麻雀两性羽色的比较

鸟类对色彩有较强的区分能力。基于鸟类视觉模型的研究发现,在人类看来类似的羽色,在鸟类眼中存在差别。本研究通过量化麻雀（Passer montanus saturatus）羽毛的反射光谱以及身体量度和喉部、耳羽的黑色斑块面积,比较其在雌鸟和雄鸟之间的差异。研究发现,麻雀雌鸟和雄鸟的身体量度、喉部和耳羽的斑块面积在繁殖季和非繁殖季均无显著差异。基于鸟类的视觉模型,麻雀头顶、喉部、耳羽、腰部的羽色,在雌鸟和雄鸟间无明显分化。基于上述结果,我们认为麻雀的雌鸟和雄鸟在外形上没有表现出性二型。     

西藏墨脱县发现灰喉山椒鸟

正2016年3月9日,在西藏自治区墨脱县德兴乡那尔东村(29°21'16.84″N,95°8'39.98″E,海拔1 874 m)观察到雌、雄山椒鸟各1只,该鸟体长18~25 cm,雄鸟、雌鸟头部均为灰色。雄鸟背部亮黑色,腰、尾、胸部覆羽及下体呈朱红色,翅黑色,具一大一小2道"7"字形朱红色翼斑;中央尾羽黑色,外侧尾羽基部黑色,端部红色。雌鸟胸部及整个下体均为黄色,腰和尾上覆羽亦为黄色,翅和尾为黄色,颜色分布与雄鸟大致相似(图1),经鉴定为灰喉山椒鸟Pericrocotus solaris。虽然MacK innon等(2000)     

黄喉鹀的羽色与雄鸟质量相关性分析

在国内首次利用光纤光谱仪对鸟类的羽色进行量化和分析.对黄喉鹀Emberiza elegans雌、雄鸟羽色的差异以及雄鸟羽色与雄鸟质量的相关性分析结果表明,黄喉鹀雌、雄鸟在人眼看来相同的黄色羽和白色羽部分,在紫外光色度上却存在显著差异,雄鸟紫外光色度高于雌鸟;雄鸟的质量与脸部黑色羽的亮度、可见光色度和色调呈显著正相关,雌...     

贵州草海发现苇鹀

<正>2014年4月19日,在贵州草海国家级自然保护区老祖坟附近(26°51′N,104°15′E,海拔2 175 m)湖边枯萎的香蒲(Typha orientalis)丛中观察并拍摄到1雄2雌共3只苇鹀(Emberiza pallasi)。该鸟的识别特征:雄鸟头顶、颊、耳羽、喉及上胸均黑色,下髭纹白色,后颈具较宽的白色横带;背、肩深褐色,羽缘灰白,腰及尾上覆羽浅灰色,小覆羽灰色;下体灰白色。雌鸟头顶和枕部皮黄色,耳羽褐色,眉纹和喉部白色,其余同雄鸟。苇鹀与近似种芦鹀(E.schoeniclus)的区别如下:苇鹀小覆羽灰色,而芦鹀为棕色;苇鹀上喙较直,而芦鹀上喙稍     

麻雀身体大小的性二态和基于身体量度的性别判定

身体大小的性二态是鸟类中较为普遍的现象。性二态的研究是理解性选择的关键,也能为性二态鸟类的野外快速性别判定提供依据。麻雀Passer montanus通常被认为是一种性单态鸟类,野外很难通过外在特征识别性别,有关麻雀性二态和性别判定的研究很少。2017—2018年每年的1—3月,在甘肃省庆阳市陇东学院校园内用雾网捕捉到67只麻雀成鸟,并测量了这些麻雀的10个身体量度。通过观察生殖腺鉴定了性别,确定为31只雄鸟和36只雌鸟。结果发现,总体上麻雀身体量度存在显著的两性差异(MANOVA:Pillai's Trace=0.492,F_(10,56)=5.426,P0.001),雄鸟的全长、尾长、翅长、跗跖长和中趾长显著大于雌鸟(t-test:P0.05)。利用这5个身体量度变量构建判别方程来判定麻雀性别,发现:在所有的单变量判别方程中,翅长构建的判别方程具有最高的性别判定准确率,达77.6%;由5个身体量度变量构建的典型判别方程,性别判定准确率为82.1%;而由全长和翅长构建的逐步判别方程,性别判定准确率为79.1%。麻雀存在身体大小的性二态,而这使得野外通过测量身体量度构建判别方程能较容易、准确地判定麻雀的性别。     

