Seeing sunlit owls in a new light: orienting Snowy Owls may not be displaying

Snowy Owls Bubo scandiacus often face the sun when sitting on the ground or when perched. Such sun‐orienting has been suggested to represent a visual display to conspecifics but other explanations have not been thoroughly examined. We observed the orientation of wintering Snowy Owls to both the sun and the wind, and their perching behaviour during two winters in central Saskatchewan, Canada. We proposed three new explanations for sun orientation in addition to the display hypothesis: thermoregulation, hunting and defence against predators. On sunny days, 44% of 710 Owls faced the sun; this was non‐random because few did so on overcast days. Sun‐ as opposed to wind‐orienting was strongly associated with weather conditions. Logistic regressions indicated that at temperatures below –13 °C and at wind speeds greater than about 18 km/h, Owls tended to orient to the wind rather than to the sun. The likelihood of wind‐orienting increased if the Owl perched above the ground, whereas the likelihood of sun‐orientating increased slightly when the Owl was sitting on the ground. There was no difference between the sexes in orienting behaviour. Snowy Owls seemed to prioritize wind‐orienting for thermoregulation but the results are also consistent with the idea that sun‐orientation can reduce heat loss. Facing into the sun did not support the hunting explanation because the birds would have been blinded and not able to see prey, but was consistent with the protection explanation if it helps to increase vigilance against enemies. Although we cannot completely rule out the display explanation, the spatial context of sunning Owls and a lack of a sex effect makes it unlikely that this is the main function. Instead, Owls seem to trade‐off wind‐ vs. sun‐orienting according to the prevailing weather conditions and do so mainly to thermoregulate and perhaps to maintain vigilance.     

The evolution of parasite-defence grooming in ungulates

Grooming repertoires are exhibited by all terrestrial mammals, and removal of ectoparasites is an important ancestral and current function. Parasite‐defence grooming is regulated both by a central control mechanism (programmed grooming model) and by cutaneous stimulation from bites (stimulus‐driven model). To study the evolution of parasite‐defence grooming in ungulates, we compared species‐typical grooming behaviour with host morphology and habitat to test predictions of the programmed grooming model while taking into account phylogenetic relatedness. We observed grooming in 60 ungulate species at ectoparasite‐free zoological parks in which the confound of differential tick exposure was controlled for and stimulus‐driven grooming was ruled out. Concentrated‐changes tests indicated that sexually dimorphic grooming (in which breeding males groom less than females) has coevolved with sexual body size dimorphism, suggesting that intrasexual selection has favoured reduced grooming that enhances vigilance of males for oestrous females and rival males. Concentrated‐changes tests also revealed that the evolution of complex oral grooming (involving alternate use of both teeth and tongue) and adult allogrooming (whereby conspecifics oral groom body regions not accessible by self grooming) was concentrated in lineages inhabiting closed woodland or forest habitat associated with increased tick exposure, with such advanced grooming being most concentrated in Cervidae. Regression analyses of independent contrasts indicated that both host body size and habitat play a role in the evolution of species‐typical oral grooming rates, as previously reported. These results indicate that the observed grooming represents centrally driven grooming patterns favoured by natural selection in each lineage. This is the first phylogenetically controlled comparative study to report the evolution of parasite‐defence grooming behaviours in response to selection pressures predicted by the programmed grooming hypothesis. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 81 , 17–37.     

No first night shift effect observed following a nocturnal main sleep and a prophylactic 1-h afternoon nap

ABSTRACT

Neurobehavioural impairment on the first night shift is often greater than on subsequent night shifts due to extended wakefulness. The aim of the study was to determine whether a 1-h afternoon nap prior to the first night shift is sufficient to produce neurobehavioural performance at levels comparable to the second night shift. Twelve male volunteers (mean age 22.9 years) participated in a laboratory protocol that simulated two 12-h night shifts. A nap preceded the first shift and a 7-h daytime sleep was scheduled between shifts. Neurobehavioural performance and subjective sleepiness measured across each night did not significantly differ between first and second shifts.     

Time-of-day variation in sustained attentional control

Sustained attention is a fundamental cognitive function underlying many activities in daily life including workplace safety, but its natural variation throughout the day is incompletely characterized. To examine time-of-day variation, we collected a large online data set (N = 6,363) with participation throughout the day and around the world on the gradual-onset continuous performance task, a sensitive measure of sustained attention. This allowed us to examine accuracy, attentional stability, and strategy. Results show that both accuracy and attentional stability peak between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. and progressively decline throughout the day, whereas strategy is more stable.     

Foraging behaviour of Nuthatches(Sitta europaea) in relation to the presence of mates and mixed flocks

Summary Nuthatches (Sitta europaea) usually forage in pairs outside the breeding season. I investigated whether foraging site selection in winter (tree species, height, substrate size) differed between sexes and whether this difference was related to the presence of mixed-species flocks. Foraging sites of pair members foraging together were highly correlated. In the rare cases when each used different tree species, males foraged significantly more often on the preferred oak trees than females. Males foraged significantly lower than females in some territories, but not in others. The reasons for this significant variation between pairs remains unexplained. Males also foraged lower than females in the company of mixed flocks. These differences are probably better explained as avoidance of the dominant male by the subordinate female, rather than specialization in resource use to avoid competition.

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Nahrungssuche beim Kleiber (Sitta europaea) im Paarverbund und in gemischten Schwärmen

Zusammenfassung Außerhalb der Brutzeit fouragieren Kleiber gewöhnlich in Paaren. Ich untersuchte, ob sich die Geschlechter in der Wahl des winterlichen Nahrungsortes (Baumart, Höhe, Astdicke) unterscheiden und ob solche Unterschiede durch die Anwesenheit von gemischten Schwärmen beeinflußt ist. Die Ortswahl der gemeinschaftlich auf Nahrungssuche gehenden Paarpartner war hoch korreliert. In den seltenen Fällen, in denen sich die Partner an verschiedenen Bäumen aufhielten, fanden sich die Männchen signifikant mehr an den der Art bevorzugten Eichen als die Weibchen. In einigen Revieren fouragierten die Männchen an signifikant niedrigeren Standorten als die Weibchen, doch war dies nicht in allen Revieren der Fall. Die Ursachen für diese Unterschiede sind nicht bekannt. Auch in gemischten Schwärmen erfolgte die Nahrungssuche der Männchen niedriger als die der Weibchen. Möglicherweise vermeiden die Weibchen so die Konkurrenz durch die dominanten Männchen.

     

獐(Hydropotes inermis)的警戒行为模式及逃跑起始距离的适应性变化

为了掌握獐的警戒行为特征并为重引入项目提供管理依据,以人为干扰源观察獐的警戒反应,发现其警戒模式包括听 (listen) 或扫视 (scan) ,盯视 (stare) ,走开 (walk away) ,跑开 (run away),吼叫 (bark) 和压脖 (stretch) 。利用逃跑起始距离对上海松江圈养 (自由采食) 獐、上海华夏圈养(人工饲喂) 獐和江苏盐城野生獐进行警戒性比较,得出：人工饲喂獐警戒性最小,野生獐警戒性最大。可通过野化训练提高人工饲喂獐的警戒性;人类活动、种群密度、围栏和区域面积可能影响獐的警戒性。