Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 31 abstract Maternal yolk hormones can enhance the development and phenotypic quality of nestling birds. Nevertheless, within species large differences in yolk androgen concentrations among clutches are observed. This differential allocation of maternal yolk hormones might be explained by a trade-off between beneficial effects of yolk androgens and their […]
Tag: Parus major
Delays of the hatching dates in Great Tits Parus major: Effects on breeding performance
Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 21 abstract The effects of delays of hatching date, caused by temporary interruptions or lengthening of breeding activities such as nest building, laying or incubation, on several fitness-related components were studied in a Great Tit Parus major population in eastern Spain. Hatching delays were relatively more frequent during an […]
Are unseen effects of early environment negligible? Threeexamples in great tits (Parus major)
Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 9 abstract Three case studies failed to demonstrate impacts of early environment or maternal effects on breeding in situationswhere they could have been expected. This leads to a number of methodological questions about the resolving power requiredto detect such impacts, but above all else to the conclusion that maternal […]
Great Tit Parus major survival and the beech-crop cycle
Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 2 abstract The single most important environmental variable correlating with annual survival of both juvenile and adult Great Tits Parus major is the beech crop index (BCI). This index is a measure for the amount of seeds of beeches present in the winter, and correlates with crop size of […]
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 […]
The costs of egg production and incubationin great tits (Parus major)
Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 35 abstract The costs of egg production and incubation may have a crucial e
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 […]
Predator-induced take-off strategy in great tits(Parus major)
Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 10 abstract When birds are attacked by predators the initial take-o
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 […]
Paternal leakage of mitochondrial DNA in the great tit
Great Tit (Parus major) Science Article 25 abstract The animal mitochondrial DNA is normally inherited clonally from mother to all her offspring. Mitochondrial heteroplasmy, the occurrence of more than one mitochondrial haplotype within an individual can be generated by relatively common somatic mutations within an individual, by heteroplasmy of the oocytes or by paternal leakage […]