RCIN and OZwRCIN projects

Object

Title: Two cases of tits’ fights to the death in competition for winter roosting sites

Creator:

Typiak, Jakub ; Typiak, Marlena

Date issued/created:

2018

Resource type:

Text

Subtitle:

Tits’ fights to death in roosting sites ; Dwa przypadki śmierci sikor w wyniku walki o miejsca noclegowe w sezonie zimowym

Publisher:

Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Place of publishing:

Warszawa

Description:

24 cm

Type of object:

Journal/Article

Abstract:

Finding a suitable place for overnight roosting may be crucial for survival during winter. If the number of suitable roosting sites is limited, intra- and interspecific competition may occur. In a nest box group, two cases of tit deaths were recorded in a winter season. The tits had apparent beak marks from pecks on their heads, and so were probably killed by other birds roosting in the boxes. Both dead individuals (a Blue Tit and young female of Great Tit) were competitively weaker individuals considering the hierarchy among wintering tits. They did not belong to the local winter flock. Presence of bird droppings on the bodies of the killed tits indicates that after the fight an individual (probably the winner of the competition) still roosted in the box. In both cases there was at least 57.7% of boxes that were not used by birds, suggesting that the birds fought for the best roosting sites. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first records concerning birds fighting for roosting sites during the winter season, which resulted in a death of one of the competing individuals

References:

AHOLA M. P., LAAKSONEN T., EEVA T. & LEHIKOINEN E. 2007. Climate change can alter competitive relationships between resident and migratory birds. Journal of Animal Ecology. 76: 1045–1052.
BUSSE P. & GOTZMAN J. 1962 Nesting competition and mixed clutches among some birds inhabiting the nest-boxes. Acta Ornithologica 7: 1–32.
CHRISTE P.,OPPLIGER A.&RICHNER H. 1994. Ectoparasite affects choice and use of roost sites in the great tit, Parus major. Animal Behaviour 47: 895–898.
CRAMPS. & PERRINS C. M. 1993. The birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. 7. Old World Flycatchers to Shrikes. Oxford University. Press, Oxford, 700 pp
DE LAET J. 1984. Site-related dominance in the great tit Parus major. Ornis Scandinavica 15: 73–78.
DHONDT A. & EYCKERMAN R. 1980. Competition between the Great Tit and Blue Tit outside the breeding season in field experiments. Ecology 61: 1291–1296.
DINGEMANSE N. J. & DE GOEDE P. 2004. The relation between dominance and exploratory behavior is context-dependent in wild Great Tits. Behavioral Ecology 15: 1023–1030.
EKNER A. & TRYJANOWSKI P. 2008. Do small hole nesting passerines detect cues left by a predator? A test on winter roosting sites. Acta Ornithologica. 43: 107–111.
FLUX J. E. C. & FLUX M. M. 1992. Nature red in claw: how and why starlings kill each other. Notornis 39: 293–300.
FRYE G. G. & ROGERS K. K. 2004. Probable cavity usurpation via interspecific killing by the Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides). Northwestern Naturalist 85: 126–128.
GOWATY P. A. 1984. House Sparrows kill Eastern Bluebirds. Journal of Field Ornithology.55: 378–380.
KANIA W. 1983. Diurnal investigations on roosting of birds in nest-boxes. Notatki Ornitologiczne 24: 69–72.
KEMPENAERS B. & DHONDT A. A. 1991. Competition between Blue and Great Tit for roosting sites in winter: an aviary experiment. Ornis Scandinavica 22: 73–75.
LOMBARDO M. P. 1986. A possible case of adult intraspecific killing in the Tree Swallow. Condor88: 112.
MAINWARING M. C. 2011. The use of nestboxes by roosting birds during the non-breeding season: a review of the costs and benefits. Ardea 99: 167–176.
MERILÄ J. & ALLANDER K. 1995. Do Great Tits (Parus major) prefer ectoparasite-free roost sites? An experiment. Ethology 99: 53–60.
MERILÄ J. & WIGGINS D. 1995. Interspecific competition for nest holes causes adult mortality in the Collared Flycatcher. Condor 97: 445–450.
NEWTON I. 1994. The role of nest sites in limiting the numbers of hole-nesting birds: a review. Biological Conservation 70: 265–276.
NEWTON I. 1998. Population limitation in birds. Academic Press Limited. London, 598 pp.
PACLÍK M. & TYLLER Z. 2014. Droppings as an indicator of nest box occupancy by roosting birds in winter. Sylvia 50:12–24.
PINOWSKI J., HAMAN A., JERZAK L., PINOWSKA B., BARKOWSKA M., GRODZKI A. & HAMAN K. 2006.The thermal properties of some nests of the Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus. Journal of Thermal Biology 31: 573–581.
SAMPLONIUS J. M. & BOTH Ch. 2014 A Case of a Three Species Mixed Brood after Two Interspecific Nest Takeovers. Ardea 102(1): 105–107.
SVENSSON L. 1992. Identification guide to European passerines. British Trust of Ornithology. Thetford, UK, 368 pp.
TYLLER Z., PACLIK M. & REMES V. 2012. Winter night inspections of nest boxes affect their occupancy and reuse for roosting by cavity nesting birds. Acta Ornithologica 47(1): 79–85
VEĽKÝ M., KAŇUCH P. & KRIŠTÍN A. 2010. Selection of winter roosts in the Great Tit Parus major: influence of microclimate. Journal of Ornithology 151: 147–153.

Relation:

Fragmenta Faunistica

Volume:

61

Issue:

1

Start page:

65

End page:

70

Detailed Resource Type:

Article

Format:

application/pdf

Resource Identifier:

oai:rcin.org.pl:67175 ; ISSN 0015-9301, eISSN 2391-5846 ; 10.3161/00159301FF2018.61.1.065

Source:

MiIZ PAN, call no. P.256 ; MiIZ PAN, call no. P.4664 ; click here to follow the link

Language:

eng

Rights:

Creative Commons Attribution BY 3.0 PL license

Terms of use:

Copyright-protected material. [CC BY 3.0 PL] May be used within the scope specified in Creative Commons Attribution BY 3.0 PL license, full text available at: ; -

Digitizing institution:

Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Original in:

Library of the Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Projects co-financed by:

Operational Program Digital Poland, 2014-2020, Measure 2.3: Digital accessibility and usefulness of public sector information; funds from the European Regional Development Fund and national co-financing from the state budget.

Access:

Open

Objects Similar

×

Citation

Citation style:

This page uses 'cookies'. More information