四川大邑县发现的白腹锦鸡和红腹锦鸡自然杂种的记述

1992年1—4月,在四川大邑县双河乡山区海拔1600—1700m处,先后获得5只雉科雄鸟标本。(第1号标本存四川大学生物系,其余4号标本存大邑县林业局)。经鉴定,确认属白腹锦鸡(Chrysolophus amherstiae)和红腹锦鸡(C.pictus)的杂种。其形态如下: No.1:外形和羽色大体似红腹锦鸡雄鸟。尾长750mm,比一般金鸡稍长。上嘴基部铅褐,跗蹠淡褐,与白腹锦鸡相似。额、头顶和枕冠淡黄,枕冠羽端沾红。枕冠长70mm,介于红腹锦鸡(1,100mm)和白腹锦鸡(1,52mm)之间。披肩羽端呈截状,似红腹锦鸡;各羽乳白,羽端和近端的黑色横斑有绿色反光,与白腹锦鸡相似,较长的披肩羽片基部渲染葡萄红色。下颈和肩间部亮绿,并有铜黄色反光,羽端较宽而略呈弧形与     

四川白背啄木鸟的一新亚种

模式雄鸟(第19121号):鼻羽棕白,杂以黑色。前额淡棕色。头顶和后头深红,各羽基部铅灰色,处处显露在外。眼先、颊、耳羽及其周围均棕白色。眼的上方,在前为黑色,向后转为白色,略成眉纹状。自嘴基起,左右两侧各有一道宽阔颧纹,向后伸至耳部下方,在此分为上下二支:上支形细,绕在耳部后方,向项部延伸,但不与项部相连;下     

绿翅鸭

正绿翅鸭(Anas crecca)是雁形目鸭科鸭属的小型鸭类,体长30~35厘米,雌雄异色。雄鸟头颈暗栗色,自眼至上颈具紫黑色金属光泽。头侧具一条辉绿色带斑,自眼周延至后颈,带斑上下缘有棕白色狭纹。下体棕白,胸部缀有黑色斑点,颏及尾下覆羽黑色。雌鸟背棕黑色有棕黄V形斑,羽的外缘肉黄色。下体与雄鸟相似,嘴黑色,腿棕褐色。在我国境内基本上是旅鸟和冬候鸟,8月下旬迁往南方越冬,次年3—4月北返。迁飞时常集结为成千上万的大群,     

白腹短翅鸲雄鸟的羽毛延迟成熟现象

20 0 3年 6月 ,在甘肃省莲花山自然保护区观察到白腹短翅鸲 (Hodgsoniusphaenicuroides)雄鸟的羽毛延迟成熟现象。研究发现 ,亚成体雄鸟体羽暗淡 ,为似雌鸟样的褐色 ,但仍然可以繁殖。声谱分析表明 ,成体雄鸟与亚成体雄鸟的鸣声结构非常相似 ,而且两者在巢址、巢材、窝卵数、卵色、卵大小等巢卵特征上也非常一致。通过对中国科学院动物研究所标本馆 1 1 7只白腹短翅鸲雄鸟标本的测量 ,发现成体雄鸟的翅长和尾长明显大于亚成体 (t 检验 ,P <0. 0 0 1 )。在 1 93 0年北平东陵同一繁殖季节采集的 1 0 8只雄鸟标本中 ,亚成体雄鸟所占的比例为 1 9%。     

红腹锦鸡

正红腹锦鸡(Chrysolophus pictus)隶属鸡形目锦鸡属鸟类,单型种,无亚种分化。体长60~100 mm,体重450~750 g,为中等体型雉类。嘴黄色。雄鸟头部具金黄色丝状羽冠;脸、喉锈红色;后颈为金棕色带蓝黑色斑的扇形羽毛围成。上背深绿色,羽缘黑色;下背到尾上覆羽为金黄色。下体深红色。肩     

