cavities of a resident species, the Great Tit Parus major, as cues when choosing a nest site. Others have suggested that prospecting flycatchers assess the clutch size of tit “demonstrators” by entering their nest boxes and, assuming that a large clutch indicates a high-quality individual, will copy the nest appearance of tits with large, but not small clutches. During a 4-year period in Norway, we designed a similar study but did not find that flycatchers based their nest choice on the clutch size of tits. Neither were there any relationships between clutch size of the tit and its laying date, incubation behaviour, or the number of eggs visible through nest material during egg-laying so Pied Flycatchers did not use these indirect cues to assess quality of the tutor. Filming of tit nests showed that prospecting flycatchers did not enter tit nest boxes to assess the content. Indeed, incubating female tits only left their nest boxes for short bouts of unpredictable duration so there was little opportunity for flycatchers to inspect the nest contents unnoticed. Our study calls into question the mechanism of using the content of tit nests as public information for choosing traits of nest sites based on external characteristics. We suggest that similar studies of nest site choice in relation to possible social information transfer be replicated more widely.
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Ziegler, Ann-Kathrin, Hannah Watson, Arne Hegemann, et al. "Exposure to artificial light at night alters innate immune response in wild great tit nestlings." Journal of Experimental Biology 224, no. 10 (2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.239350.
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ABSTRACT The large-scale impact of urbanization on wildlife is rather well documented; however, the mechanisms underlying the effects of urban environments on animal physiology and behaviour are still poorly understood. Here, we focused on one major urban pollutant – artificial light at night (ALAN) – and its effects on the capacity to mount an innate immune response in wild great tit (Parus major) nestlings. Exposure to ALAN alters circadian rhythms of physiological processes, by disrupting the nocturnal production of the hormone melatonin. Nestlings were exposed to a light source emitting 3 lx for seven consecutive nights. Subsequently, nestlings were immune challenged with a lipopolysaccharide injection, and we measured haptoglobin and nitric oxide levels pre- and post-injection. Both haptoglobin and nitric oxide are important markers for innate immune function. We found that ALAN exposure altered the innate immune response, with nestlings exposed to ALAN having lower haptoglobin and higher nitric oxide levels after the immune challenge compared with dark-night nestlings. Unexpectedly, nitric oxide levels were overall lower after the immune challenge than before. These effects were probably mediated by melatonin, as ALAN-treated birds had on average 49% lower melatonin levels than the dark-night birds. ALAN exposure did not have any clear effects on nestling growth. This study provides a potential physiological mechanism underlying the documented differences in immune function between urban and rural birds observed in other studies. Moreover, it gives evidence that ALAN exposure affects nestling physiology, potentially causing long-term effects on physiology and behaviour, which ultimately can affect their fitness.
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Rollins, Robert E., Alexia Mouchet, Gabriele Margos, et al. "Repeatable differences in exploratory behaviour predict tick infestation probability in wild great tits." Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 75, no. 3 (2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-021-02972-y.
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Abstract Ecological factors and individual-specific traits affect parasite infestation in wild animals. Ixodid ticks are important ectoparasites of various vertebrate hosts, which include passerine bird species such as the great tit (Parus major). We studied various key ecological variables (breeding density, human disturbance) and phenotypic traits (exploratory behaviour, body condition) proposed to predict tick infestation probability and burden in great tits. Our study spanned 3 years and 12 nest box plots located in southern Germany. Breeding, adult great tits were assessed for exploration behaviour, body condition, and tick burden. Plots were open to human recreation; human disturbance was quantified in each plot as a recreation pressure index from biweekly nest box inspections. Infested individuals were repeatable in tick burden across years. These repeatable among-individual differences in tick burden were not attributable to exploration behaviour. However, faster explorers did have a higher infestation probability. Furthermore, body condition was negatively correlated to tick burden. Recreation pressure was correlated to increased infestation probability, although this relationship was just above the threshold of statistical significance. Our study implies that avian infestation probability and tick burden are each determined by distinct phenotypic traits and ecological factors. Our findings highlight the importance of animal behaviour and human disturbance in understanding variation in tick burden among avian hosts. Significance statement Various abiotic and biotic factors, including personality type, influence tick parasitism in birds, but exactly how all these factors interplay remains unclear. We studied a wild population of great tits over a 3-year period and assessed birds for their exploration behaviour and tick infestation. We found that more explorative great tits were more likely to be infested with ticks. By contrast, faster explorers did not have higher tick burdens. Tick burden was nevertheless moderately repeatable among individuals. Our results imply that animal personality influences the probability of parasite infestation, and that infestation likelihood versus intensity are determined by distinct mechanisms. Our work highlights the importance of animal behaviour to understand parasite infestation in wild populations.
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DE ANGELI DUTRA, DANIELA, PATRÍCIA SILVEIRA, JAIME ALBINO RAMOS, JOSÉ PAULO SOUSA, ÉRIKA MARTINS BRAGA, and ANA CLÁUDIA NORTE. "Haemosporidian infections affect antioxidant defences in great tits Parus major but are not related to exposure to aerial pollutants." Parasitology Open 3 (2017). http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/pao.2017.4.
