Adaptive Significance of the Use of Margosa Leaves in Nests of House Sparrows Passer Domesticus

Sengupta, Saibal

doi:10.1071/mu9810114

Cited by 30 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…the European Starling and Spotless Starling (Clark and Mason, 1985;Fauth et al, 1991;Gwinner et al, 2000;Brouwer and Komdeur, 2004;Veiga et al, 2006), others add it during almost all stages of the nesting cycle, e.g. the Blue Tit, the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), Wood Stork (Myctetia americana), various raptors (Sengupta, 1981;Wimberger, 1984;Rodgers et al, 1988;Petit et al, 2002;Dykstra et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Plant species selected by birds as GM very often represent a small, non-random fraction of all species available in the breeding habitat and importantly, most of them are rich in secondary compounds (Sengupta, 1981;Clark and Mason, 1985;Gwinner, 1997;Petit et al, 2002). Petit et al (2002) showed that in one of the Blue Tit breeding sites in Corsica only 10 plant species (< 5% of a total of 200 species available), all containing volatile compounds, were recorded in the nests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Green Plant Material in Avian Nests

Dubiec

Góźdź

Mazgajski

2013

Avian Biology Research

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Some bird species place in their nests fresh green plant materials, e.g. leaves, sprigs or branches of herbs, shrubs and trees, which are not a part of the basic nest structure. These additional materials are often characterised by a high content of volatile secondary metabolites and constitute a non-random, small fraction of plants available in the habitat. Several non-mutually exclusive hypotheses have been proposed to explain the function of green material in avian nests with three of them attracting the most attention. The courtship hypothesis proposes that green material is used by males in order to attract females to nesting sites. The nest protection hypothesis posits that birds place in the nest green material rich in volatile compounds to reduce the abundance of parasites and pathogens which, in turn, should mitigate their negative impact on the host. According to the drug hypothesis green material directly positively affects the health and development of nestlings, e.g. through stimulation of some components of the nestlings' immune system. Here, we present an overview of hypotheses explaining the phenomenon of green material in avian nests with a thorough description of three most frequently tested hypotheses and suggest the directions for future studies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green Plant Material in Avian Nests

Dubiec

Góźdź

Mazgajski

2013

Avian Biology Research

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“…Several hypotheses accounting for the use of green nest material have been proposed (Clark 1991a(Clark , 1991b. Because reuse of the nest site (a routine in hole-nesting birds) may result in a heavy parasite load of the nests, the explanation offered most often was that birds, like herbalists, may use intrinsic properties of plants to protect their nestlings against harmful parasites and pathogens (Widmann 1922;Sengupta 1981;Wimberger 1984;Mason 1985, 1988;Rodgers et al 1988;Clark 1991aClark , 1991bRoulin et al 1997;Petit et al 2002). Experimental work investigating this ''nest protection hypothesis'' is rare.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

European starlings: nestling condition, parasites and green nest material during the breeding season

Gwinner

Berger

2005

J Ornithol

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Male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) intermingle fresh herbs, preferably species rich in volatile compounds, into their dry nest material. In a field study, we investigated whether these herbs affect the mite and bacteria load of the nests and the condition of the nestlings either directly or via parasite control. We examined the amount of herbs and the number of plant species males carried into their nests, the variation of volatile compounds in the headspace air of the nest boxes and mite/bacteria load of the nests throughout the season. The amount of herb material and the number of plant species, the number of substances emanated by these plants and the infestation of the nests with bacteria and mites (Dermanyssus gallinae) increased with season. In a field experiment, we exchanged natural starling nests with experimental nests with or without herbs. We found that the herbs had no effect on the mites but fewer bacteria were sampled in nests with herbs than in nests without herbs. The body mass of the fledging was not related to the season or the mite/bacteria load of the nests. However, nestlings from nests with herbs fledged with higher body mass than nestlings from nests without herbs. Both bacteria and mite load were related to nestling mortality. In nests containing no herbs, the numbers of fledglings declined significantly with the increasing mite load while the mites had no effect on the number of fledglings in nests with herbs. Thus, the nest herbs counteracted the effect of the mites. In conclusion, it seems that volatile herbs can reduce bacterial but not mite infestation of the starling nests. The positive influence of herbs on nestling growth indicates that herbs either directly (perhaps as immunostimulants) improve the condition of the nestlings and help them cope with the harmful effects of mites, or they provide a nest environment beneficial for the nestlings' development by the reduction of germs.

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“…Some chemicals are produced by the birds themselves and some are sequestered or collected from external sources. Direct or indirect use of external chemicals examples include selective use of neem leaves (Azadirachta indica) in the nests by House Sparrows (Sengupta 1981); aromatic green plant material by European Starling (Clark & Mason 1988) and Blue Tits (Petit et al 2002) as protection against ectoparasites; formic acid or other chemicals used during anting (Revis & Waller 2004); use of Garlic snail and Schinus fruits by Hawaiian Elepaio (VanderWerf 2005); selecting specifically chemically rich pine trees for nesting as by Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Conner et al 2003) etc. Pitohui birds and birds of the genus Ifrita of Papua New Guinea contain neurotoxins in their feathers (Dumbacher 1999;Dumbacher et al 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemistry of preen gland secretions of passerines: different pathways to same goal? why?

et al. 2005

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Passeriformes is the largest order of birds and includes one third of the bird species of the world, living in very diverse habitats. We investigated the chemistry of preen gland secretions of some groups of passerines from temperate regions found in diverse microhabitats. Some of the common components were mixtures of homologous monoesters made up of long chain acids and alcohols. Individual species had characteristic distribution of esters and was unique to a given species, although there were some individual variations. We compared the composition of acids and alcohols that formed same molecular weight esters in different species and we found that the combination of acids and alcohols to arrive at same molecular compositions varied distinctly between species. To compare compositions of over all acids and alcohols that formed the esters, the representative samples of secretions from the individual species were transesterfied the produce methyl esters and alcohols. We found that there were distinct differences in number of acids and alcohols that produced the combination of homologous mixtures of esters. Also they differed both qualitatively and quantitatively. There were also seasonal differences in the secretion components. Thus though the intact mixtures of esters in individual species had some similarities, they were very complex mixtures and differed characteristically for individual species. Here we discuss possible causes for evolution of these variations. We suggest that the evolution in variation of preen gland secretion is probably due to selective pressures caused by ectosymbionts such as feather-mites and feather-chewing lice that live on feathers and probably feed on the secretions and surrounding environments

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Adaptive Significance of the Use of Margosa Leaves in Nests of House Sparrows Passer Domesticus

Cited by 30 publications

References 2 publications

Green Plant Material in Avian Nests

Green Plant Material in Avian Nests

European starlings: nestling condition, parasites and green nest material during the breeding season

Chemistry of preen gland secretions of passerines: different pathways to same goal? why?

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