bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Pattern and Time Specificity in Vocal Responses of Blackbirds Turdus Merula L
Authors: Wolffgramm Jochen , Todt Dietmar 
Published: April 2008

AbstractMale blackbirds (Turdus merula) were confronted with modified and unmodified playback copies of their own songs presented within the birds normal territories (Fig. 1). The vocal responses of the birds were recorded and correlated to the playback songs in respect to pattern specificity (song matching) and time specificity (distinct latencies). The following results were obtained: 1. The initial element of a song played a key role. If it was erased or masked by a pre-element the birds did not match the playback copies. In contrast erasure of the second element or the rest of the song following the second element did not affect song matching (Figs 3, 4). 2. The second element had an additional effect. The matching preference increased with a shortening of the pause between the first two elements, it decreased when the second element was substituted by an alien element (Figs 2, 3, 4). 3. A series of initial elements (identical or different element types) led to an inhibition of song matching. In contrast, copies including a doubling of the first two or three elements had a supernormal effect (Figs 4, 5). 4. Three types of song responses could be discriminated: in type I responses (latency: L = 0.1 s) the birds did not match the stimulus; in type II responses (L = 0.25-0.8 s) song matching was preferred; type III responses (L > 1 s) showed no time specificity towards onset of playback songs, but still a preference of song matching (Figs 6, 7). 5. In general, late matching responses (type III) were less preferred than rapid ones (type II) but the effects of different song modifications remained the same. 6. In type II responses, the temporal triggering of the reply and the recognition of the heard song class were not completely linked. In contrast to the neglectable influence of the third elements they were well able to trigger a reply (Fig. 9).
Minimising Errors in Splitting Behaviour Into Bouts
Authors: Slater P.J.B. , Lester N.P. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractSome problems in using log survivor functions to split behaviour into bouts are outlined. It is argued that it is usually best to choose that bout criterion which leads to the fewest within and between bout intervals being assigned to the wrong category. A way of doing this is illustrated and other possible criteria are considered. The influence of misassignment on data analysis is discussed and it is argued that where this is substantial analysis in terms of bouts may not be useful.
Geographic Similarity and Year-To-Year Retention of Song in the Clay-Colored Sparrow (Spizella Pallida)
Authors: Knapton Richard W. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe existence of dialects, individual variation in song within a population, and song retention from one year to the next were studied in populations of clay-colored sparrows in Manitoba and Ontario. Dialects were not found to exist in populations 12 km or 300 km apart in Manitoba. This was not because all songs were similar between the various areas, but because there were large variations among individuals within the different populations. An isolated population 2000 km distant in Ontario had only one characteristic different from the Manitoban populations; this difference is interpreted as arising from founding effects. Some factors which aid the development of dialects exist; males retained song types from one year to the next, and they showed a high rate of return between years on the study areas. However, in spite of potential isolating mechanisms (geographic separation and habitat differences), dialects did not develop, and it is argued that this results from an absence of song copying and cultural transmission of song pattern, and a lack of return of young to their natal area.
The Dawn Chorus in the Great Tit (Parus Major): Proximate and Ultimate Causes
Authors: Kacelnik Alejandro , Krebs John R. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract
The dawn chorus of the great tit can be interpreted from a functional point of view in terms of the following factors. (i) Climatic and other physical conditions in the early morning are unfavourable for foraging and favourable for acoustic communication. (ii) Overnight accumulation of territories favours early morning invasion by potential settlers. (iii) The combination of (i) and (ii) favours early morning territorial defence, including song. A laboratory experiment designed to investigate the proximate causes of allocation of time by territorial great tits to foraging vs. territorial activities (including song) showed that birds are more responsive to intruders when food availability is low. We discuss the relevance of our results to the dawn chorus in other animals and in other geographical regions.
Territoriality, Body Size, and Spacing in Males of the Beewolf Philanthus Basilaris (Hymenoptera; Sphecidae)
Authors: O'Neill Kevin M. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract1. Males of the digger wasp Philanthus basilaris defend and scent-mark small mating territories. There is a high rate of turnover of males on territories on both a daily and seasonal basis due, in part, to predation on territorial males and the large number of usurpations of territories. 2. The outcome of aggressive interactions on territories is determined by size differences among males, rather than by their status as resident or intruder. As a result, territory holders are larger on average than non-territorial males. The latter, however, remain in the area and attempt to usurp territories or replace residents that have abandoned their perches. Evidence suggests that larger territorial males are also less subject to predation by robberflies and conspecific females. 3. The type of mating system of this species resembles those defined as leks. Males established territories in groups of up to about 50. Nests of females were not found within aggregations of territories. There is a high potential for polygyny due to the lack of maternal care of offspring, dominance interactions which consistently favor larger males and result in intense sexual selection, and asynchronous emergence of females combined with potentially longlived males. Although large males are dominant, no body size related spatial structure to the aggregations could be identified. Aggregations of territories often occur in the same location from year to year, even though males live for only one season.