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SUMMARY Haemosporidian parasites are widespread in avian species and modulate their ecology, behaviour, life-history and fitness. The prevalence of these vector-transmitted parasites varies with host intrinsic and extrinsic factors, such as host resistance and behaviour, and habitat-related characteristics. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of avian haemosporidians in great tit Parus major populations inhabiting two areas with different degrees of exposure to aerial emissions from pulp mills, to assess if this type of pollution impacted parasite prevalence. We also compared the physiological condition of infected and uninfected individuals. Haemosporidian infection prevalence was high (58%), varied seasonally, but was not associated with air pollution exposure. Fledged birds presented higher infection rates than nestlings and infected fledged birds had higher levels of blood glutathione peroxidase activity. These results allow us to infer that infection by blood parasites may activate antioxidant defences, possibly to protect the organism from the negative oxidative stress side-effects of immune activation against parasites. Because oxidative stress is one of the mechanisms responsible for ageing and senescence and may affect fitness, the relationship between parasitism and oxidative stress markers should be further investigated through studies that include experimental manipulation of infection in model organisms.
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Markova, A. O. "Aggressive behaviour of Robins Erithacus rubecula (Passeriformes, Muscicapidae) at watering places in the forest steppe zone of Ukraine." Biosystems Diversity 24, no. 2 (2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.15421/011636.
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283 The purpose of this research was to study interspecific and intra-specific aggressive reactions of Robins (Erithacus rubecula L.) at watering places in natural and anthropogenically pressured areas. The study took place in Kaniv Nature Reserve, Cherkassy region, in May-June 2010, 2012 and 2014 and the state dendrology park “Oleksandriya” of the National Academy of Science in Bila Tserkva. The observation of the birds’ behavior was performed using the ethological methods of “total observation” and “continuous logging”. In order to calculate the critical distance at which a bird shows aggression, the watering areas studied were divided into 1 x 1 m squares. It was found that aggressive intersspecific actions of Robins were more frequent in the natural habitat of Kaniv Reserve while intraspecific aggression was more frequent in the dendrology park. It was noticed that Robins responded aggressively to 12 species of birds in the Kaniv Natur Reserve site. Those species were: Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos), Blackbird (T. merula), Great Tit (Parus major), BlueTit (P. caeruleus), Marsh Tit (P. palustris), Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes), Icterine Warbler (Hippolais icterina), Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix), Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) and Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata). Most often, aggression was directed to individuals that were already at a watering place rather than birds which arrived after the Robins. Besides, Robins frequently initiate aggressive relations. An inverse correlation of aggressive acts and the size parameters of the species, which were objects of Robins’ aggression, was observed. A success rating of Robins’ defence and attack in aggressive relations in Kaniv Nature Reserve was established: Robins were always successful in protecting its territory or attacking an Icterine Warbler and Chiffchaff, and always fails in defending agianst or attacking a Blackbird. The rating in contact with Spotted Flycatcher was zero. The critical distance of aggressive behaviour in intraspecific contacts at watering places was 40–50 cm, while for interspecific contacts it varied from5 cm to2 m. Our research emphasizes the importance of long-term research and multivariate approaches for understanding the complexity of dominance relations in birds.
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Martyka, Rafał, Ewa B. Śliwińska, and Piotr Tryjanowski. "Effects of maternal exposure to a bacterial antigen and altered post-hatching rearing conditions on avian offspring behaviour." Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 75, no. 3 (2021). http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-021-02995-5.
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Abstract The early-life environment plays a crucial role in shaping morphological, physiological, and behavioural traits, with potential long-term consequences for fitness. Indeed, a set of factors experienced by offspring during prenatal and early post-natal development has been recognised to affect behavioural trait expression in later life. Several studies have shown that in birds, nutritional and social rearing conditions and maternal and/or neonatal immunisations may profoundly determine the development and establishment of behaviour in offspring. To our knowledge, no research has examined whether and how the interaction between immune-mediated maternal effects and post-hatching rearing conditions affects offspring behaviour. Here, we studied the effects of maternal exposure to a bacterial antigen and altered brood size on docility, breathing rate, and aggression in the offspring of great tit, Parus major. We used a 2 × 2 design to investigate the interactive effects of maternal immunisation and brood size manipulation on offspring behavioural development. We found no such interactive effect on offspring behaviour, although we observed it regarding to offspring body mass and tarsus length. Maternal immunisation itself did not affect offspring behaviour. However, we demonstrated that the offspring breathing rate and level of aggression were affected by brood size manipulation. Both breathing rate and aggression in offspring reared in enlarged broods were lower than those in offspring reared in non-manipulated broods. Our study did not confirm earlier reports that immune-mediated maternal effects modulate offspring behavioural development, but we showed that brood size during rearing might indeed be a factor that affects offspring behaviour. Significance statement The early environment experienced by offspring constitutes a significant source of developmental plasticity, which may profoundly affect the establishment of their behavioural traits. Food availability, social conditions, and maternal or offspring infection are crucial factors shaping various behavioural traits in birds. However, there remains a lack of studies emphasising the potential interactive effects of early-life conditions on behavioural trait development in natural bird populations. Here, to our knowledge for the first time, we experimentally examined how maternal immunisation and altered post-hatching rearing conditions interact to determine the behaviour of fledged offspring. We found that maternal treatment and brood size manipulation interactively affected offspring body mass and tarsus length, but this interaction had no effect on offspring behaviour. Our findings suggest that different mechanisms may underlie the development of morphological and behavioural traits.