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
Ornithology
Tim Temizyuerek, Michelle Johannknecht, Peter Korsten
Summary: Hatching asynchrony is a common occurrence in altricial birds and can lead to brood reduction due to sibling competition. This study examined the relationship between early incubation and hatching asynchrony in Blue Tits. The results showed a frequent occurrence of early incubation, with a greater amount of early incubation observed towards clutch completion. The amount of early incubation was negatively related to the time between clutch completion and first hatching and positively related to the extent of hatching asynchrony.
Article
Ornithology
Juan Manuel Peralta-Sanchez, Jan-Ake Nilsson
Summary: The study found that in blue tit nests where hen fleas were increased, males increased their feeding efforts to females, and feeding frequency was positively related to clutch size. Experimental evidence showed that males increase their reproductive effort to compensate for the costs of high ecto-parasite density and many nestlings in the nest.
JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY
(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
Ornithology
Szymon M. Drobniak, Mariusz Cichon, Katarzyna Janas, Julia Barczyk, Lars Gustafsson, Magdalena Zagalska-Neubauer
Summary: The external environment plays a significant role in modulating microbiome diversity, with differences observed in the microbiomes of wild blue tits breeding in different habitat types. However, there was no differentiation in microbiome composition based on individual characteristics such as sex or age.
JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Adara C. Velasco, Esperanza S. Ferrer, Juan Jose Sanz
Summary: Territorial behavior is a strategy to ensure individuals' access to potentially limiting resources. This study explores the expression of different strategies of male-male aggressiveness and their role in establishing territories during breeding season. Results suggest that aggressiveness is context-specific and shaped by environmental and intrinsic factors.
Article
Ornithology
Peter Santema, Kim Teltscher, Bart Kempenaers
Summary: This study found that the number of sperm on the egg's perivitelline layers in female blue tits is consistent within clutches, but there was no evidence to suggest differences in copulation activity between females with or without extra-pair young.
JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Ji-Won Kang, Jong-Koo Lee
Summary: This study aimed to determine if the brood reduction hypothesis could explain asynchronous hatching in passerines. Infrared cameras were used to observe the nest boxes of great tits, and it was found that there was no significant difference in feeding between hatchlings of different orders. Additionally, no selective distribution of food to older nestlings was observed over time. Therefore, alternative hypotheses should be explored to explain the asynchronous hatching in passerines.
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
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
Ornithology
Alexander Wirth
Summary: In this study, the sleep-wake patterns and nocturnal activity of free-living Eurasian Blue Tits were analyzed using motion sensor-triggered IP cameras. The results revealed repetitive activity patterns during the night and a correlation between daylength and roosting times. Additionally, the roosting behavior of Eurasian Blue Tits was found to be comparable to that of Great Tits and Common Starlings in the same nest box structure.
JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Javier Sierro, Selvino R. de Kort, Katharina Riebel, Ian R. Hartley
Summary: In species with mutual mate choice, adaptive signaling is expected in both sexes. However, the role of female sexual signals is often overlooked. This study focuses on female birdsong in the well-studied blue tit species and reveals that females sing frequently but with lower output compared to males. Female and male songs have overlapping acoustic structures but differ in individual repertoires and vocal consistency. These findings highlight the need for further investigation into female singing, particularly in temperate zones where it may have been overlooked.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Juliette Biquet, Suzanne Bonamour, Pierre De Villemereuil, Christophe De Franceschi, Celine Teplitsky
Summary: Research on early phenology induced by climate change shows that genetic changes may drive a part of observed advances. However, there is no genetic correlation between breeding date and fitness proxies, indicating no evolution of breeding time.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ornithology
David Diez-Mendez, Juan Jose Sanz, Emilio Barba
Summary: The study found that increasing ambient temperatures during the egg-laying period advanced diurnal partial incubation in passerines. Additionally, females lengthened nocturnal partial incubation and delayed the onset of other incubation behaviors when laying larger clutches.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Lotte Schlicht, Peter Santema, Bart Kempenaers
Summary: Copulations outside the pair bond are common among socially monogamous birds, but males differ in their extrapair siring success. A large body of research has focused on the ultimate causes and consequences of this variation, but the behavioural mechanisms underlying extrapair siring success remain poorly understood. Previous work showed that male songbirds that start singing earlier at dawn sire more extrapair offspring, suggesting that early morning activity influences the likelihood of obtaining extrapair copulations.