Relationships Between Social Structure and Response To Novelty in Captive Jackdaws, Corvus Monedula L. Ii. Response To Novel Palatable Food
Authors: Katzir Gadi 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe response of captive handreared jackdaws, Corvus monedula, in six groups, to novel palatable food was tested. i) Each group was tested as a whole. ii) Novel food (cockroaches, Periplaneta americana) was provided in a dish in a test room which the birds could enter from their home aviary at will. Ordinary food was simultaneously provided ad lib. iii) In each group one or two birds were most active in the approach and the feeding on the novel food, as measured by frequency of initiation of bouts of approach and feed and/or duration of feeding. iv) Birds that initiated most feeding bouts were the most likely to spend longest durations of feeding on the novel food. v) In all six groups the "initiators" were of mid of low social rank. vi) Socially top ranking birds were distinguished from all others by the combination of two features; (a) they did not act as initiators, and (b) they were not the last to peak in their duration of feeding on the novel food. These results are similar to those obtained for the response of the jackdaws to novel space. It gives further support to the idea that individual response to novelty is related to the social structure. Mid or low ranking individuals may benefit from being more exploratory, while top ranking birds may benefit more by being more conservative.
Variability in the Responses of Black-Billed Magpies To Natural Predators
Authors: Buitron Deborah 
Published: April 2008

AbstractEncounters between black-billed magpies (Pica pica) and a variety of natural predators were observed during 3 breeding seasons in Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. How a magpie responded to a potential predator appeared to depend on (1) the type of predator and the threat it posed to magpie eggs, nestlings, fledglings, and adults; (2) the behavior of the predator; and (3) the reproductive stage of the magpie. Raptors were the most frequently encountered potential predators, with magpies reacting more strongly to falcons than to hawks. Reactions to crows and squirrels were most frequent and intense during laying and incubation, while raptors in flight and coyotes were responded to most vigorously during the second half of the nestling period and the first two weeks of fledgling. Perched raptors were almost always mobbed vigorously. Diving to within 2 m of a predator appeared to be effective in driving it away. The roles of chasing and alarm calling were less clear, but in addition to alerting mates and offspring to danger, such behavior would impede efficient hunting by the predator and so might contribute to its departure. Only one successful act of predation was observed, but the evidence suggested that owls, hawks and falcons were responsible for most fledgling and adult mortality. No clear cases of nest predation by crows or squirrels occurred, but some clutches of eggs and broods of young nestlings disappeared. Although mates usually mobbed predators together, males were slightly more active, possibly because males were larger and because females were often occupied in the nest with incubation and brooding. Observations of wild fledglings and hand-raised magpies suggest that magpies have an innate fear response to a variety of stimuli and that fledglings gradually learn what to continue fearing from parents, other magpies, and their own experiences. I suggest that although parental investment theory may be basically correct in predicting that young increase in value to their parent as they approach independence, a variety of other factors may affect anti-predator behavior, such as (1) the types of predators likely to be encountered and the relative danger they pose to different age classes; (2) the ability of the parents to successfully drive off a particular predator; (3) the ability of the parents to re-nest that year; (4) the likelihood that a pair will be able to fledge young the following year.
Motivation of Harassment of Matings in Stumptailed Macaques
Authors: Niemeyer C.L. , Chamove A.S. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractA group of 12 wild-born adult stumptailed macaques and their 10 offspring, housed in an outdoor enclosure at Stirling University Primate Unit in Scotland, was intensively studied over two years and 271 copulations to account for vigorous harassment of mating pairs observed in this species. Three hypotheses were tested: that harassment (a) functions to protect the mating female from aggression by the mating male; (b) functions to reduce the reproductive potentials of mating monkeys; and (c) is motivated by possessiveness of a mating individual. The Protective Hypothesis was rejected. The Reproductive Potential Hypothesis received support only in that any male dominant to a mating male could consistently interrupt copulations. All other harassers not only failed to disrupt copulations, but harassed mating kin more than comparable non-kin. The Possessive Hypothesis received support: (a) females directed more harassment at matings of females, but not males, with whom they were most highly affiliative; males showed no such tendency; (b) the more desired contact partners, dominant adults, received more harassment than less "attractive" individuals; and (c) post-mating interactions indicated that normally strong bonds between mating monkeys and their usual companions were disrupted by the matings. In matrilineal Old World monkey groups, since the most enduring bonds arise between females, the function of harassment by females appears to be reinforcing access to allies, kin, and dominant individuals.
