红腹锦鸡雏鸟的换羽研究

了解鸟类的换羽方式和顺序,对于研究鸟类的系统分类、生态及雏鸟的生长发育规律等方面,都具有重要的意义。     

模拟增加潜在巢捕食风险对2种鸟类雏鸟生长发育产生不同影响

捕食风险是影响鸟类生活史对策的重要因素之一。为应对捕食风险,鸟类进化出多样的反捕食策略。为探究北热带石灰岩森林地区鸟类生长发育对高巢捕食风险的适应机制,本研究通过利用蛇类模型模拟巢捕食者,增加潜在巢捕食风险,设置实验组,将未放置蛇类模型的实验设置为对照组。测量育雏期内黄腹山鹪莺（Prinia flaviventris）雏鸟与红耳鹎（Pycnonotus jocosus）雏鸟每日的体重、跗跖长与翼长,分别比较分析黄腹山鹪莺雏鸟与红耳鹎雏鸟上述体型特征在实验组与对照组中的生长发育规律。对符合正态分布的各日龄雏鸟生长参数进行t检验,不符合正态分布的参数进行非参数检验（Wilcox秩和检验）并求均值,使用SPSS 26.0统计软件包对雏鸟各日龄参数均值进行Logistic曲线拟合,比较各雏鸟相同生长参数在实验组和对照组实验的“S”发育曲线。结果显示,黄腹山鹪莺雏鸟在实验组的体重、跗跖长与翼长的渐近线分别占成鸟量度的71.57%、94.10%与55.29%,对照组分别占成鸟量度的78.05%、97.49%与55.67%,在实验组和对照组育雏期分别为11.1 d与10.6 d。实验组和对照组黄腹山...     

朱鹮人工育雏和雏鸟的生长发育

朱鹮人工育雏和雏鸟的生长发育刘斌,史森明,王振荣,李福来（北京动物园１０００４４）朱绍（Ｎｉｐｐｏｎｉａｎｉｐｐｏｎ）是世界瞩目的濒危、珍稀鸟类。属国际保护鸟类,我国国家一级重点保护动物,日本指定为特别天然纪念物。在日本、朝鲜半岛和前苏联远东沿海南部...     

笼养条件下朱鹮雏鸟的饲养管理和生长发育

2002~2004年,通过对人工繁殖的103只朱(Nipponia nippon)雏鸟的饲喂和护理,系统测量了1~35日龄雏鸟的体重、体长、翅长、嘴峰、跗、中爪、尾长生长发育情况,并与野外朱雏鸟的生长发育作了对比分析。结果表明,人工条件下的朱雏鸟生长发育良好,在不同日龄期,基本达到甚至超过野外朱雏鸟生长发育指标的水平。35日龄雏鸟出飞,比野外雏鸟出飞提前了一周。     

白颈长尾雉雏鸟生长及稚后换羽研究

白颈长尾雉(Syrmaticus ellioti)是我国特产的一种雉类。仅分布于安徽南部、浙江西部、福建西北部、江西东部及广东北部为留鸟。是珍稀濒危鸟类;国家重点保护动物,还被列入《野生动植物种国际货易公约》国际保护鸟名单中。活鸟十九世纪七十年代运往巴黎,现在欧美有些国家仍有饲养。关于其雏鸟生长发育,尤其是稚后换羽未见有系统报道。1983年,我们对3只(2雄、1雌)自颈长尾雉雏鸟的生长和稚后换羽进行了较系统的研究,报告如下。     

青海北部高寒草甸雀形目鸟类繁殖生态学的研究进展

从鸟巢特征、巢址选择、窝卵数、育幼行为、雏鸟生长发育、繁殖生产力以及繁殖对策等方面,对青藏高原高寒草甸雀形目鸟类繁殖生态学进行了综合分析与评述。高寒草甸雀形目鸟类受适合繁殖季节长度、食物资源和捕食压力的影响,或选择逐步投资对策,或选择一次投资对策;每个种群的常见窝卵数就是最适窝卵数;雏鸟的发育模式相对固定,不存在补偿性生长,但是生长期长度是可变化的。①研究亲-子通讯行为的进化和稳定性,提出适应高寒草甸雀形目鸟类的亲-子间的通讯行为假设;②建立在巢环境特征变化梯度(开放到封闭)上的生命表,找出决定适合度的生命表参数(繁殖率和存活率)的因果关系;③测定在巢环境特征变化梯度上的生态领域变化将是未来研究的3个方向。     

黄嘴鹮鹳混群笼养繁殖和育雏行为观察

从2006年到2008年间对黄嘴鹮鹳的饲养环境进行人工调节,采用焦点动物法和扫描取样法对黄嘴鹮鹳的繁殖行为、雏鸟的生长发育进行观察.结果表明,人工措施可使黄嘴鹮鹳在北京地区全年繁殖;亲鸟在育雏期共同养育雏鸟;雏鸟属晚成鸟,但与鹮类相比,在生长发育上有特异性,更接近于鹳.     

