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327 results for “Wild birds”
Data from: Causal link between insulin-like growth factor 1 and growth in nestlings of a wild passerine bird
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Data from: Carotenoid coloration is related to fat digestion efficiency in a wild bird
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Data from: Partitioning of genetic variation across the genome using multimarker methods in a wild bird population
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Data from: Intralocus sexual conflict over wing length in a wild migratory bird
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High MHC diversity confers no advantage for phenotypic quality and reproductive performance in a wild bird
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Social learning of acoustic anti-predator cues occurs between wild bird species
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Data from: Wild birds affected by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) worldwide: Epidemiological insights into the recent panzootic
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Food availability, energetic constraints, and reproductive development in a wild bird: Central Arizona Phoenix
For many animals, the seasonal timing (phenology) of gonad cycles is an important adaptation to local environmental conditions. The available evidence suggests that birds adjust to urban areas by advancing the phenology of vernal gonad growth. To test whether the habitat-related disparity in gonad growth phenology is due to energetic constraints, we measured energetic status (i.e., body condition and fat stores) and hypothalamic levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY, a neuropeptide that potentially links food abundance to reproductive endocrine activity) of urban and desert Abert’s Towhees, Melozone aberti. To shed light on the physiological mechanism underlying variation in gonad growth phenology, we compared the (neuro)endocrine activity of the reproductive system at the hypothalamic (gonadotropin -releasing hormone [GnRH] and -inhibitory hormone [GnIH]) and gonadal (baseline plasma testosterone [T] and ‘GnRH challenge’-induced) levels, as well as the morphology dependent on these processes (paired testes mass, seminiferous tubule diameter, and cloacal protuberance width).
Data from: Negative effects of individual heterozygosity on reproductive success in a wild bird population
<p>The evolutionary consequences of individual genetic diversity are frequently studied by assessing heterozygosity-fitness correlations (HFCs). The prevalence of positive and negative HFCs and the predominance of general versus local effects in wild populations are far from understood, partly because comprehensive studies testing for both inbreeding and outbreeding depression are lacking. We studied a genetically diverse population of blue tits in southern Germany using a genome-wide set of 87 microsatellites to investigate the relationship between proxies of reproductive success and measures of multi-locus and single-locus individual heterozygosity (MLH and SLH). We used complimentary measures of MLH and partitioned markers into functional categories according to their position in the blue tit genome. HFCs based on MLH were consistently negative for functional loci, whereas correlations were rather inconsistent for loci found in non-functional areas of the genome. Clutch size was the only reproductive variable showing a general effect. We found evidence for local effects for three measures of reproductive success: arrival date at the breeding site, the probability of breeding at the study site, and male reproductive success. For these, we observed consistent, and relatively strong, negative effects at one functional locus. Remarkably, this marker had a similar effect in another blue tit population from Austria (~400 km to the east). We suggest that a genetic local effect on timing of arrival might be responsible for most negative HFCs detected, with carry-over effects on other reproductive traits. This effect could reflect individual differences in the distance between overwintering areas and breeding sites.</p>
Age-dependent phenological plasticity in a wild bird
<p>Life-history traits are often plastic in response to environmental factors such as temperature or precipitation, and they also vary with age in many species. Trait variation during the lifetime could thus be partly driven by age-dependent plasticity in these traits.</p> <p>We study whether plasticity of a phenological trait – the egg-laying date – with respect to spring temperature, varies with age, and explore whether this variation relates to changes in breeding success throughout the life cycle.</p> <p>We use data from a four-decade long-term monitoring of a wild population of blue tits in Corsica to estimate age-dependent plasticity of reproductive phenology and annual reproductive success.</p> <p>We show that both laying date plasticity and annual reproductive success vary with age: young and old females are less plastic, and fledge fewer offspring, than middle-age females. Furthermore, in contrast to young and prime-age females, in old females fledging success does not depend on laying date. 5. Phenological plasticity is a major mechanism for coping with rapid environmental variation. Our results suggest that understanding its role in adaptation to climate change and population persistence requires integrating the age structure of the population.</p>
Data from: Stable producer–scrounger dynamics in wild birds: sociability and learning speed covary with scrounging behaviour
There has been extensive game-theoretic modelling of conditions leading to equilibria of producer–scrounger dichotomies in groups. However there is a surprising paucity of experimental evidence in wild populations. Here, we examine producer–scrounger games in five subpopulations of birds feeding at a socially learnt foraging task. Over four weeks, a bimodal distribution of producers and scroungers emerged in all areas, with pronounced and consistent individual tactic specialization persisting over 3 years. Tactics were unrelated to exploratory personality, but correlated with latency to contact and learn the foraging task, with the late arrivers and slower learners more likely to adopt the scrounging role. Additionally, the social environment was also important: at the broad scale, larger subpopulations with a higher social density contained proportionally more scroungers, while within subpopulations scroungers tended to be central in the social network and be observed in larger foraging flocks. This study thus provides a rare example of a stable, dimorphic distribution of producer–scrounger tactics in a wild population. It further gives support across multiple scales for a major prediction of social foraging theory; that the frequency of scroungers increases with group size.
