Tag: Great Tit

Metabolic response to temperature variation in the great tit: an interpopulation comparison

Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 27 abstract We studied the resting metabolic rate (MR) from two great tit Parus major (Linnaeus) populations living in different winter regimes. Birds from the two different localities were exposed individually to +25 deg C, 0 deg C and -10 deg C for the night in three consecutive sessions […]

Spring temperatures and laying dates of first eggs of three passerines in Croatia

Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 34 abstract This study is based on the spring temperaturesand laying dates of first eggs of threepasserines (sedentary: Great Tit, Parus majorand Tree Sparrow, Passer montanus; migratory:Starling, Sturnus vulgaris). Laying datesof first eggs were used as estimates of timingof breeding. The term ‘laying date’ is definedas the date of […]

Diurnal mass gain strategies and perceived predation risk in the great tit Parus major

Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 30 abstract Individual animals optimize their body mass to enhance fitness and mass is expected to be optimized over both short and long time-scales. On the short time-scale small birds increase mass as they build up energy reserves over each day to avoid starving at night. Theory predicts that […]

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. […]

Inconsistent pattern of extra pair paternity in first and second broods of the Great T’it Parus major.

Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 3 abstract In this study we compare extra-pair paternity rates in first and second broods of 25 individual breeding pairs of the Great Tit Parus major. 24% of the first broods contained at least one nestling due to copulations outside the pair bond in contrast to 60% for second […]

Sexual dimorphism in susceptibility to parasites and cell-mediated immunity in great tit nestlings

Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 29 abstract Parasites can affect host fitness, provoke host responses, and thereby mediate host life history evolution. As life history strategies are often sex-specific, immunological or behavioural responses of the host aiming to reduce the impact of parasites may be sexually dimorphic, e.g. as a consequence of sex differences […]

The use of GIS in estimating spatial variation in habitat quality: a case study of lay-date in the Great Tit Parus major

Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 32 abstract Finding the most biologically meaningful scale at which to describe environmental variation is a persistent problem in ecology. Most studies of forest passerines are conducted at the scale of the habitat or woodland and do not account for environmental variation between individual breeding sites. Here we employ […]