角百灵和小云雀的孵化行为

鸟类的个体发育是在双亲、雏鸟及巢组成的一种特殊环境中完成的,稳定的热环境是它们完成孵化和雏鸟生长发育的必要条件(White et al., 1974; Purdue, 1976; Ellis, 1982; Haftorn, 1983; Morton et al., 1985; Schnace et al., 1991; Vatnick et al., 1998; 张晓爱等,1995).因此亲鸟的伴巢行为及时间花费在保证繁殖成功中起重要作用.伴巢行为是指亲鸟在繁殖期间,为筑巢、防御、抱卵、孵雏及递食而出现在巢中或附近的所有行为(Oppenhaim, 1972).亲鸟拌巢的时间分配与巢环境有密切关系,已有大量的报道(如Purdue, 1976; Ellis,1982; Schnace et al., 1991;张晓爱等, 1995). 张晓爱等(1995)比较了高寒草甸地区的地面、灌丛及洞穴3种不同营巢类型亲鸟的伴巢时间分配模式,但是对亲缘关系较近,营巢生境相同鸟类之间的伴巢时间分配模式,以及坐巢行为与巢环境之间关系没有报道,国外对这方面的报道也甚少.本项研究选择高寒草甸的两种百灵科鸟:角百灵(Eremophila alpestris)和小云雀(Alauda gulgula)作为研究对象来比较亲鸟在孵化期坐巢行为与巢址微环境的关系,对研究鸟类繁殖行为与环境关系及从生活史进化角度研究相似种的共存机制提供理论依据.     

陕西汉中野生朱鹮雏鸟的生长发育特征

2014年和2015年监测朱鹮保护区野生朱鹮(Nipponia nippon)15只雏鸟的生长发育,拟合其生长发育数据的生长曲线和相对生长公式,与1989年研究结果进行对比。结果显示,野生朱鹮雏鸟的生长发育不受孵化顺序的影响,雄性体长的生长速度快于雌性。目前朱鹮雏鸟体重、体长、翅长、嘴峰长、跗跖长和中趾长的生长均符合逻辑斯谛生长曲线,雏鸟体重生长率在13日龄左右达到最大。与1989年的研究结果比较发现,目前野生朱鹮幼鸟总体生长发育有所放缓。这可能与近年野生朱鹮种群的增长和扩散导致的环境压力加大以及繁殖期食物资源不足有关。     

青藏高原赭红尾鸲的繁殖

在青藏高原东南缘,海拔高度3470m的尕海-则岔国家级自然保护区尕海保护站,研究了赭红尾鸲普通亚种(Phoenicurus ochruros rufiventris)的繁殖。目的是检验高海拔鸟类的雏鸟是否发育更快和产小窝大卵、是否有更高的离巢率。赭红尾鸲营巢洞中,平均窝卵数4.8(3-6)枚,卵的大小23.33mm×14.95mm,同低海拔的相近种比较产小窝大卵。孵卵由雌鸟承担,孵卵期13-14d,孵化率64.5%。雏鸟留巢期16d-19d,巢成功率81.3%,雏鸟离巢率83.33%。高海拔红尾鸲产小窝大卵和加强双亲抚育,但高海拔红尾鸲并没有显著提高雏鸟离巢率。高海拔红尾鸲低温下增加双亲对雏鸟的抚育并没有使雏鸟发育加快,反而较低海拔近缘种的幼鸟发育缓慢。因此,延长留巢期不只是Badyaev和Ghalambor(2001)所认为增加雏鸟的质量,而是缺氧和低温协同作用的自然选择结果。     

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF NESTLING HEN HARRIERS

Nestling Hen Harriers Circus cyaneus in Orkney were weighed and measured during two nesting seasons. The 501 weights and 390 longest primary measurements produce a composite record of growth for this species. The general shape of both weight and primary growth curves is sigmoid. The primary feather growth can be measured at age seven and eight days after hatching and is less variable as an index of growth than is weight. The nestling period varies usually from 30 to 36 days, and age at first flight depends on the ratio of primary length to weight. Males usually fly before their heavier female siblings. The asynchronous hatching produces a size-rank between nestling Hen Harriers. The significance of the size-rank to growth and mortality is discussed. Sexual dimorphism develops at the nestling stage. Weights and measurements of males and females at different ages are tabulated. Asynchronous hatching, and the influence of latitude differences on growth rate are briefly discussed.     

