Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Science Article 14 abstract I studied whether the European Starling Sturnus vulgaris has a preference for a particularage of their nesting hole in an old deciduous forest in Central Poland. I documented theprobabilitythat Starlings bred in natural holes (excavated byGreat Spotted WoodpeckerDendrocopos major) of a known age in consecutive seasons. Occupation rates […]
Category: Eurasia
The effect of sward height and drainage on Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris and Northern Lapwings Vanellus vanellus foraging in grassland habitats
Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Science Article 16 abstract Agricultural change is often cited as a causal factor in the decline of the UK’s farmland birds because bird declines have mirrored changes in agricultural practices. Although much is known about the mechanisms driving population declines on arable systems, mechanisms in grassland systems are relatively poorly studied, despite […]
Temporal and sequential organization of song bouts in the Starling
Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Science Article 12 abstract Temporal analysis of Starling song revealed that males sing very long and complex song bouts, some extending over one minute and containing over ninety song bouts. Starlings sing with immediate variety. There are clear differences in average bout length and in singing rate between males. Starling song bouts […]
Parasite defence in birds: the role of volatiles
Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Science Article 8 abstract European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) mix fresh herbs, preferably species rich in volatile compounds, into their drynest material. By investigating air samples from starling nest boxes, we found that nestlings and their parasites encountervolatile compounds such as sabinene, myrcene, limonene, phelandrene and ocimene, some of them with medicinal properties.We […]
Conspecific nest parasitism in the European Starling
Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Science Article 13 abstract From 1983 to 1988 we monitored 260 European Starling Sturnus vulgaris nests in three nestbox colonies around Antwerp (Belgium), for evidence for conspecific nest parasitism. Altogether 15% of 174 first clutches and 2% of 86 intermediate clutches were parasitized. The yearly proportion of first clutches with parasitic eggs […]
Slow pace of life in tropical sedentary birds:a common-garden experiment on four stonechatpopulations from different latitudes
Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maura) Science Article 2 abstract It has been hypothesized that organisms living at different latitudes or in different environments adjust their metabolic activity to the prevailing conditions. However, do differences in energy turnover simply represent a phenotypic adaptation to the local environment, or are they genetically based? Martin Wikelski, Proc. R. Soc. […]
Gonadal status upon spring arrival in long-distance and short-distancemigrating stonechats ( Saxicola torquata)
Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maura) Science Article 1 abstract Long-distance migration is often associated with relatively short breeding seasons and a start of reproductive activities shortly after arrival. The full activation of the reproductive system from the regressed state takes, however, several weeks and must, therefore, be initiated in the winter quarters or during spring migration. […]
Ecological aspects of migration, and pre-migratory fat deposition in the lesser redpoll, Carduelis flammea cabaret
Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) Science Article 3 abstract This paper is a sequel to an earlier paper on the Lesser Redpoll (Evans 1966a), in which I discussed the timing of its annual (post-nuptial) molt in relation to the timing of breeding and autumn migration and described variations in the total weights of birds during late summer […]
No evidence of genetic differentiation betweenlesser redpolls Carduelis flammea cabaret andcommon redpolls Carduelis f. flammea
Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) Science Article 1 abstract The remarkable variation in plumage and morphological characters in the redpoll complexCarduelis flammea-hornemanni has puzzled taxonomists for several decades. In contrast,molecular studies have not revealed any genetic differentiation among the phenotypic redpollforms. This could either be a result of high present-day gene flow or morphological differentiationfollowing a rapid […]
A pair of the Redpoll Carduelis flammea with two clutches in Finnmark, North Norway
Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) Science Article 2 abstract On 21 July 1999 I found, together with Per J. Tommeraas, a nest of the Redpoll Carduelis flammea with four eggs 4 m high up in a birch at Virdnejavvri in the Alta-Kautokeino water system in Finnmark, North Norway, north of the Arctic Polar Circle. The nest was […]