Planet of Birds

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 16 abstract Despite considerable interest in its occurrence or potential occurrence (e.g., Lorenz 1963), both direct and circumstantial evidence of intraspecific killing in adult passerinesis rare (see Davis 1940, Cottrille 1950, Grubbs 1977, Loflin 1982). The purpose of this note is to add to this meager data base by […]

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) Science Article 14 abstract The environment experienced during ontogeny has a significant impact on the physiological condition of offspring. This, in turn, forecasts survival probabilities and future reproductive potential. Despite the prominent role that the concept of condition plays in evolutionary studies, the physiological and biochemical characters that define it remain […]

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) Science Article 2 abstract The fact that avian eggs contain antibody of maternal origin is well documented, but only recently has this phenomenon been considered in an ecological context. We used tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) to examine the possibility of transgenerational immunity and its effect on nestling growth and immune development. […]

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) Science Article 17 abstract We reduced or increased tree swallow, Tachycineta bicolor (Vieillot, 1808), clutch sizes by three eggs (50% of modal clutch size) to test experimentally for relationships between stress and parasite loads. In the first year of the study (1996), we enumerated two measures of stress (granulocyte to non-granulocyte […]

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 […]