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199 results for “Nestling”
DNA methylation associates with sex-specific effects of experimentally increased yolk testosterone in wild nestlings
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Can diet composition estimates using stable isotope analysis of feathers predict growth and condition in nestling mountain bluebirds (Sialia currucoides)
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Data from: Developmental stress does not induce genome-wide DNA methylation changes in wild great tit (Parus major) nestlings
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Data from: Too salty for you? Changes of diet in the laughing gull nestlings during the growing period
<p>In many seabird and waterbird species, salinity can impose physiological stress on recently hatched chicks because they have a limited capacity to excrete salt loads. In response, parents can select low-salt food for their nestlings in the first stage of their growth. We determined the growth-related variation in the diet of laughing gull <i>Leucophaeus atricilla</i> nestlings by using stable isotope analysis of feathers. Isotopic measurement of <span>hatchling</span> down reflects the mother's diet before laying eggs. At the same time, the primary feather tip indicates the food intake during the initiation of feather growth (one week of age), and the primary feather base indicates the food provided by parents during the period immediately before fledging. δ<sup>15</sup>N and δ<sup>13</sup>C values among the feather types showed a spatiotemporal shift in the nestlings' diet. Younger chicks consumed more terrestrial prey sources (<span>weevil beetles </span><i><span>Sphenophorus</span></i> sp.<span>; </span>~51%) than chicks at fledging (~2%). However, fledging chicks and females before egg-laying consumed mostly marine prey sources (Pacific white shrimp <i>Litopenaeus vannamei</i> and anchovy <i>Anchoa </i>sp<i>.</i>; > 90%). The base and primary tip portions had similar δ<sup>15</sup>N values, but both sections were less enriched than the hatchling down. This change was diet-related, as the nestlings showed a lower percentage of anchovy consumption (13.3 <i>–</i> 14.7%) compared to females before egg-laying (30.4%). Younger chicks had a different spatial niche than fledglings and females before egg-laying, indicating a diet shift through the chick growth period. Assuming that the availability of food in the terrestrial or marine foraging areas did not vary through the nestlings' growth period (five weeks), our findings support food resource selectivity by parents for their offspring during the first days of life, to reduce the physiological stress caused by high salt loads.</p>
Data from: Sex-specific effects of experimental ectoparasite infestation on telomere length in great tit nestlings
<p>Telomere length is a biomarker of biological ageing and lifespan in various vertebrate taxa. Evidence is accumulating that telomeres shorten more rapidly when an individual is exposed to environmental stressors. Parasites are potent selective agents that can cause physiological stress directly or indirectly through the activation of the host's immune system. Yet to date, empirical evidence for a role of parasites in telomere dynamics in natural populations is limited.</p> <p>Here we show experimentally that exposure to ectoparasitic hen fleas (<i>Ceratophyllus gallinae</i>) during growth results in shorter telomeres in female, but not male, great tit (<i>Parus major</i>) nestlings. Females had significantly longer telomeres than males when growing up in experimentally deparasitized nests but because of the sex-specific effects of parasitism on telomere length, this sexual dimorphism was absent in birds growing up in experimentally infested nests. Our results provide the first experimental evidence for a role of ectoparasitism in telomere dynamics in a natural vertebrate population, and suggest that the costs of infection manifest in sex-specific ways.</p>
A time-lagged association between the gut microbiome, nestling weight and nestling survival in wild great tits
<ol> <li>Natal body mass is a key predictor of viability and fitness in many animals. While variation in body mass and therefore viability of juveniles may be explained by genetic and environmental factors, emerging evidence points to the gut microbiota as an important factor influencing host health. The gut microbiota is known to change during development, but it remains unclear whether the microbiome predicts fitness, and if it does, at which developmental stage it affects fitness traits.</li> <li>We collected data on two traits associated with fitness in wild nestling great tits (<i>Parus major</i>): weight and survival to fledging. We characterised the gut microbiome using 16S rRNA sequencing from nestling faeces and investigated temporal associations between the gut microbiome and fitness traits across development at day 8 (D8) and day 15 (D15) post-hatching. We also explored whether particular microbial taxa were 'indicator species' that reflected whether nestlings survived or not.</li> <li>There was no link between mass and microbial diversity on D8 or D15. However, we detected a time-lagged relationship whereby the microbial diversity at D8 was negatively associated with weight at D15, while controlling for weight at D8. Indicator species analysis revealed that while several taxa were unique to birds that either survived or did not survive, there were no universal taxa that were consistently found across all birds within either survival group. This suggests that the presence of particular bacterial taxa may be sufficient, but not necessary for determining future survival, perhaps owing to functional overlap in microbiota.</li> <li>We highlight that measuring microbiome-fitness relationships at just one time point may be misleading, especially early in life. Instead, microbial-host fitness effects should be investigated longitudinally as there may be critical development windows in which key microbiota are established and prime host traits associated with nestling weight. Pinpointing which features of the gut microbial community impact on host fitness, and when during development this occurs, will shed light on population level processes and has the potential to support conservation.</li> </ol>
