Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) Science Article 1 abstract Spatial foraging activity and feeding of broods was studied in nine pairs of CommonRedstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) breeding in nest boxes in pine forest. The effect ofnestling age on feeding rate was not significant. The number of feedings per chick wassimilar in small andmediumsize broods but decreased in […]
Category: Muscicapidae
Seasonal variation in dawn song characteristicsin the common nightingale
Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) Science Article 5 abstract Many male temperate zone passerines show a marked peak of singing activity before sunrise. The two mainfunctions of this so-called dawn chorus are mate attraction and territory defence. We examined how seasonalpatterns of different dawn song characteristics were related to mating status and to the breeding cycleof […]
Causes and consequences of song amplitude adjustmentin a territorial bird: a case study in nightingales
Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) Science Article 4 abstract Vocal amplitude, one of the crucial factors for the exchange of acoustic signals, has been neglected instudies of animal communication, but recent studies on song variation in Common Nightingales Lusciniamegarhynchos have revealed new insights into its importance in the singing behavior of territorial birds. Innightingales song amplitude […]
The study of bird migration across the WesternSahara; a contribution with sound luring
Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) Science Article 3 abstract During spring and autumn migration 2003, the Swiss Ornithological Institute set up a concerted project in Mauritania to study bird migration across the Sahara. I participated with a side project using artificial induction of landfall with sound luring in an attempt to overcome the potential problem of […]
Partial moult involving all the greater coverts in first-year Nightingales, Luscinia megarhynchos megarhynchos, in Italy
Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) Science Article 1 abstract The European populations of the Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos megarhynchos perform a moult strategy which involves a complete post-breeding moult in adults and a partial post-juvenile moult in first-years; both moults take place on the breeding grounds prior to autumn migration (Cramp 1988, Svensson 1992, Jenni & Winkler […]
Rules of song development and their use in vocal interactions by birds with large repertoires
Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) Science Article 2 abstract Songbirds are well known for settling their disputes by vocal signals, and their singing plays a dominant role.Most studies on this issue have concentrated on bird species that develop and use small vocal repertoires. In this article we will go farther and focus on examples of how […]
Evolution and expression of genetic variation in nestling traits
Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) Science Article 2 abstract Environmental conditions experienced during early life are known to impact upon the development of passerinenestlings, as well as on their performance and fitness as adults. Nevertheless, little is yet known about the relative importanceof different types of maternal, environmental and genetic effects as proximate determinants of variation […]
Availability and use of public information and conspecific density for settlement decisions in the collared flycatcher
Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) Science Article 4 abstract Public information, i.e. local reproductive performance of conspecifics, is expected to be a highly valuable cue for breeding habitat selection. However, the access to this cue may be spatially and temporally constrained. When public information is unavailable, individuals may use other integrative cues, such as the local […]
Reproductive investment and moult-breeding overlap in the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis: an experimental approach
Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) Science Article 1 abstract We manipulated brood sizes of 132 pairs of the collared flycatcher to investigate whether or not an investment in reproduction was traded against an investment and timing of the post-nuptial moult. Our manipulations did not affect the probability of moult-breeding overlap in males, and there was no […]
Immune challenge mediates vocal communication in a passerine bird: an experiment
Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) Science Article 3 abstract Secondary sexual characters may have evolved in part to signal resistance to parasites. Avian song has been hypothesized to be involved in this process, but the role of parasites in modulating acoustic communication systems in birds remains largely unknown, owing to lack of experiments. We studied the […]