Offspring growth and mobility in response to variation in parental care: a comparison between populations

Life history theory emphasizes the importance of trade‐offs in how time and energy are allocated to the competing demands of growth, fecundity, and survival. However, avian studies have historically emphasized the importance of resource acquisition over resource allocation to explain geographic variation in fecundity, parental care, and offspring development. We compared the brood sizes and nestling mass and feather growth trajectories between orange‐crowned warblers Oreothlypis celata breeding in Alaska versus California, and used 24‐h video recordings to study the relationship between parental care and growth rates. Per‐offspring provisioning rates were highest in the smallest broods, and food delivery was positively correlated with nestling growth over the 24‐h period only in Alaska. Females in Alaska spent more time brooding, and juveniles there showed faster feather growth and earlier mobility compared with those in California. We also found differences in the energetic and nutritional content of insect larvae that could facilitate the observed differences in nestling growth relative to food provisioning. Our results point to the potential importance of food quality and parental provisioning of warmth, in addition to food, for explaining avian growth patterns. We highlight the need to quantify multiple dimensions of parental care and of offspring growth and development, and to better understand the relationships between feather growth, nestling period length, and fledgling mobility.     

Does testosterone mediate the trade-off between nestling begging and growth in the canary (Serinus canaria)?

Nestling birds solicit food from their parents with vigorous begging displays, involving posturing, jostling and calling. In some species, such as canaries, begging is especially costly because it causes a trade off against nestling growth. Fitness costs of begging like this are predicted by evolutionary theory because they function to resolve conflicts of interest within the family over the provision of parental investment. However, the mechanism that links these costs with nestling behaviour remains unclear. In the present study, we determine if the relationships between nestling androgen levels, nestling begging intensities and nestling growth rates are consistent with the hypothesis that testosterone is responsible for the trade-off between begging and growth. We test this idea with a correlational study, using fecal androgens as a non-invasive method for assaying nestling androgen levels. Our results show that fecal androgen levels are positively correlated with nestling begging intensity, and reveal marked family differences in each trait. Furthermore, changes in fecal androgen levels between 5 and 8 days after hatching are positively associated with changes in nestling begging intensity, and negatively associated with nestling growth during this time. Although these correlational results support our predictions, we suggest that that experimental manipulations are now required to test the direct or indirect role of testosterone in mediating the trade-off between begging and growth.     

Local weather conditions have complex effects on the growth of blue tit nestlings

Adverse weather conditions are expected to result in impaired nestling development in birds, but empirical studies have provided equivocal support for such a relationship. This may be because the negative effects of adverse weather conditions are masked by parental effects. Globally, ambient temperatures, rainfall levels and wind speeds are all expected to increase in a changing climate and so there is a need for a better understanding of the relationship between weather conditions and nestling growth. Here, we describe a correlative study that examined the relationships between local temperatures, rainfall levels and wind speeds and the growth of individual blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) nestlings in relation to their hatching order and sex. We found that changes in a range of morphological characters were negatively related to both temperature and wind speed, but positively related to rainfall. These patterns were further influenced by the hatching order of the nestlings but not by nestling sex. This suggests that the predicted changes in local weather conditions may have complex effects on nestling growth, but that parents may be able to mitigate the adverse effects via adaptive parental effects. We therefore conclude that local weather conditions have complex effects on avian growth and the implications for patterns of avian growth in a changing climate are discussed.     

Siblicide, starvation and nestling growth in the laughing kookaburra

I examined the growth of surviving nestlings in broods of the cooperatively breeding laughing kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae , which has complex patterns of brood reduction. Laughing kookaburras usually lay three eggs that hatch asynchronously. Brood reduction occurs in nearly half of all broods and always affects the youngest nestling. In most cases, the youngest nestling is killed within a few days of hatching by aggressive attacks from its older siblings. In a smaller proportion of nests, the youngest nestling dies from starvation, rather than physical attack, much later in the nestling period when nestling growth rates and adult feeding rates peak (about 20 days post-hatching). These mechanistically and temporally distinct episodes of brood reduction were associated with very different patterns of growth in the senior nestlings. Seniors that killed their youngest sibling reached higher asymptotic weights than seniors that did not commit siblicide. In contrast, if the youngest nestling was not killed by its older siblings, but later starved to death, the surviving seniors were skeletally smaller and had retarded feather development compared to seniors from other broods. These differences in nestling growth may have longer-term fitness consequences, because kookaburra fledging weight is positively associated with both juvenile survival and successful recruitment into the breeding population. Therefore, although parents of broods without mortality produce the highest number of fledglings and also the highest number of independent juveniles, if parents are unable to raise a full brood, early siblicide may represent the best brood reduction option. Early siblicide is at least associated with high quality young that have enhanced survival and recruitment prospects. In contrast, the poor growth of seniors in broods where the youngest nestling starved suggests that parents overestimated the size of the brood they could provision.     

