The artificial nestbox on an Asian White Birch (Betula platyphylla) (1360 m in elevation) was used by a pair of Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia) in Beijing, and five eggs were found in the nest in 2005....The artificial nestbox on an Asian White Birch (Betula platyphylla) (1360 m in elevation) was used by a pair of Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia) in Beijing, and five eggs were found in the nest in 2005. One was much larger and was identified as the Oriental Cuckoo’s (Cuculus optatus) egg.展开更多
The study of defense behavior development in pied flycatcher altricial nestlings has shown that preceding visual deprivation decreased the capability to freeze in the young. At the same time, auditory thresholds of de...The study of defense behavior development in pied flycatcher altricial nestlings has shown that preceding visual deprivation decreased the capability to freeze in the young. At the same time, auditory thresholds of deprived nestlings were lower than those of the nestlings developing in unaltered visual environment. Our goal in the present work was to study effects of visual input on the functional development of neural circuitry for flycatcher’s acoustically-guided defensive behavior. We compared the immunohistochemical response of transcription factors ZENK and c-Fos in the nestlings’ auditory telencephalic structures in visually deprived and non-deprived flycatcher nestlings to alarm calls emitted by adult birds. We have demonstrated that the development of flycatcher nestlings under the conditions of limited visual afferentation results in the decrease of induction of the immediate-early genes c-Fos and ZENK in auditory structures of 9-day-old nestlings performing auditory-guided defense behavior. The most marked decrease of induction of both genes is observed in Field L. Our data suggest that visual afferentation affects neuronal activations in higher auditory structures of nestlings’ brain that, in turn, may increase the efficiency of species-typical alarm call. Thus, the work demonstrated for the first time that visual affererntation facilitates the growth of efficiency of alarm call affecting the activity of neurons in auditory integrative structures.展开更多
Background:Genes of the major histocompatibility complex(MHC)are an important component of the vertebrate immune system and play a significant role in mate choice in animal populations.However,the MHC genetic targets ...Background:Genes of the major histocompatibility complex(MHC)are an important component of the vertebrate immune system and play a significant role in mate choice in animal populations.However,the MHC genetic targets of female mate choice have not been clearly identified,and whether female mate choice is based on neutral genetic characteristics remains an open question.Here,we focus on the effects of morphological traits and genetic similarity among individuals in MHC class IIB(MHC IIB)exon 2 on mating in a sexually dimorphic songbird that exhibits social monogamy with extra-pair paternity(EPP).Methods:We sequenced 64 parent-offspring triads sampled over a 3-year period using two MHC class II loci to detect disassortative mating in the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher(Ficedula zanthopygia).Results:We found that MHC similarity in social pairs was lower than that in random pairs.Extra-pair mate choice according to MHC IIB was observed,in which females’extra-pair mates had fewer MHC alleles than their within-pair mates,but there was no significant band-sharing between extra-pair sires and potential extra-pair mates.However,the interaction between the MHC diversity of females and that of the social males affected the occurrence of EPP.Conclusions:Our results support the“optimality hypothesis”of MHC-based social and extra-pair choice.Female choice probably maintains a certain level of MHC diversity in offspring in the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher.展开更多
Background:In bird species where offspring growth and survival rely on parents’food provisioning,parents can maximise their fitness by increasing the quantity and/or the quality of preys delivered to their offspring....Background:In bird species where offspring growth and survival rely on parents’food provisioning,parents can maximise their fitness by increasing the quantity and/or the quality of preys delivered to their offspring.Many studies have focused on inter-individual variation in feeding rate,yet this measure may not accurately reflect the total amount of food(i.e.energy)provided by parents if there is large variation in the quantity and quality of preys at each feeding.Here,we explored the relative role of individual(sex,age,body condition),breeding(hatching date,brood size)and environmental(temperature)factors on feeding rate,prey number,size and quality,and their contribution to total prey biomass delivered to the nestlings of 164 Collared Flycatcher(Ficedula albicollis)parents in 98 nests.Results:Preys delivered to the nest were mainly larvae(53.6%)and flying insects(45.6%).Feeding rate increased