Sexing starlings<i>Sturnus vulgaris</i>using iris colour

Smith, Emma L.; Cuthill, Innes C.; Griffiths, Richard; Greenwood, VJ; Goldsmith, Arthur R.; Evans, Jennifer E.

doi:10.1080/03078698.2005.9674332

Cited by 18 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Eye colour might serve an adaptive function in some species. For example, it is a sexually dimorphic trait in Bearded Tits and European Starlings Sturnus vulgaris (Smith et al . 2005), in Red Jungle Fowl Gallus gallus it is one of the condition‐dependent traits that females use when selecting a sexual partner (Zuk et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in eye colour of juvenile Bearded Tits Panurus biarmicus and its use in determining breeding productivity

Wilson¹,

Hartley

2007

Ibis

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in eye colour of juvenile Bearded Tits Panurus biarmicus and its use in determining breeding productivity

Wilson¹,

Hartley

2007

Ibis

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“…We allowed natural variation to determine the sex ratio of the birds we radio tagged. The birds were aged and sexed according to external characteristics (Kessel 1951, Schwab and Marsh 1967, Smith et al 2005. We used Model A2440 VHF radio transmitters (frequency range: 164.000 -167.999 MHz; Advanced Telemetry Systems, Inc., Isanti, MN).…”

Section: Radio Taggingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Site Use of European Starlings Captured and Radio-tagged at Texas Feedlots during Winter

Homan¹,

Slowik²,

Penry³

et al. 2010

vertebrate_pest_conference

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We radio tagged and tracked 50 European starlings between December 2008 and January 2009 at 3 feedlots in the northern Texas Panhandle. Daily fidelity to sites of capture (home feedlots) was different among the 3 radio-tagged cohorts. Cohorts from Sites A and C were recorded at home feedlots on 48 and 59% of tracking days, respectively. The Site B cohort was at its home feedlot 95% of days. There were qualitative differences in use of home feedlots between cohorts A and C. The former were nearly obligate in their use of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO), whereas the latter tended to balance their use between CAFO and a nearby urban center. Six birds (12%) used either one or both of the counterpart home feedlots. Of these, 5 permanently switched from their home feedlots and used counterpart home feedlots; one bird captured at Site B alternated between Sites A and C after abandoning its home feedlot. Use of roost sites depended on habitat composition surrounding the study feedlots. Urban habitats were used as roosts by several birds from Sites A and C, whereas birds using Site B roosted at a petroleum refinery and a reservoir. Some Site B individuals used both roost sites during the study period; however, the reservoir was the preferred roost site. Daily activities in habitats away from the home feedlot generally occurred ≤5 km from the home feedlot. For birds from Sites A and C, offsite habitats were mainly urban areas and small CAFO. Increased habitat heterogeneity, as exemplified in our study by urban habitats and CAFO near Sites A and C, seemed to reduce rates of daily use of home feedlots. Heterogeneous environments can complicate management strategies that use DRC-1339 Concentrate for reducing starling numbers at infested CAFO. First, starlings may be erratic in their daily use of a CAFO in complex environments. Secondly, urban areas, when present, may be used as refuges by poisoned birds, leading to adverse public exposure.

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“…Increase error detection by using high‐resolution electrophoresis systems Most investigators employing molecular sexing of avian samples use agarose gel electrophoresis to separate and visualize PCR products (Horvath et al 2005, Smith et al 2005, Donohue and Dufty 2006). Although this is the least expensive method, detection of PCR product requires large quantities of DNA, sizing of products is less accurate, and fragments similar in size can often be indistinguishable.…”

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confidence: 99%

High error rates for avian molecular sex identification primer sets applied to molted feathers

Gebhardt

Waits

2008

Journal of Field Ornithology

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Molted feathers are becoming increasingly important as a source of DNA for identifying the sex of individuals, and accurate methods for molecular sex identification are needed. Three molecular sex identification primer sets have been developed for use in nearly all nonratite birds, but performance of these primer sets has not been evaluated for molted feathers. For two species of birds, the Ring‐necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) and the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao), we evaluated success and error rates among primer sets using DNA from molted feathers and assessed the percentage of times an incorrect sex would be assigned when analyses are completed in duplicate. Amplification success rates differed among the primer sets for both species, ranging from 67.5% to 89.2% (P= 0.0002 and 0.009), and error rates were high, ranging from 1.9% to 24.2%. Success rates and error rates were not consistent between species and among primer sets. To improve the accuracy of molecular sex identification tests when using molted feathers, we suggest determining acceptable confidence levels in the accuracy of sex assignment, conducting pilot tests to evaluate the performance of different primer sets, and using high‐resolution electrophoresis systems to increase detection of errors.

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Sexing starlingsSturnus vulgarisusing iris colour

Cited by 18 publications

References 7 publications

Changes in eye colour of juvenile Bearded Tits Panurus biarmicus and its use in determining breeding productivity

Changes in eye colour of juvenile Bearded Tits Panurus biarmicus and its use in determining breeding productivity

Site Use of European Starlings Captured and Radio-tagged at Texas Feedlots during Winter

High error rates for avian molecular sex identification primer sets applied to molted feathers

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