Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maaike Griffioen, Arne Iserbyt, Wendt Mueller
Summary: The study found that in a condition of conditional cooperation, female blue tits invested more in caring for nestlings under cold conditions without affecting visit rates. Additionally, females showed higher levels of turn taking in the more demanding cold conditions, while males did not adjust their visit rates, indicating that turn taking was not restricted by other sex-specific tasks and did not lead to greater investment by male partners.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ella F. Cole, Charlotte E. Regan, Ben C. Sheldon
Summary: Studies have found small-scale spatial variation in the timing of egg laying for great tits, linked to the health of nearby oak trees, in response to climate change. This suggests spatial differences in the impact of climate change on animals and plants, highlighting the importance of local adaptation and phenotypic plasticity in responding to climate change, as well as the role of behavioral responses like habitat selection and dispersal in mitigating challenges from climate extremes.
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Andre A. Dhondt
Summary: This article provides an overview of the debate on intra- and interspecific competition and emphasizes the need for long-term field experiments to draw firm conclusions. The study examines the factors that limit population size of secondary cavity nesting birds and the use of nestbox configurations to manipulate breeding densities. The results demonstrate the effects of competition on population size, body size, and behavior.
Article
Parasitology
James F. Scott-Baumann, Eric R. Morgan, Tristan A. Cogan
Summary: This study investigated the effects of plastic and wooden nest boxes on the nest environment, parasite and pathogen load, and nest success in blue tits and great tits. The results showed that there was no significant difference in microclimate and parasite load between plastic and wooden boxes. However, wooden boxes had higher numbers of fleas and a higher bacterial load on chicks, and blue tit broods had higher fledging success in wooden boxes. Adding aromatic herbs did not decrease parasites and bacteria. This study supports the use of plastic as an alternative nest-box material.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Peter Santema, Lotte Schlicht, Kristina B. Beck, Bart Kempenaers
Summary: Research shows that factors such as age, time of day, and other aspects of fledging behavior are not affected even in the presence of simulated predation risk. However, nestlings exposed to predator treatment are more likely to fledge alone rather than with siblings. Parents visited predator-treated nests less frequently, but this effect decreased over time.
Article
Biology
Marcel M. Lambrechts, Samuel P. Caro
Summary: Birds have developed adaptive responses to changes in ambient temperature, and the thickness of the nest and the surrounding wall play a role in regulating egg cooling, ensuring successful incubation.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Peter Santema, Bart Kempenaers
Summary: In blue tits, males primarily visit nest-boxes outside their territories during the early breeding period, suggesting a potential role in extra-pair mating.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Javier Sierro, Selvino R. de Kort, Ian R. Hartley
Summary: In birds, song performance plays a crucial role in contests for resources. This study found that song performance declines after sustained singing, supporting the hypothesis that sustained performance is limited. Additionally, the experiment demonstrated that long trills with high performance elicited a stronger response, highlighting the trade-off between duration and performance quality in communication across taxa.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Javier Sierro, Selvino R. de Kort, Ian R. Hartley
Summary: Birdsong is both repetitive and diverse. Research shows that consistent repetition is an indicator of fitness in male blue tits and song diversity reduces habituation during singing displays. Female blue tits are sexually aroused by male songs with high levels of vocal consistency, supporting the role of vocal consistency in mate choice. Switching song types elicits significant dishabituation, indicating that habituation drives song diversity in birds.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Zoology
M. Gladalski, G. J. Wolski, M. Banbura, A. Kalinski, M. Markowski, J. Skwarska, J. Wawrzyniak, J. Banbura
Summary: The study found that both Blue Tits and Great Tits are selective in the bryophytes they use for nest construction. The composition of bryophytes in nests varied between urban parkland and forest environments. Overall, the bryophyte species composition in nests seems to be influenced more by the site rather than the specific tit species.
EUROPEAN ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Ornithology
Peter Santema, Bart Kempenaers
Summary: The study observed 12 blue tits male providing food at nests that were not their own. Most of these males helped at other nests because their own breeding attempt had failed or they had no nestlings, while few successfully sired offspring in the helped nest. The findings suggest that females can benefit from extra-pair copulations by obtaining help in raising their brood when they do not receive help from their social mate.
JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Iris Solis, Elena alvarez, Emilio Barba
Summary: The overlap of breeding and moulting in birds is being affected by global warming, but it does not impose additional reproductive costs on a population of great tits in eastern Spain. While pairs where both parents overlapped breeding and moulting had smaller clutch size, fewer hatched eggs, and fewer fledglings in poorer body condition, these differences disappeared when the seasonal trend in breeding performance was taken into account. Thus, the poorer reproductive performance of overlapping pairs was mainly due to breeding later in the season.
Article
Ecology
Emmanuelle Monniez, Frederic Jiguet, Clementine Vignal, Clotilde Biard
Summary: The urban environment poses various challenges and stressors for wild species, such as habitat fragmentation and noise pollution. This study examined the effects of noise levels and vegetation cover on the distribution and reproductive success of great tits and blue tits in city parks. The results showed no correlation between nest occupancy rates and noise levels or vegetation cover for both species. However, hatching success in blue tits was negatively correlated with increasing noise levels and positively correlated with increasing vegetation coverage.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Kun Guo, Xiang-Mo Li, Yan-Qing Wu, Yan-Fu Qu, Xiang Ji
Summary: The study of female reproductive traits of the red-banded wolf snake (Lycodon rufozonatus) in Zhejiang, East China over four years showed that postpartum body mass, clutch mass, and egg size were significantly greater in 2010 compared to other years, after accounting for female size. Contrary to traditional views, females did not trade off egg size against number.
Review
Neurosciences
Tzu-Yang Lin, Pei-Ju Chen, Hung-Hsiang Yu, Chao-Ping Hsu, Chi-Hon Lee
Summary: Stereotypic dendrite arborizations play a crucial role in neuronal identity, determining synaptic input fields and information integration within neural circuits. Extrinsic factors, including adhesion receptors and secreted proteins from surrounding neurons or supporting cells, regulate dendrite patterning through local cytoskeletal and adhesion modulation as well as global transcriptional regulation. The coordinated signaling of multiple extrinsic factors promotes complexity in dendritic trees and ensures robust dendritic patterning.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