Data from: Carry-over effects of the social environment on future divorce probability in a wild bird population
Initial mate choice and re-mating strategies (infidelity and divorce) influence individual fitness. Both of these should be influenced by the social environment, which determines the number and availability of potential partners. While most studies looking at this relationship take a population-level approach, individual-level responses to variation in the social environment remain largely unexplored. Here, we explore carry-over effects on future mating decisions of the social environment in which the initial mating decision occurred,. Using detailed data on the winter social networks of great tits we tested whether the probability of subsequent divorce, a year later, could be predicted by measures of the social environment at the time of pairing. We found that males that had a lower proportion of female associates, and whose partner ranked lower amongst these, as well as inexperienced breeders, were more likely to divorce after breeding. We found no evidence that a female's social environment influenced the probability of divorce. Our findings highlight the importance of the social environment that individuals experience during initial pair formation on later pairing outcomes, and demonstrate that such effects can be delayed. Exploring these extended effects of the social environment can give valuable insights into processes and selective pressures acting upon the mating strategies that individuals adopt.
Data from: Within-family parent-offspring co-adaptation in a wild bird: on static traits, behavioural reaction norms and sex differences
Parental care, a central component of reproduction in a wide range of animal species, often involves elaborate behavioural interactions between parents and their offspring. Due to the reciprocal nature of these interactions, it has been hypothesized that parental and offspring behaviours (e.g. parental food provisioning and offspring begging) are not only target but also agent of selection. These traits are therefore expected to co-evolve, ultimately leading to co-adaptation of parent and offspring behaviours within families. However, empirical data on such parent-offspring co-adaptation are limited, particularly for wild populations. Furthermore, mean levels of behaviour (as measured in previous studies) may not adequately describe the dynamic nature of the reciprocal interplay between parents and their offspring, and instead rather the behavioural reaction norms for provisioning and begging may be co-adapted. We applied a large-scale cross-fostering study over 3 consecutive breeding seasons to investigate whether provisioning behaviour of wild blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) parents co-varies with the begging behaviour of their genetic, cross-fostered offspring. We simultaneously analysed parent and offspring behaviours, both as static traits (mean levels) and behavioural reaction norms (offspring begging as a function of food deprivation and parental provisioning as a function of short-term experimental changes in brood size). Neither maternal nor paternal provisioning rates co-varied with the begging intensity of their genetic offspring when analysed as mean levels of behaviour. However, the slopes of the reaction norms for provisioning and begging were negatively correlated between male, but not female, parents and their genetic offspring. Thus, fathers that change their provisioning rate strongly with brood size sire offspring whose level of begging only weakly increases with hunger, and vice versa. The observed co-variation suggests the existence of sex-specific optima for parent-offspring trait combinations. Thus, our study not only highlights the importance of a behavioural reaction norm approach when investigating parent-offspring interactions, but also stresses the relevance of considering parents as separate units, at least for biparental species.
