Planet of Birds

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) Science Article 5 abstract Endocrine disruptors have well-known effects on vertebrate population sex ratios, buta variety of chemicals can also affect sex ratios of invertebrates. We tested whether sex ratios of

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) Science Article 3 abstract Oil sands mining is steadily expanding in Alberta, Canada. Major companies areplanning reclamation strategies for mine tailings, in which wetlands will be used for thebioremediation of water and sediments contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons andnaphthenic acids during the extraction process. A series of experimental wetlands were built […]

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) Science Article 7 abstract An experimental tree swallow population wasestablished in the headwaters of the Shenandoah River,Virginia, USA to assess the accumulation and effects ofmercury contamination on birds that eat emergent aquaticinsects. One tributary, the South River, was contaminatedwith mercury before 1950. Reproductive success of swallowsnesting within 50 m of this […]

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) Science Article 13 abstract Past and continuing discharges of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have contaminated the natural resources of the Hudson River. The Hudson River Natural Resource Trustees – New York State, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of the Interior – are conducting a natural resource damage assessment […]

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) Science Article 8 abstract Much previous research has focussed on the role of food supply in determining thegrowth and the survival of avian offspring. More recently, acid deposition in someecosystems has demonstrated that in addition to energy, birds also need to acquiresufficient nutrients such as calcium to be successful. Whether procurement […]

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) Science Article 9 abstract Swallows are parasitized rarely by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater). I added cowbird eggs to 15 Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nests. One egg disappeared and seven failed to hatch whereas 63 of 66 host eggs hatched. The seven cowbird hatchlings died in 3-12 (mean = 6.3) d, whereas […]

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) Science Article 6 abstract We studied the reproductive biology of a box-nesting population of Tree SwallowsTachycineta bicolor in southeastern Wisconsin, USA. We were interested particularlyin the relationship between laying order and hatching order and the extent to whicheach was a predictor of nestling body mass. We found that laying order was […]