with brood size and age,and was higher in males than females.Mean prey number decreased,but mean prey size increased,as the season progressed and parents feeding their brood with primary larvae brought more preys per visit.Relationships between feeding rate,mean prey number and size remained when taking into account the provision-ing quality:parents brought either a large number of small prey or a small number of larger items,and the force of the trade-offs between feeding rate and mean prey number and size depended on the quality of the provisioning of the parents.Whatever the percentage of larvae among preys in the provisioning,the variance in total prey biomass was foremost explained by feeding rate(65.1%to 76.6%)compared to mean prey number(16.4%to 26%)and prey size(2.7%to 4%).Conclusions:Our study shows that variation in feeding rate,prey number,size,but not quality(i.e.percentage of lar-vae),were influenced by individual factors(sex and age)and breeding decisions(brood size and timing of breeding)and that,whatever the provisioning strategy adopted,feeding rate was the best proxy of the total biomass delivered to the nestlings.展开更多
The Black-winged Monarch(Monarcha frater)inhabits low-mid elevation forests across New Guinea and far northeastern Australia.Of its four recognized subspecies,M.f.canescens is migratory,breeding in tropical north-east...The Black-winged Monarch(Monarcha frater)inhabits low-mid elevation forests across New Guinea and far northeastern Australia.Of its four recognized subspecies,M.f.canescens is migratory,breeding in tropical north-eastern Australia from approximately November–March.The non-breeding range of M.f.canescens,apart from some individuals overwintering in Australia,has been unknown for>100 years.Data from 194 New Guinean and Australian specimens and a literature review have not solved this mystery;the narrow latitudinal range of the intratropical migration may inhibit use of GPS loggers in resolving the migration route.Field work in central and western parts of southern New Guinea is needed.Specimen data,however,revealed an essentially overlooked population in north-western New Guinea east of the Bird's Head Peninsula phenotypically indistinguishable from nominate M.f.frater of that Peninsula.Future genomic analysis of the complex will be largely done from toepad skin because frozen tissue samples for DNA analysis exist only of four individuals of what we suggest should be elevated to species rank as M.periophthalmicus.We discuss how genomic analysis might distinguish among alternative taxonomic hypotheses of one,two or three species.We suggest English names for what we consider to be three diagnosable taxa worth recognizing at species rank in this group:Arfak Monarch corresponding to M.frater(Bird's Head Peninsula and the“new”population of north-western New Guinea);Pearly Monarch for M.canescens(Australia and still unknown non-breeding range),and Masked Monarch for M.periophthalmicus(including kunupi,elsewhere in New Guinea).展开更多
文摘The artificial nestbox on an Asian White Birch (Betula platyphylla) (1360 m in elevation) was used by a pair of Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia) in Beijing, and five eggs were found in the nest in 2005. One was much larger and was identified as the Oriental Cuckoo’s (Cuculus optatus) egg.
文摘The study of defense behavior development in pied flycatcher altricial nestlings has shown that preceding visual deprivation decreased the capability to freeze in the young. At the same time, auditory thresholds of deprived nestlings were lower than those of the nestlings developing in unaltered visual environment. Our goal in the present work was to study effects of visual input on the functional development of neural circuitry for flycatcher’s acoustically-guided defensive behavior. We compared the immunohistochemical response of transcription factors ZENK and c-Fos in the nestlings’ auditory telencephalic structures in visually deprived and non-deprived flycatcher nestlings to alarm calls emitted by adult birds. We have demonstrated that the development of flycatcher nestlings under the conditions of limited visual afferentation results in the decrease of induction of the immediate-early genes c-Fos and ZENK in auditory structures of 9-day-old nestlings performing auditory-guided defense behavior. The most marked decrease of induction of both genes is observed in Field L. Our data suggest that visual afferentation affects neuronal activations in higher auditory structures of nestlings’ brain that, in turn, may increase the efficiency of species-typical alarm call. Thus, the work demonstrated for the first time that visual affererntation facilitates the growth of efficiency of alarm call affecting the activity of neurons in auditory integrative structures.
基金The study was financed by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.31801976 to ME and No.20111938 to HW)the University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program of Jilin Province(No.202010205057 to ME)the Natural Science Foundation of Changchun Normal University.