Impact of Urbanization on House Sparrow Distribution: A Case Study from Greater Kolkata,India

House Sparrow was the most abundant bird species near human habitat until few years back. But from the mid of twentieth century, the declining trend of House Sparrow has been reported from various countries. It has already been red listed in Netherlands and UK. Researches indicate the declining trend of House Sparrow in different cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. A 3-month wide survey has been conducted to get a preliminary idea about the distributional trend of House Sparrow in greater Kolkata. Depending on nature of urbanization and human habitat, greater Kolkata, has been subdivided into four regions (Planned City, Highly dense city, Medium dense city and Low dense city regions). In high density urban region the avian density recoded was highest, although avian diversity was maximum in medium and low dense city regions and minimum in planned city. Among 20 observational units of planned city region, House Sparrow has been noticed in 6 units and crow in all units. Among 115 observational units of rest of the regions of greater Kolkata, House Sparrow was observed in 79 units and crow in 98 units. The preliminary information revealed from this survey indicates towards negative relationship between urbanization and House Sparrow population in greater Kolkata and this negative influence is maximum in planned urban region. The presence of sufficient number of House Sparrow in any region indicates environmental stability of that region. So the declining trend of House Sparrow population in greater Kolkata, particularly in planned city region, indirectly gives the evidence of serious environmental degradation.     

The House Sparrow Passer domesticus in urban areas: reviewing a possible link between post-decline distribution and human socioeconomic status

The House Sparrow Passer domesticus is traditionally associated with human habitation. However, the species has undergone dramatic declines in many urban areas in north-western Europe. There are many theories as to why this decline has occurred, but the lack of data on House Sparrow numbers prior to their decline has hampered efforts to investigate these theories in detail. This review summarises the demographic changes in urban House Sparrow populations since the 1970s, and considers evidence that the current distribution of House Sparrows may reflect changes in urban habitats caused by socioeconomic change. Evidence is mounting that, within urban landscapes, House Sparrows appear to be more prevalent in areas with a relatively low human socioeconomic status. Here, we present evidence to suggest that House Sparrows may have disappeared predominantly from more affluent areas, and that these areas are more likely to have undergone changes to habitat structure. We also show how these changes in habitat could influence House Sparrow populations via impacts upon nesting success, foraging and predation risk.     

The breeding biology of the House Sparrow Passer domesticus at Blantyre,Malawi

Nhlane, M.E.D. 2000. The breeding biology of the House Sparrow Passer domesticus at Blantyre, Malawi. Ostrich 71 (1 & 2): 80–82.

The breeding biology of the House Sparrow Passer domesticus was studied from 1989–1990. The birds bred throughout the year at this site. Modal clutch size varied from three to four eggs, with a mean clutch of 3.9. The average incubation period was 11.5 days, and the fledgling period 15.4 days. The clutch size of the House Sparrow varied seasonally and was larger from November to June, and smaller from July to October. Chick mortality at Chikunda was attributed to starvation, abandonment, predation, low birth weight, accidental deaths and parasitism.     

Relationship between the presence of House Sparrows (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Passer domesticus</Emphasis>) and Neotropical bird community structure and diversity

Invasive exotic species pose an important threat to biodiversity worldwide. However, there is little information on the effects that specific exotic bird species have on native biota. The House Sparrow is an excellent ecological model to evaluate the effect that an invasive exotic species has on native bird communities. Our study describes the relationship of the presence and abundance of House Sparrows with the structure, diversity, and composition of native bird communities in West Mexico. We used two approaches to compare House Sparrow invaded and non-invaded bird communities: (1) at a small geographic-scale that allowed us to evaluate shifts in avian communities with presence of the House Sparrow under similar environmental conditions; and (2) at the landscape-level to evaluate the effect of this species under a scenario of greater environmental heterogeneity. Results from both approaches show that areas invaded by House Sparrows have heavily-dominated avian communities with low species richness, while non-invaded areas exhibit highly-even and species-rich bird communities. Species turnover analysis indicates that the decrease in the number of bird species in House Sparrow invaded areas is caused by species loss, rather than a shift in species composition. Our results indicate that the invasion of an area by the House Sparrow, through synergistic interactions with human activities, determines the composition, structure, and diversity of native bird communities.     

