Buff-throated Saltator (Saltator maximus) Science Article 1 abstract The relationship between army ants and birds in Neotropical forests has been studied carefully by Willis and others (see Willis and Oniki 1978, and included references). The birds that attend the ant swarms forage upon the invertebrates and small vertebrates that flee the ants (Willis and Oniki […]
THE NESTING OF SOME VENEZUELAN BIRDS
Buff-breasted Wren (Thryothorus leucotis) Science Article 4 abstract I passed the interval from 15 March to 24 July 1966 at ‘La Araguata,’ a large cattle farmsituated among the hills near Pirapira, some 20 miles south of Valencia in the state ofCarabobo, Venezuela. Although most of my time was devoted to the study of the RufousfrontedThornbird […]
FIRST RECORD OF COOPERATIVE BREEDING IN ATHRYOTHORUS WREN
Buff-breasted Wren (Thryothorus leucotis) Science Article 3 abstract Although offspring delay dispersal past the age of independence in many Thryothorus species,cooperative breeding has not been recorded in this genus. Here, I present the first observation of cooperativebreeding in a Thryothorus wren (Buff-breasted Wren, T. leucotis). Of 41 offspring that delayed dispersal pastthe age of independence, […]
Context matters: female aggression andtestosterone in a year-round territorialneotropical songbird (Thryothorus leucotis)
Buff-breasted Wren (Thryothorus leucotis) Science Article 2 abstract Testosterone promotes aggressive behaviour in male vertebrates during the breeding season, but theimportance of testosterone in female aggression remains unclear. Testosterone has both beneficial anddetrimental effects on behaviour and physiology, prompting the hypothesis that selection favours anassociation between aggression and testosterone only in certain contexts in which […]
Timing and duration of egg laying in duettingBuff-breasted Wrens
Buff-breasted Wren (Thryothorus leucotis) Science Article 1 abstract Using direct observations of Buff-breasted Wrens (Thryothorus leucotis), I examined timing andduration of egg laying, the behavior of females and males around the time of laying, and duetting and solo singingon laying and non-laying mornings. When laying, females roosted either alone in breeding nests or with their […]
ROOSTING BEHAVIOR OF THE BROWN-THROATED PARAKEET(ARATINGA PERTINAX) AND ROOST LOCATIONS ON FOURSOUTHERN CARIBBEAN ISLANDS
Brown-throated Parakeet (Aratinga pertinax) Science Article 1 abstract The four subspecies of the Brown-throated Parakeet (Aratinga pertinax) endemic to the southernCaribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, and Margarita form nocturnal roosts of several dozento several hundred birds on their respective islands. The locations of the roosts were stable during our onetotwo-week visits to each of […]
SPECIES RECOGNITION IN A VOCAL MIMIC: REPETITION PATTERN NOT THE ONLY CUE USED BY NORTHERNMOCKINGBIRDS IN DISCRIMINATING SONGS OF CONSPECIFICS AND BROWN THRASHERS
Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Science Article 5 abstract Vocal mimics that produce large repertoires of song types, such as in the Mimidae, have uniquechallenges discriminating songs of conspecifics from those of other mimids in areas where these species cooccur.We investigated cues used by Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) in discriminating their songsfrom songs of a sympatric […]
Song learning in birds: diversity and plasticity, opportunities and challenges
Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Science Article 10 abstract A common trend in neuroscience is convergence on selected model systems. Underlying this approach is an often implicit assumption that mechanisms observed in one species are characteristic of all related species. Although themodel systemapproach has been extremelyproductive, itmight not account for all of themechanistic differences between species […]
Prevalence of Bill Abnormalities in Florida Brown Thrashers
Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Science Article 1 abstract The Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) in Florida exHibits a high rate of occurrence of an elongated sickle-bill type of abnormality. This observation became evident after having reviewed the literature on the subject and after I captured an apparently healthy thrasherwith an elongated, decurved bill in north Tampa, […]
BROOD PARASITISM BY BROWN-HEADED COWBIRDS ONBROWN THRASHERS: FREQUENCY AND RATES OF REJECTION
Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Science Article 6 abstract Rates of brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds Molothrus ater on nests of Brown Thrashers Toxostoma rufum in south-central North Dakota ranged from 3% to 18% from 1984-1986. The average observed rate of parasitism, 12%, was higher than typically reported for Brown Thrashers. We conducted an experiment to […]