文摘Background:Genes of the major histocompatibility complex(MHC)are an important component of the vertebrate immune system and play a significant role in mate choice in animal populations.However,the MHC genetic targets of female mate choice have not been clearly identified,and whether female mate choice is based on neutral genetic characteristics remains an open question.Here,we focus on the effects of morphological traits and genetic similarity among individuals in MHC class IIB(MHC IIB)exon 2 on mating in a sexually dimorphic songbird that exhibits social monogamy with extra-pair paternity(EPP).Methods:We sequenced 64 parent-offspring triads sampled over a 3-year period using two MHC class II loci to detect disassortative mating in the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher(Ficedula zanthopygia).Results:We found that MHC similarity in social pairs was lower than that in random pairs.Extra-pair mate choice according to MHC IIB was observed,in which females’extra-pair mates had fewer MHC alleles than their within-pair mates,but there was no significant band-sharing between extra-pair sires and potential extra-pair mates.However,the interaction between the MHC diversity of females and that of the social males affected the occurrence of EPP.Conclusions:Our results support the“optimality hypothesis”of MHC-based social and extra-pair choice.Female choice probably maintains a certain level of MHC diversity in offspring in the Yellow-rumped Flycatcher.
文摘Background:In bird species where offspring growth and survival rely on parents’food provisioning,parents can maximise their fitness by increasing the quantity and/or the quality of preys delivered to their offspring.Many studies have focused on inter-individual variation in feeding rate,yet this measure may not accurately reflect the total amount of food(i.e.energy)provided by parents if there is large variation in the quantity and quality of preys at each feeding.Here,we explored the relative role of individual(sex,age,body condition),breeding(hatching date,brood size)and environmental(temperature)factors on feeding rate,prey number,size and quality,and their contribution to total prey biomass delivered to the nestlings of 164 Collared Flycatcher(Ficedula albicollis)parents in 98 nests.Results:Preys delivered to the nest were mainly larvae(53.6%)and flying insects(45.6%).Feeding rate increased with brood size and age,and was higher in males than females.Mean prey number decreased,but mean prey size increased,as the season progressed and parents feeding their brood with primary larvae brought more preys per visit.Relationships between feeding rate,mean prey number and size remained when taking into account the provision-ing quality:parents brought either a large number of small prey or a small number of larger items,and the force of the trade-offs between feeding rate and mean prey number and size depended on the quality of the provisioning of the parents.Whatever the percentage of larvae among preys in the provisioning,the variance in total prey biomass was foremost explained by feeding rate(65.1%to 76.6%)compared to mean prey number(16.4%to 26%)and prey size(2.7%to 4%).Conclusions:Our study shows that variation in feeding rate,prey number,size,but not quality(i.e.percentage of lar-vae),were influenced by individual factors(sex and age)and breeding decisions(brood size and timing of breeding)and that,whatever the provisioning strategy adopted,feeding rate was the best proxy of the total biomass delivered to the nestlings.
文摘The Black-winged Monarch(Monarcha frater)inhabits low-mid elevation forests across New Guinea and far northeastern Australia.Of its four recognized subspecies,M.f.canescens is migratory,breeding in tropical north-eastern Australia from approximately November–March.The non-breeding range of M.f.canescens,apart from some individuals overwintering in Australia,has been unknown for>100 years.Data from 194 New Guinean and Australian specimens and a literature review have not solved this mystery;the narrow latitudinal range of the intratropical migration may inhibit use of GPS loggers in resolving the migration route.Field work in central and western parts of southern New Guinea is needed.Specimen data,however,revealed an essentially overlooked population in north-western New Guinea east of the Bird's Head Peninsula phenotypically indistinguishable from nominate M.f.frater of that Peninsula.Future genomic analysis of the complex will be largely done from toepad skin because frozen tissue samples for DNA analysis exist only of four individuals of what we suggest should be elevated to species rank as M.periophthalmicus.We discuss how genomic analysis might distinguish among alternative taxonomic hypotheses of one,two or three species.We suggest English names for what we consider to be three diagnosable taxa worth recognizing at species rank in this group:Arfak Monarch corresponding to M.frater(Bird's Head Peninsula and the“new”population of north-western New Guinea);Pearly Monarch for M.canescens(Australia and still unknown non-breeding range),and Masked Monarch for M.periophthalmicus(including kunupi,elsewhere in New Guinea).