The Responsiveness of Newly Born Clun Forest Lambs To Odour Sources in the Ewe
Authors: Vince Margaret A. , Ward T.M. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract
Two groups of newly born lambs, twelve ("suckled" lambs) having been fed by the mother and aged between 3 and 21 h, and twelve ("unsuckled" lambs) taken at birth with minimal olfactory experience of the dam, were tested with the smell of three substances taken from the mother and three taken from an alien ewe. The substances were inguinal wax, wool and milk. Changes in heart and breathing rates and in behavioural activity were used as indices of the lambs' response. Results showed that lambs in both groups responded most markedly to the smell of wax. Behavioural responses consisted of head movements, oral activity and bleats and in unsuckled lambs were given significantly more to the smell of maternal, than of alien wax. Unsuckled lambs responded more to all six odour sources than did suckled lambs. In unsuckled lambs the rate of breathing rose significantly during stimulation with the smell of maternal wax and this response was also significantly different from that given by unsuckled lambs to alien wax. In suckled, but not unsuckled, lambs there was a significant rise in the heart rate during and after stimulation with maternal wax, but not in response to any other odour source. Results are discussed in terms of "teat-seeking" behaviour in newly born lambs and the question whether the unsuckled lambs' capacity to discriminate their own mother's from alien wax depends on prenatal olfactory experience.
Social Organization of Small Heterosexual Groups of Green Swordtails (Xiphophorus Helleri, Pisces, Poeciliidae) Under Conditions of Captivity
Authors: Beaugrand Jacques P. , Caron Jean , Comeau Louise 
Published: April 2008

Abstract
Sixteen populations, each of four male and four female green swordtail fish, were observed in 54 litre tanks separated into two unequal volumes by a partition allowing swimming from one area to another only at the surface. Each population was observed on 2-4 occasions, making a combined total of 50 observation periods of 2 hours each. Chase-right orders, spatial positions as well as several agonistic and epigamic behaviour units were noted during each period of observation. Males and females apparently form distinct hierarchies which are perfectly linear and transitive in 68% and 42% of the cases respectively. Some dominance structures are incomplete, but no intransitivity is noted. Alpha males are much more aggressive than their isosexual subordinates. In females, the frequency of aggressive behaviour appears to be more proportional to the social rank of the initiator, but the number of chases received from other females is the best indicator of rank in the female hierarchies. Alpha males are responsible for 80 % of all sexual activity and have privilege to behaviour leading to insemination with a high probability in 85 % of the cases. Females are not courted according to their position in the female hierarchy, nor to their size. In the two-compartment situation of the present study, which allowed spacing-out and visual isolation of the individuals, the alpha males occupied the larger area of the aquarium in the company of the four females while the three subordinate males were restricted to the smaller area, unaccompanied by any females. This spacing-out pattern emerged with neat regularity from the data and was apparently caused and maintained by aggressive behaviour, especially by charges, initiated by the alpha male toward male rivals. However, it is not evident that the behaviour of the alpha male should be neatly qualified as territorial defence, since specific-area-linked dominance was never realized in the present study. The social scheme most readily applicable to the present social and spatial organization is the "one male to several females" system or monarchistic male hierarchy, in which one male becomes very dominant over the others, occupies the larger area and is also the sole individual to court the females and to attempt insemination (haremic). These results support the sociobiological theorem that to dominate is to have priority of access to the necessities of life and reproduction.
Visual and Acoustic Display in Uca Mordax and U. Burgersi, Sibling Species of Neotropical Fiddler Crabs. Ii. Vibration Signals
Authors: VON HAGEN Heinrich-Otto 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe sibling species of fiddler crabs, Uca mordax and U. burgersi, which are very similar in respect to morphology and many traits of their waving display (see part I of this study), were studied bioacoustically in Trinidad (W.I.). When recording their vibration signals (mainly in the laboratory) it was, at the same time, possible to directly observe the animals' underground activities. The dominant vibration signals of the two species were found to be extremely different: males of U. mordax emit rapping sounds ("drumwhirls") by ambulatory percussion, whereas males of U. burgersi produce "howling" sounds (with a varying number of harmonics) by cheliped convulsion, i.e. inconspicuous quivering movements of this appendage. Similar interspecific differences exist in the fainter vibration signals of females. Each of the two species is capable of producing other signals in addition to the prevalent ones mentioned: U. mordax can emit cheliped vibrations as well (though percussive ones) and U. burgersi can also produce ambulatory "drumwhirls". From these and other basic similarities and from comparisons with recordings of burgersi sounds from Colombia and allopatric populations in Florida, the common starting-point and the different evolutionary pathways leading to the two species-specific termini of acoustic display are reconstructed. The extreme differences that were found for the sympatric situation in Trinidad are regarded as an example of character displacement. Apparently, the acoustic communication system of these crabs is much more affected by character displacement than the visual one.