Anthropogenic noise is associated with telomere length and carotenoid-based coloration in free-living nestling songbirds
<p>Growing evidence suggests that anthropogenic noise has deleterious effects on the behavior and physiology of free-living animals. These effects may be particularly pronounced early in life, when developmental trajectories are sensitive to stressors, yet studies investigating developmental effects of noise exposure in free-living populations remain scarce. To elucidate the effects of noise exposure during development, we examined whether noise exposure is associated with shorter telomeres, duller carotenoid-based coloration and reduced body mass in nestlings of a common urban bird, the great tit (Parus major). We also assessed how the noise environment is related to reproductive success. We obtained long-term measurements of the noise environment, over a ~24-h period, and characterized both the amplitude (measured by LAeq, LA90, LA10, LAmax) and variance in noise levels, since more stochastic, as well as louder, noise regimes might be more likely to induce stress. In our urban population, noise levels varied substantially, with louder, but less variable, noise characteristic of areas adjacent to a highway. Noise levels were also highly repeatable, suggesting that individuals experience consistent differences in noise exposure. The amplitude of noise near nest boxes was associated with shorter telomeres among smaller, but not larger, brood members. In addition, carotenoid chroma and hue were positively associated with variance in average and maximum noise levels, and average reflectance was negatively associated with variance in background noise. Independent of noise, hue was positively related to telomere length. Nestling mass and reproductive success were unaffected by noise exposure. Results indicate that multiple dimensions of the noise environment, or factors associated with the noise environment, could affect the phenotype of developing organisms, that noise exposure, or correlated variables, might have the strongest effects on sensitive groups of individuals, and that carotenoid hue could serve as a signal of early-life telomere length.</p>
Data from: Novel sources of (co)variation in nestling begging behavior and hunger at different biological levels of analysis
<p>Biological hypotheses predicting patterns of offspring begging typically concern the covariance with hunger and/or development at specific hierarchical levels. For example, hunger drives within-individual patterns of begging, but begging also drives food intake among individuals within broods, and begging and food intake can covary positively or negatively among genotypes or broods. Testing biological phenomena that occur at multiple levels therefore requires the partitioning of covariance between traits of interest to ensure that each level-specific relationship is appropriately assessed. We performed a partial cross-fostering study on a wild population of great tits (Parus major), then used multivariate mixed-models to partition variation and covariation in nestling begging effort and two metrics of nestling hunger within versus among individual nestlings and broods. At the within-individual level, we found that nestlings begged more intensely when hungrier (positive correlation between begging and hunger). However, among individuals, nestlings that were fed more frequently also begged more intensely on average (negative correlation between begging and hunger). Variation in nestling mass did not give rise to the negative correlation between begging and hunger among nestlings, but we did find that lighter nestlings begged more intensely than their heavier biological siblings, suggesting that this effect may be driven by a genetic component linked to offspring size. Our study illustrates how patterns of covariance can differ across biological levels of analysis and addresses biological mechanisms that could produce these previously obscured patterns.</p>
Data from: Parasites favor intermediate nestling masses and brood sizes in cliff swallows
A challenge of life-history theory is to explain why animal body size does not continue to increase, given various advantages of larger size. In birds, body size of nestlings and the number of nestlings produced (brood size) have occasionally been shown to be constrained by higher predation on larger nestlings and those from larger broods. Parasites also are known to have strong effects on life-history traits in birds, but whether parasitism can be a driver for stabilizing selection on nestling body size or brood size is unknown. We studied patterns of first-year survival in cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in western Nebraska in relation to brood size and nestling body mass in nests under natural conditions and in those in which hematophagous ectoparasites had been removed by fumigation. Birds from parasitized nests showed highest first-year survival at the most common, intermediate brood-size and nestling-mass categories, but cliff swallows from non-parasitized nests had highest survival at the heaviest nestling masses and no relationship with brood size. A survival analysis suggested stabilizing selection on brood size and nestling mass in the presence (but not in the absence) of parasites. Parasites apparently favor intermediate offspring size and number in cliff swallows and produce the observed distributions of these traits, although the mechanisms are unclear. Our results emphasize the importance of parasites in life-history evolution.