A possible effect of electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone base stations on the number of breeding house sparrows (Passer domesticus)

A possible effect of long-term exposure to low-intensity electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone (GSM) base stations on the number of House Sparrows during the breeding season was studied in six residential districts in Belgium. We sampled 150 point locations within the 6 areas to examine small-scale geographic variation in the number of House Sparrow males and the strength of electromagnetic radiation from base stations. Spatial variation in the number of House Sparrow males was negatively and highly significantly related to the strength of electric fields from both the 900 and 1800 MHz downlink frequency bands and from the sum of these bands (Chi(2)-tests and AIC-criteria, P<0.001). This negative relationship was highly similar within each of the six study areas, despite differences among areas in both the number of birds and radiation levels. Thus, our data show that fewer House Sparrow males were seen at locations with relatively high electric field strength values of GSM base stations and therefore support the notion that long-term exposure to higher levels of radiation negatively affects the abundance or behavior of House Sparrows in the wild.     

THE HOUSE SPARROW PASSER DOMESTICUS: POPULATION PROBLEMS

Two problems of House Sparrow populations are examined: the influence of habitat on numbers and the variation in a population of House Sparrows throughout the year. Available data on censuses in Great Britain enable the population to be estimated as 10 millions; censuses from several parts of the bird's range suggest that House Sparrow numbers are correlated with the human population, the ratio being 1: 5. The seasonal variation in composition of a population is estimated from observations over five years on House Sparrows breeding on a group of seventeen houses together with breeding and mortality data obtained from British Trust for Ornithology records. The population reaches a maximum at the end of July when it is slightly less than double that at the beginning of the breeding season. It is considered that numbers are controlled by food supply and the colonial behaviour of the bird.     

Invertebrate prey availability limits reproductive success but not breeding population size in suburban House Sparrows Passer domesticus

Factors affecting avian demography and abundance in urban landscapes are poorly understood and this hinders attempts to manage urban bird communities. Several recent studies indicate that lack of invertebrate prey in urban landscapes may constrain avian productivity and fitness relative to that in other habitats. House Sparrow Passer domesticus populations have undergone large declines in many European urban centres and inadequate reproductive success linked to invertebrate availability has been postulated as a potential cause of these declines. We conducted a replicated supplementary feeding experiment to test whether the availability of invertebrate prey limits the breeding success and adult abundance (colony size) of House Sparrows in suburban London, where House Sparrow populations declined by 60% during the decade preceding our study. Daily mealworm provision over two successive breeding seasons, sufficient to provide 82% of chick energy requirements of House Sparrow pairs nesting within 50 m of feeders, had a large positive impact on the abundance of recently fledged birds (+62%), but only a small positive impact, limited mainly to small colonies, on the overall abundance of territorial males. Colony growth was only weakly related to fledgling abundance in the previous year and did not appear to be constrained by nest‐site availability. Conservation interventions that enhance invertebrate availability for suburban House Sparrows may increase reproductive success but are unlikely, on their own, to lead to population growth or recovery.     

Fertile House Ssparrow X Tree Sparrow (Passer domesticus XPasser montanus) hybrids?

Summary Viability and a seemingly successful breeding of a F1 House Sparrow x Tree Sparrow hybrid are reported from islands off the coast of northern Norway. From two consecutive clutches of House Sparrow x Tree Sparrow hybrids recorded in 1995, only one of 7 chicks survived the first year. The surviving individual was later, in 1997, found attending the nest with a female House Sparrow and feeding the young in two consecutive clutches. Neither of the F2 hybrids were observed after fledging. Despite the fact that House Sparrows indulge in frequent extra pair copulation, we find it unlikely that both clutches fed by the male hybrid could have been fathered by a House Sparrow male and therefore conclude that the F1 male hybrid was fertile. The hybridisation may have been facilitated by the fragmented structure and small size (from 5 to 100 individuals) of the sub-populations found in our study area.