Reproductive Behaviour and Ecology of Symphodus (Crenilabrus) Ocellatus, a European Wrasse With Four Types of Male Behaviour
Authors: Taborsky Michael , Hudde Barbara , Wirtz Peter 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe temperate, gonochoristic wrasse Symphodus ocellatus was studied in the field (Corsica). The largest males defend an area within which an average of 3-5 successive nests are built from algae. These brightly coloured, paternal, territorial males (T-males) spend between one and two thirds of their time during the 10-day nest cycle building the nest and fanning. They eat very little at this time, although they consume eggs and invertebrates in the nest, including egg predators. T-males occasionally take over neighbouring nests. Nest acquisition has two functions: nourishment (2/3 of all take-overs) and reproduction (1/3). T-males practising the latter save over 1/3 of the time of a complete nest cycle. Most take-over males that acquire nests solely for nourishment fan it, as do their reproducing counterparts. Small males with inconspicuous female colouration roam about and try to fertilize eggs parasitically when females spawn in T-males' nests. There are usually several of these "sneakers" around successful nests. Medium sized males (smaller than T-males and differently coloured) also cuckold T-males, but often display submissively to them. They participate in nest defence against conspecifics and in interactions with females, with an average effort that even exceeds that of the nest owners. Males displaying this "satellite behaviour" feed much less than sneakers and remain at one nest during most of its spawning phase. They are more tolerated by T-males than are sneakers, although they are on average only half as far away from the nest and thus much more frequently encountered by the T-male. The proportion of time a male spends as a satellite depends on its size. Usually only the largest accessory male at a nest behaves in this manner, though smaller males occasionally perform elements of satellite behaviour. Satellites never participate in nest building, courtship, direct broodcare or interspecific defence, nor do they take over abandoned nests. A fourth type of male, similar in size and appearance to sneakers and satellites, refrains from reproduction in a specific year. These males are perhaps future T-males. All females seem to participate in reproduction every year. They spawn repeatedly in the same nest over one day, but often change nests and T-males on successive days. Male tactics are roughly determined by size, but there are still choices to be made, such as when to give up a nest which has little spawning success, whether to build a nest or to attempt a take-over, or when to reproduce and whether to adopt the sneaker or satellite roles. The simultaneous occurrence of T-males, satellites and sneakers within a species is compared to a few other examples of diverse taxa.
Distance To Cover, Visual Obstructions, and Vigilance in House Sparrows
Authors: Lima Steven L. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractHouse sparrows (Passer domesticus) feeding away from protective cover decrease their level of vigilance as group size increases. In contrast to recent studies, however, their level of vigilance decreases when feeding farther from cover or in the presence of visual obstructions. These apparent discrepancies reflect the potential complexity in the response of vigilance to various aspects of the risk of predation; scanning need not necessarily increase with the risk of predation. Much work as to the exact nature of the factors influencing vigilance remains to be done before we can fully understand its response to various environmental manipulations.
Perceptual Imprinting: Stimulus Preferences, Age Effects, and Genetic Canalization
Authors: Kovach Joseph K. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe separate and interactive influences of genetically variable unconditional stimulus preference, age effects, and genetic canalization were studied in relation to perceptual imprinting in Japanese quail chicks (C. coturnix japonica). The chicks were drawn from populations subjected to 21 generations of bidirectional genetic selection for unconditional approach preference between blue and red stimuli. They were tested for age and stimulus effects in perceptual learning from synergistic and conflicting exposures to the genetically preferred and genetically unpreferred colours. Unselected quail chicks were tested as genetic controls, and the qualitative influences of exposures to colours were controlled by comparable exposures to white and other preference-wise neutral stimuli. The results indicate robust and developmentally stable gene effects in the quail's unconditional colour choices, developmentally persistent but episodically variable learning from exposures to colours of genetically variable preference values, and systematic genotype-environment interactions. Discussion focuses on the canalizing role of genetically variable unconditional stimulus preferences in the early developmental of behaviour.