Disturbance history alters the development of the HPA axis in altricial nestling birds
<p>Glucocorticoid (GC) hormones regulate the vertebrate stress response and are secreted by the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. Acute elevation of GCs is thought be adaptive because it promotes physiological and behavioural changes that allow animals to cope with disturbances. In contrast, chronic elevation of GCs is associated with reduced body condition, immune function, reproductive success, and survival. In adult birds, the effects of chronic stress have been well documented, including human-related disturbances. In contrast, the effects of chronic stress on nestlings have rarely been addressed. This is of interest, as many ecological or monitoring studies of wild birds require nestlings to be regularly handled. However, the consequences of repeated handling of nestlings on HPA axis function and body mass o remain poorly quantified. We examined whether daily exposure to handling stress increased corticosterone (the dominant avian glucocorticoid) secretion and reduced pre-fledging body mass relative to undisturbed control nestlings of the Noisy Miner (<em>Manorina melanocephala), </em>a native Australian passerine bird. Daily handling resulted in an elevated baseline and attenuated stress-induced corticosterone levels in disturbed 14-day nestlings, in comparison with control nestlings handled for the first time. Despite this, disturbed and control nestlings fledged at a similar body mass. Baseline and stress-induced corticosterone increased with nestling age but remained independent of nestling sex and hatching order. These findings suggest that chronic stress causes physiological alterations to the development of the HPA axis in nestling birds, in turn suggesting that researchers should minimise or account for handling stress in their experiments. These data also raise the possibility that other chronic stressors may have physiological consequences for the development of the HPA axis in nestling birds. </p>
Fig. 2 in Trypanosomiasis: An emerging disease in Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba) nestlings in Switzerland?
Fig. 2. Fledging indexes of 7 Swiss Alpine swift colonies from 2015 to 2022.
Moonlight influence on quality of nestlings of scops owls depends on paternal coloration
<p>The moon might favour the maintenance of colour polymorphism via disruptive selection if the different colour variants performed differently in terms of prey capture under different moonlight levels. Moonlight, however, may affect prey capture as a by side effect of its influence on prey behaviours. Here we combine data of parental provisioning and owlets' quality with one ex-situ study of grasshoppers' activity to test whether Eurasian scops owls (Otus scops) with different plumage colour and their prey are differently affected by moonlight. Food provisioning increased from new- to full-moon. However, the effect of moonlight on owlet mass gain and immune response depended on paternal coloration. On the one hand, body mass gain of nestlings of the greyest fathers increased from nights with new- to full-moon, whereas it did not change with moonlight for the brownest fathers. On the other hand, PHA response of nestlings of the brownest fathers increased with high moonlight levels during the first week of life, whereas it did not change with moonlight levels for the greyest fathers. Grasshoppers were more active at new moon than at full or waning moon. Our study provides supporting evidence that moonlight influences the behaviour of both scops owls and its prey and suggests that fluctuations in environmental conditions can modulate the advantages of morphs. These results are important because they provide a general insight into a little appreciated mechanism for the maintenance of colour polymorphism in natural populations based on the interactive effect of different environmental factors.</p>
Relative forelimb-hindlimb investment is associated with flight style, foraging strategy, and nestling period, but not nest type
<p>We investigated Dial's 2003 hypothesis that birds that rely more heavily upon flight as their primary mode of locomotion and thus invest more in their forelimbs than hindlimbs will experience selection for smaller body sizes, greater altriciality, and more complex nests. To test this hypothesis, we examined the skeletons of over 2,000 individuals from 313 species representing the majority of avian families and all major branches of the avian tree. We used the lengths of the sternal keel and long bones of the wing relative to the lengths of the leg long bones as an index of relative locomotor investment. We found that locomotor investment was predicted by flight style, foraging method, and length of nestling period, supporting Dial's hypothesis. Soaring birds and birds with more acrobatic flight styles, birds whose foraging methods were heavily reliant upon flight, and whose young spent more time in the nest tended to invest more in their forelimbs relative to hindlimbs. Nest type and body size were not significant predictors of relative forelimb-hindlimb investment, however, suggesting that the relationships among flight style, locomotor investment, and life history are not as tightly intertwined as Dial originally hypothesized.</p>
Giant babax (Babax Waddelli) helpers cheat at provisioning nestlings in poor conditions
<p><span>In cooperatively breeding species, helpers take higher risks of getting lower return of investment than breeders due to the incongruity between helping and breeding. Helpers can deal with the risk by curtailing their investment or, if possible, claiming immediate rewards in the cooperation. Given breeders may rely largely on the aid of helpers to raise their offspring, it can be hypothesized that helpers are more likely to make adaptive responses to the incongruity-associated risk in adverse habitats than in good ones. This hypothesis was tested in the giant babax (<em>Babax</em> <em>waddelli</em>) by comparing helpers' provisioning behaviors between two breeding populations in adverse high-altitude and good low-altitude environments. These two populations differed significantly in their egg size and nestlings' growth patterns. Helpers in both populations made great contributions to the raising of offspring. During provisioning, helpers in the high-altitude population exhibited significantly higher feeding rates but delivered fewer insects per feeding bout than their counterparts in the low-altitude population. Helpers in both populations displayed a cheating strategy of 'non-feeding' to reduce investment in provisioning. They pursued immediate excess rewards via kleptoparasitism of nestling fecal sacs in the high-altitude population but not in the low-altitude one. Accordingly, breeders made different antagonistic actions toward the cheating helpers between populations. Our findings confirm that helpers are prone to deceiving cooperation under poor breeding conditions and that breeders' tolerance of the cheating behavior of helpers is determined by their dependence on the helpers' aid.</span></p>
Figure 2B in Coproparasitological study of European starling nestlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in Argentina
Figure 2B. Egg of a cestode containing the hexacanth embryo with 6 hooks.
