Category: Paridae

Great tits (Parus major) reduce body mass in response to wing area reduction: a fieldexperiment

Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 36 abstract Flight performance is crucial in determining whether a small bird will survive an attack by a predator. Given the importanceof body mass in determining flight performance, it has been suggested that birds should strategically regulate body mass as aresponse to predation risk. However, all experiments up to […]

Changes in foraging behaviour of the Coal Tit Parus ater due to snow cover.

Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 18 abstract This paper studies the foraging behaviour of the Coal Tit Parus ater, a small passerine wintering in mountain coniferous forests in the Pyrenees. We compared tree site use and the foraging techniques of birds, (1) under snowy conditions, when snow covered the outer substrates of pines, and […]

Moth abundance and breeding success in a Great Tit population where moths are the main nestling food

Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 16 abstract The relationships between the timing of breeding and the reproductive success of Great Tits Parus major, and the phenology and abundance of the most abundant prey type in the nestling diet (Peridroma saucia moths, Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), were studied in orange groves in eastern Spain during three years. […]

Social relationships due to sex, age and morphology in Great Tits Parus major wintering in a mountainous habitat of Central Spain

Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 7 abstract Social relationships within a Great Tit Parus major population in a mountainous area in central Spain under winter conditions and in two consecutive years were studied. Three hierarchical classes were established using aggressive interactions between the individuals over artificial feeders: dominants, subdominants and subordinates. Sex, age and […]

Nest-building by crested tit Parus cristatus males:an analysis of costs and benefits

Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus) Science Article 2 abstract In a population of crested tits in Belgium, one out of three breeding males participated in nest-building. Since variation in the amount of nest-building among 11 building males was low, analysis of male nest-building allowed a logistic regression design. The probability of building increased with male condition […]

Site condition monitoring of the breeding aggregation of crested tits (Parus cristatus) on the North Rothiemurchus Pinewood Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus) Science Article 1 abstract The North Rothiemurchus Pinewood SSSI includes the breeding aggregation of crested tits as one of itsdesignation criteria. BTO Scotland was commissioned by SNH to undertake a survey of crested tits withinthe designated area in March 2005 for site condition monitoring (SCM) reporting. A second objective wasto provide […]

Survival to first breeding is not sex-specific in the Coal Tit (Parus ater)

Coal Tit (Parus ater) Science Article 1 abstract Differential survival of males and females affects the structure and dynamics of avian populations, but studying sex-specific survival rates is difficult. This is especially true for offspring if the period between hatching and first breeding is considered. Under certain conditions, however, the determination of offspring sex ratio, […]

Blue tits Parus caeruleus exploiting Gum Cistus capsules Cistus ladanifer as sources of arthropod food. ARDEA

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) Science Article 10 abstract The foraging behaviour of Blue Tit Parus caeruleus was studied in detail during the postbreeding period, and in this period they used Gum Cistus capsules quite intensively. We found arthropods in 57% of the examined capsules. The use of the capsules of this shrub demonstrates once again […]