Data from: Dynamic changes in DNA methylation during embryonic and postnatal development of an altricial wild bird
DNA methylation could shape phenotypic responses to environmental cues and underlie developmental plasticity. Environmentally induced changes in DNA methylation during development can give rise to stable phenotypic traits and thus affect fitness. In the laboratory, it has been shown that the vertebrate methylome undergoes dynamic reprogramming during development, creating a critical window for environmentally induced epigenetic modifications. Studies of DNA methylation in the wild are lacking, yet are essential for understanding how genes and the environment interact to affect phenotypic development and ultimately fitness. Furthermore, our knowledge of the establishment of methylation patterns during development in birds is limited. We quantified genome-wide DNA methylation at various stages of embryonic and postnatal development in an altricial passerine bird, the great tit Parus major. While there was no change in global DNA methylation in embryonic tissue during the second half of embryonic development, a two-fold increase in DNA methylation in blood occurred between 6 and 15 d posthatch. Though not directly comparable, DNA methylation levels were higher in the blood of nestlings compared with embryonic tissue at any stage of prenatal development. This provides the first evidence that DNA methylation undergoes global change during development in a wild bird, supporting the hypothesis that methylation mediates phenotypic development. Furthermore, the plasticity of DNA methylation demonstrated during late postnatal development, in the present study, suggests a wide window during which DNA methylation could be sensitive to environmental influences. This is particularly important for our understanding of the mechanisms by which early-life conditions influence later-life performance. While we found no evidence for differences in genome-wide methylation in relation to habitat of origin, environmental variation is likely to be an important driver of variation in methylation at specific loci.
Data from: Challenging the conceptual framework of maintenance hosts for influenza A viruses in wild birds
1.The conceptual framework considering Anseriformes and Charadriiformes as the main maintenance hosts for influenza A viruses (IAV) in wild birds has shaped IAV research and surveillance over the last decades. 2.We challenge this framework by reviewing the worldwide surveillance data on non-Anseriformes and non-Charadriiformes (NANC) species, generally considered as playing little role in IAV maintenance, available in literature and online data bases (close to 200 sources). 3.Globally, we found an IAV infection rate of 1.51% (95% CI, 1.44%–1.59%) for c.101 000 birds tested from NANC species. If Anseriformes have, as expected, a higher infection rate than any other bird orders, eight bird orders have an infection rate higher or close to the Charadriiformes infection rate, challenging the status of Charadriiformes. 4.We interpret the attention paid in favour of Charadriiformes by an extrapolation bias from data collected in hotspots of IAV infection in Charadriiformes (e.g. Delaware Bay, USA). 5.The growing data on IAV in wild birds worldwide, summarised here, supports two non-exclusive hypotheses: (i) the quality of the diagnostic tools and techniques used explain the patterns observed; (ii) IAV maintenance is determined by complex multi-host systems composed of multiple bird species, dependent on the ecosystem and its bird diversity and composition. 6.Synthesis and applications. Our results have two main implications. First, new research and surveillance should be designed in order to understand influenza A viruses ecology in wild birds across the world, along with appropriate diagnostic tools and new hypotheses and dedicated protocols. This should be done in line with our new conceptual framework that conveys less a priori than its predecessor. Secondly, our results call for more bridging between biological and epidemiological sciences in order to tackle disease ecology in multi-host systems.
Data from: Immunoglobulin detection in wild birds: effectiveness of three secondary anti-avian IgY antibodies in direct ELISAs in 41 avian species
1.Immunological reagents for wild, non-model species are limited or often non-existent for many species. 2. In this study, we compare the reactivity of a new anti-passerine IgY secondary antibody with existing secondary antibodies developed for use with birds. Samples from 41 species from the following six avian orders were analysed: Anseriformes (1 family, 1 species), Columbiformes (1 family, 2 species), Galliformes (1 family, 1 species), Passeriformes (16 families, 34 species), Piciformes (1 family, 2 species) and Suliformes (1 family, 1 species). Direct ELISAs were performed to detect total IgY using goat anti-passerine IgY, goat anti-chicken IgY or goat anti-bird IgY secondary antibodies. 3.The anti-passerine antibody exhibited significantly higher IgY reactivity compared to the anti-chicken and/or anti-bird antibodies in 80% of the passerine families tested. Birds in the order Piciformes (woodpeckers) and order Suliformes (cormorants) were poorly detected by all three secondary antibodies. A comparison of serum and plasma IgY levels was made within the same individuals for two passerine species (house finch and white-crowned sparrow), and serum exhibited significantly more IgY than the plasma for all three secondary antibodies. This result indicates that serum may be preferred to plasma when measuring total antibody levels in blood. 4.This study indicates that the anti-passerine IgY secondary antibody can effectively be used in immunological assays to detect passerine IgY for species in most passerine families and is preferred over anti-chicken and anti-bird secondary antibodies for the majority of passerine species. This anti-passerine antibody will allow for more accurate detection and quantification of IgY in more wild bird species than was possible with previously available secondary antibodies.