Estimation of calcium intake by Meadow Pipit nestlings in an acidified area

Calcium availability might limit reproductive output in birds either by effects on eggshell formation or on skeletal growth of nestlings. Quantitative data on calcium intake by nestlings of free-living passerines are needed to test the second hypothesis. In an acidified area of the Jeseníky Mountains (Czech Republic), estimates were made of calcium requirements and intake in Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis nestlings during the nestling period. Analyses of nestling diet, determined by neck ligatures, showed that only snail shells were an important source of calcium. During the whole nestling period dry matter intake per nestling was 31.1 g, of which snail shells contributed 0.626 g. The total calcium necessary for successful development of each nestling was estimated as 139.8 mg. Arthropods in the diet provided only 16% of the calcium requirement. However, sufficient calcium was ensured by intake of snails (mainly Arianta arbustorum ), despite their low abundance in the area.     

DIFFERENTIAL GROWTH AND BODY COMPOSITION IN ALTRICIAL PASSERINES

The differential development of various body organs and of fat, water, and other constituents was studied in three species with altricial nestlings—Blue Tit, House Martin and House Sparrow.
In all species resources available at each stage of the nestling period were allocated to those components of most use to the nestlings at the time, although due regard was paid to future needs. Components associated with the ingestion and assimilation of food, such as the mouth, gizzard, intestine and liver, developed early in the nestling period whilst locomotory components, such as wings and pectoral muscles, developed late. Similarly, body plumage needed for insulation developed ahead of the locomotory remiges and rectrices, but only after much of the nestlings' growth in size had been completed.
The water index (water content/lean dry weight) provided a consistent index of tissue and nestling maturity amongst young of different nutritional status. This index was very similar for all three species when age was expressed as a fraction of the nestling period.
Both absolute fat content and the fat index (fat content/lean dry weight) increased with age. The adaptive value of these trends and of interspecific differences in fat index is discussed.
The results are seen as consistent with both the physiological bottleneck models of avian growth rates. It is suggested that the growth patterns of birds may be dominated more by ecological considerations affecting all aspects of the development mode than by internal physiological constraints affecting growth rates alone.     

Body component growth and composition of the magpie Pica pica

Magpie nestling growth is documented as increments in body mass, tarsus length, and tenth primary length. A sample of 41 nestlings and eight adults was used to provide comparative data on changes in water content, lean dry mass, and fat content for 14 body components.
Changes in the composition of various components implicate water index (water content/ lean dry mass) as an indicator of tissue and nestling maturity. Lipid index (fat content/lean dry mass) for the whole body exhibited a sustained linear increase during the first two-thirds of the nestling period. About 80% of nestling body fat was located in the skin, body shell, and alimentary canal.
The state of development of particular components appeared to be related to the current functional requirements of the nestling. Thus the food processing components assumed an early significance, while the development of insulative and locomotory components was somewhat curtailed by comparison.     

Weather dependent effects of nest ectoparasites on their bird hosts

This study reports the relationships between rainfall and ambient temperature with the abundances and prevalences of three species of ectoparasitic arthropods (viz, mites, blowfly larvae, fleas) in pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca nests in three different breeding seasons In addition to its effects on the growth of nestling pied flycatchers, weather conditions were found to determine patterns of abundance and prevalence of ectoparasites Nest ectoparasites had detrimental effects on the fitness (nestling growth and survival until fledgling) of their hosts although the effects and the identity of harmful ectoparasites varied across the years Among the three species of nest ectoparasites, mites had the most consistent harmful effects on nestling growth Fleas were detrimental in the more cold and rainy year, while blowflies caused nestling mortality in the wanner year Different host-parasite interactions were present each year, most likely due to the effects of weather on the activity and timing of development of parasite populations     

Genetic and environmental variation in immune response of collared flycatcher nestlings

This paper aims at partitioning genetic and environmental contribution to the phenotypic variance in nestling immune function measured with the hypersensitivity test after inoculation with phytohaemagglutinin. A cross-fostering experiment with artificial enlargement of some broods was conducted. Variation in nestling immune response was related to their common origin, which suggests heritable component of cell-mediated immunity. A common rearing environment also explained a significant part of variation. However, deterioration of rearing conditions as simulated by enlargement of brood size did not affect nestling immunocompetence, although it affected nestling body mass. Variation in body mass explained some of the variation in immune response related to rearing environment, which means that growth is more sensitive to the shifts in rearing conditions than the development of immune function. Heritable variation in immune response suggests that there should be potential for selection to operate and the micro evolutionary changes in immunity of flycatcher nestlings are possible.