Figure 1B in Coproparasitological study of European starling nestlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in Argentina
Figure 1B. Unsporulated oocyst.
Fig. 2 in Syngamus trachea in free-ranging white stork (Ciconia ciconia) nestlings in Switzerland
Fig. 2. Stereo microscope image of a Syngamus trachea pair locked in permanent copulation.
TABLE 2 in The nest, nestlings and morphometrics of Sapphire-spangled Emerald Amazilia lactea bartleti
<p>TABLE 2 Nests of Sapphire-spangled Emerald <i>Amazilia lactea bartleti</i> found in the Campus and Zoobotanical Park of the Universidade Federal do Acre, Rio Branco, Brazil, between 1999 and 2019.</p><table><tbody><tr><th>Nest</th><th>Date found</th><th>Supporting plant</th><th><b>Situation</b></th></tr></tbody><tbody><tr><th>1</th><td>5 February 1999</td><td>Not identified</td><td>active</td></tr><tr><th>2</th><td>21 February 2013</td><td><i>Mangifera indica</i></td><td>active</td></tr><tr><th>3</th><td>8 December 2015</td><td>Not identified</td><td>active</td></tr><tr><th>4</th><td>23 March 2017</td><td><i>Tectona grandis</i></td><td>active</td></tr><tr><th>5</th><td>14 June 2017</td><td><i>Manihot esculenta</i></td><td>inactive</td></tr><tr><th>6</th><td>30 July 2019</td><td><i>Spondias</i> sp.</td><td>inactive</td></tr></tbody></table>
TABLE 1 in The nest, nestlings and morphometrics of Sapphire-spangled Emerald Amazilia lactea bartleti
<p>TABLE 1 Measurements (mm) of Sapphire-spangled Emerald <i>Amazilia lactea bartleti</i> nests held in the ornithology laboratory of the Universidade Federal do Acre (UFAC), Rio Branco, Brazil.</p><table><tbody><tr><th>Nest</th><th>Total height</th><th>External Diameter</th><th>Internal diameter of cup</th><th>Depth of cup</th><th><b>Wall thickness</b></th></tr></tbody><tbody><tr><th>AC-054</th><td>36</td><td>36.87 × 47.43</td><td>26.53 × 30.62</td><td>21</td><td>5.39</td></tr><tr><th>AC-056</th><td>30</td><td>32.6 × 39.17</td><td>18.28 × 24.75</td><td>23</td><td>8.68</td></tr><tr><th>AC-080</th><td>38</td><td>33.26 × 39.26</td><td>18.31 × 22.50</td><td>22</td><td>11.94</td></tr><tr><th>Mean ± SD</th><td>34.6 ± 4.2</td><td>34.24 ± 2.3 × 41.9 ± 4.7</td><td>21.04 ± 4.8 × 25.9 ± 4.2</td><td>22 ± 1</td><td>8.67 ± 3.3</td></tr></tbody></table>
Dependence of the azure-winged magpie on nest spatial cues in offspring recognition decreases with nestling growth
<p>Various cues have been identified as the basis for animals' discrimination between kin and non-kin. In altricial birds, these cues show temporal and spatial variations, implying that kin recognition might be condition-dependent. In this study, we hypothesize that parents might be sensitive to the changes in nest spatial position, and that their dependence on the nest spatial cue in offspring recognition decreases with offspring growth. We tested this hypothesis in a Tibetan population of the azure-winged magpie, <i>Cyanopica cyanus</i>, by designing a nest translocation experiment. We found that adults could return to their nest and continue caring for their offspring even if the nest had been moved to a new position. Their sensitivity to the spatial change in nest position not only varied with distance but also relied on the offspring life-history stage. Breeders were more likely to recognize their nest and offspring during the nestling period than during the incubation period, indicating that the dependence of parents on the spatial cue of the nest is higher when offspring are in the form of eggs than in the form of nestlings. Our findings suggest that azure-winged magpies mainly depend on the spatial position of the nest to recognize their nest and offspring. After nestlings establish communication with their parents, their phenotypic characteristics may replace the nests' spatial cue to play a greater role in the offspring recognition of parents.</p>
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