Data from: Modelling the spread of innovation in wild birds
We apply three plausible algorithms in agent-based computer simulations to recent experiments on social learning in wild birds. Although some of the phenomena are simulated by all three learning algorithms, several manifestations of social conformity bias are simulated by only the approximate majority (AM) algorithm, which has roots in chemistry, molecular biology and theoretical computer science. The simulations generate testable predictions and provide several explanatory insights into the diffusion of innovation through a population. The AM algorithm's success raises the possibility of its usefulness in studying group dynamics more generally, in several different scientific domains. Our differential-equation model matches simulation results and provides mathematical insights into the dynamics of these algorithms.
Data from: Multivariate selection and intersexual genetic constraints in a wild bird population
When traits are genetically correlated between the sexes, the response to selection in one sex can be altered by indirect selection in the other sex, a type of genetic constraint commonly referred to as intralocus sexual conflict (ISC). While potentially common, ISC has rarely been studied in wild populations. In this study, we applied a multivariate framework to quantify the microevolutionary impacts of ISC over a set of morphological traits (wing length, tarsus length, bill depth, and bill length) in a wild population of great tits (Parus major) from Wytham Woods, UK. Specifically, we quantified the impact of cross-sex genetic covariances (the B matrix) on the additive genetic variance for relative fitness expected to be generated by directional selection and additive genetic (co)variance. Together, multivariate sex-specific selection and additive genetic (co)variance were expected to generate additive genetic variance for relative fitness that was uncorrelated between the sexes (cross-sex genetic correlation = -0.003, 95% CI = -0.83, 0.83). Gender load, defined as the expected reduction in additive genetic variance for relative fitness generated by the traits under study due to sex-specific effects, was estimated at 50% (95% CI = 13%, 86%). This study provides novel insights into the evolution of sexual dimorphism in great tits and illustrates how quantitative genetics and selection analyses can be combined in a multivariate framework to quantify the expected microevolutionary impacts of ISC.
Data from: Effects of an early-life paraquat exposure on adult resistance to oxidative stress, plumage colour and sperm performance in a wild bird
1. Early-life stressful conditions can shape individual phenotypes and ultimately influence fitness. Oxidative stress is a pervasive threat that affects many fitness-related traits and can modulate life-history trade-offs. Yet, the extent to which exposure to oxidative stress during early life can have long-lasting effects on key fitness-related traits remains to be elucidated, particularly in natural populations of vertebrates. 2. Using a wild population of great tits Parus major, we experimentally dosed 11 day-old birds with paraquat, a pro-oxidant molecule, aiming at increasing oxidative stress. One year later, we recaptured 39 of them as adult recruiting breeders and quantified effects of the paraquat exposure on their resistance to oxidative stress, carotenoid-based plumage colouration and male sperm performance. 3. Despite the absence of a short-term effect of paraquat on oxidative stress measured two days later, the pre-fledging exposure to paraquat induced a reduction in individual oxidative damage measured at adulthood. Paraquat-dosed individuals also had brighter plumage, but no effect was observed on male sperm performance. 4. For the first time in a natural population of vertebrates, we experimentally show that an early-life acute exposure to a pro-oxidant has long-lasting effects on individual resistance to oxidative stress at adulthood. Our results are in line with the environmental matching and the hormesis hypotheses but may also reflect selective disappearance of individuals with lower resistance to oxidative stress.
Data from: Longitudinal evidence that older parents produce offspring with longer telomeres in a wild social bird
<p>As telomere length (TL) often predicts survival and lifespan, there is considerable interest in the origins of inter-individual variation in TL. Cross-generational effects of parental age on offspring TL are thought to be a key source of variation, but the rarity of longitudinal studies that examine the telomeres of successive offspring born throughout the lives of parents leaves such effects poorly understood. Here, we exploit TL measures of successive offspring produced throughout the long breeding tenures of parents in wild white-browed sparrow weaver (<i>Plocepasser mahali</i>) societies, to isolate the effects of within-parent changes in age on offspring TLs. Our analyses reveal the first evidence to date of a positive within-parent effect of advancing age on offspring TL: as individual parents age they produce offspring with longer telomeres (a modest effect that persists into offspring adulthood). We consider the potential for pre- and post-natal mechanisms to explain our findings. As telomere attrition predicts offspring survival to adulthood in this species, this positive parental age effect could impact parent and offspring fitness if it arose via differential telomere attrition during offspring development. Our findings support the view that cross-generational effects of parental age can be a source of inter-individual variation in TL.</p>
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.