Planet of Birds

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) Science Article 16 abstract Data from 939 nests of the Blue Tit Parus caeruleus and 1008 nests of the Great Tit P. major from nestboxes provided in superabundance in mixed forest study sites between 1976 and 2001 were analysed to examine the effects of mate retention on breeding success and the […]

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) Science Article 7 abstract A set of mensural and plumage pattern characters is analyzed by Standardized Principal Component Analysis over the entire range of the Parus caeruleus-Parus cyanus species complex. Clinal size variation in P. caeruleus extends into P. cyanus without discontinuity. The latter species has the largest specimens within the […]

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) Science Article 13 abstract Parental behaviour of Blue Tits Parus caeruleus was video-recorded and analysed in an insular Mediterranean population that is believed to be adapted to food-limited conditions of an evergreen woodland. The population undergoes high external parasitism by blowflies (Protocalliphora). Contribution of male and female mates to parental care […]

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) Science Article 8 abstract Mosaic landscapes with patches dominated by either evergreen or summergreen oaks have been formerly hypothesized to function as a source-sink system for Blue Tits. We confirmed that in 1991 the food phenology and timing of breeding was as expected in one evergreen and one summergreen plot near […]

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) Science Article 18 abstract Ultraviolet (UV) signals are suggested to be sexually selected in a wide range of taxa. Most research, however, has focused on the role of UV signals in mate choice, whereas possible functions in intraspecific competition remain largely untested Oscar Vedder, Behavioral Ecology, 2008 Download article download full […]

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) Science Article 19 abstract In socially monogamous species, extra-pair paternity can increase the variance in reproductive successand thereby the potential for sexual selection on male ornaments. We studied whether male secondarysexual ornaments are selected through within- and/or extra-pair reproductive success in the blue tit (Paruscaeruleus). Kaspar Delhey et al, Proc. R. […]

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) Science Article 3 abstract We hypothesized that changes in life history traits of populations on islands, especially the components of nicheenlargement, habitat tenacity and reduced dispersal of the ‘insular syndrome’, would result in greater rather than smallerphenotypic variation in populations on islands as compared to mainland counterparts. We tested these predictions […]

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) Science Article 21 abstract When prey are attacked by predators, escape ability has an obvious influence on the probability of survival. Laboratory studieshave suggested that flight performance of female birds might be affected by egg production. This is the first study of changesin take-off ability, and thus potentially in predation risk, […]

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) Science Article 6 abstract A prerequisite for understanding adaptation is to understand how populations respond to environmental heterogeneity. We chose the blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus and Mediterranean habitat mosaics which exhibit a large diversity of habitats for analysing the effects of environmental heterogeneity on phenotypic variation. Three main factors of heterogeneity […]

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) Science Article 15 abstract Many bird species face seasonal and spatial variation in the availability of the specific food required to rear chicks. Caterpillar availability is often identified as the most important factor determining chick quality and breeding success in forest birds, such as tits Parus spp. It is assumed that […]