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Fertile Haus- x Feldsperling (Passer domesticus X Passer montanus) Hybride?

Zusammenfassung Wir berichten über die Überlebensfähigkeit und einen offenbar erfolgreichen Brutversuch eines F1 Haussperling x Feldsperling Hybriden auf Inseln vor der nordnorwegischen Küste. Aus zwei aufeinanderfolgenden Gelegen eines gemischten Haus-/Feldsperling Paares, die wir 1995 beobachtet hatten, überlebte nur eines von sieben Jungtieren das erste Jahr. Das überlebende Individuum nistete später, 1997, mit einem Haussperlingweibchen und fütterte die Jungen zweier aufeinanderfolgender Bruten. Keiner der F2 Hybriden wurde nach dem Schlüpfen beobachtet. Obwohl bei Haussperlingen Kopulationen außerhalb des Paares häufig sind, betrachten wir es als unwahrscheinlich, daß beide vom männlichen Hybriden gefütterten Bruten von einem Haussperlingmännchen gezeugt worden waren. Wir schließen deshalb, daß das F1 Hybridmännchen fruchtbar war. Die Hybridisierung könnte durch die fragmentierte Struktur und die kleine Größe (5 bis 100 Individuen) der lokalen Populationen erleichtert worden sein.

     

The visual fields of two ground‐foraging birds,House Finches and House Sparrows,allow for simultaneous foraging and anti‐predator vigilance

In birds, differences in the extent and position of the binocular visual field reflect adaptations to varying foraging strategies, and the extent of the lateral portion of the field may reflect anti‐predator strategies. The goal of this study was to describe and compare the visual fields of two ground‐foraging passerines, House Finch Carpodacus mexicanus and House Sparrow Passer domesticus. We found that both species have a binocular field type that is associated with the accurate control of bill position when pecking. Both species have eye movements of relatively large amplitude, which can produce substantial variations in the configuration of the binocular fields. We propose that in these ground foragers, their relatively wide binocular fields could function to increase foraging efficiency by locating multiple rather than single food items prior to pecking events. The lateral fields of both species are wide enough to facilitate the detection of predators or conspecifics while head‐down foraging. This suggests that foraging and scanning are not mutually exclusive activities in these species, as previously assumed. Furthermore, we found some slight, but significant, differences between species: House Sparrow binocular fields are both wider and vertically taller, and the blind area is wider than in House Finches. These differences may be related to variations in the degree of eye movements and position of the orbits in the skull.     

Extra-pair fertilizations in Tree Sparrows Passer montanus

Females of socially monogamous bird species frequently accept or solicit copulations from males other than their social mates. At the interspecific level, it has been proposed that species with few or no sexual plumage differences have lower levels of extra-pair fertilizations (EPFs) than more dichromatic species. This is because it is easier for females to assess the quality of extra-pair mates in dichromatic than monochromatic species. To test this, by using genetic profiling, we compared the occurrence of extra-pair young in nests of Tree Sparrows Passer montanus , a monochromatic species, in Switzerland and Spain, with published estimates for the House Sparrow Passer domesticus , a closely related dichromatic species. We found that 25% (10/40) of Tree Sparrow broods in Spain and 23% (8/35) in Switzerland had at least one extra-pair offspring, and that 8% (12/151) of nestlings in Spain and 10% (12/114) in Switzerland were sired by extra-pair mates. These proportions did not differ significantly between the two populations. Tree Sparrow EPF rates did not differ significantly from available data for the House Sparrow, either in the proportion of broods with EPF young (24%, 18/75 in Tree vs. 26%, 92/359 in House Sparrows) or the overall proportion of extra-pair young (9%, 24/265 in Tree vs. 11%, 142/1110 in House Sparrows). Our results suggest that a close taxonomic relationship and similarities in behaviour and ecology may be more important in determining levels of EPF in these species than sexual phenotypic differences.