Absence of egg rejection in an Asian population of house sparrow (Passer domesticus), a conspecific brood parasite in Europe

2015 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 723-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Canchao Yang ◽  
Yiping Hu ◽  
Ming Ma ◽  
Wei Liang ◽  
Anders P. Møller
Keyword(s):  
House Sparrow ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Asian Population ◽  
Egg Rejection ◽  
Brood Parasite

scholarly journals Absence of anti-parasitic defenses in an Asian population of the magpie, a regular host of the great spotted cuckoo in Europe

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Canchao Yang ◽  
Jialiang Huang ◽  
Wei Liang ◽  
Anders P Møller
Keyword(s):  
Asian Population ◽  
Egg Rejection ◽  
Brood Parasite ◽  
Pica Pica ◽  
Host Nest ◽  
Clamator Glandarius ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
Antagonistic Coevolution ◽  
The Past ◽  
Different Populations

Abstract Antagonistic coevolution such as that between obligate brood parasites and their hosts promotes the evolution of a variety of trickeries that enhance successful rearing of their offspring. They do that by using host parental care to enhance their reproductive success, which in turn selects for host nest defenses or egg rejection. Studying these adaptations and counter-adaptations in different populations helps us to understand the complexity of coevolution between hosts and parasites. Here, we tested for anti-parasite defenses in an Asian population of magpies Pica pica, which is used as a regular host by the great spotted cuckoo Clamator glandarius in Europe. Unlike most magpie populations in Europe, cuckoo parasitism and specific anti-parasite defenses are absent from this Asian population. None of the cuckoos in the Asian population of magpies were capable of exploiting the magpies. That was due to magpies being evictors smaller than cuckoos that could not successfully utilize brood reducing hosts. Thus, the absence of cuckoo parasitism may be due to the absence of non-evictor brood parasites, while the absence of defenses is likely to be explained by the absence of coevolutionary interaction with any brood parasite in both the present and the past.

Three hundred years of House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) persecution in Germany

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. SEITZ
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
House Sparrow ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
World War ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas ◽  
Second World

Modernization of agriculture, economic development and population increase after the end of the Thirty Years' War caused authorities in many parts of Germany to decree the eradication of so-called pest animals, including the House Sparrow. Farmers were given targets, and had to deliver the heads of sparrows in proportion to the size of their farms or pay fines. At the end of the eighteenth century German ornithologists argued against the eradication of the sparrows. During the mid-nineteenth century, C. L. Gloger, the pioneer of bird protection in Germany, emphasized the value of the House Sparrow in controlling insect plagues. Many decrees were abolished because either they had not been obeyed, or had resulted in people protecting sparrows so that they always had enough for their “deliveries”. Surprisingly, various ornithologists, including Ernst Hartert and the most famous German bird conservationist Freiherr Berlepsch, joined in the war against sparrows at the beginning of the twentieth century, because sparrows were regarded as competitors of more useful bird species. After the Second World War, sparrows were poisoned in large numbers. Persecution of sparrows ended in Germany in the 1970s. The long period of persecution had a significant but not long-lasting impact on House Sparrow populations, and therefore cannot be regarded as a factor in the recent decline of this species in urban and rural areas of western and central Europe.

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter E. Lowther ◽  
Calvin L. Cink
Keyword(s):  
House Sparrow ◽  
Passer Domesticus

The Circadian Component in the Photoperiodic Mechanism of the House Sparrow, Passer domesticus

1977 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald S. Farner ◽  
Richard S. Donham ◽  
Robert A. Lewis ◽  
Philip W. Mattocks ◽  
Thomas R. Darden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
House Sparrow ◽  
Passer Domesticus

scholarly journals Differences in Depredation by Small Predators Limit the Use of Plasticine and Zebra Finch Eggs in Artificial-Nest Studies

The Condor ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 180-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Maier ◽  
Richard M. Degraaf
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Zebra Finch ◽  
House Sparrow ◽  
Peromyscus Leucopus ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Taeniopygia Guttata ◽  
Artificial Nest ◽  
Neotropical Migrant ◽  
Passerine Species

Abstract Small mammals, such as mice and voles, have been implicated as major egg predators of Neotropical migrant passerines by field studies using soft plasticine eggs or the very small eggs of Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Nevertheless, the effort required to depredate these commonly used egg surrogates may be less than that required to depredate the larger, thicker-shelled eggs of most passerine species. To compare the depredation of these surrogates to that of the eggs of a mid-sized passerine by a ubiquitous small predator, we exposed dissimilar pairs of plasticine, Zebra Finch, and House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) eggs to captive white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus). Plasticine eggs were marked by mice more than either kind of real egg, and Zebra Finch eggs were breached more often than House Sparrow eggs. We conclude that the use of either plasticine or Zebra Finch eggs may lead to overestimation of the ability or proclivity of small mammals to actually depredate the eggs of most passerines.

Habitat-wise distribution of the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) in Delhi, India

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neeraj Khera ◽  
Arkaja Das ◽  
Saumya Srivasatava ◽  
Siddharth Jain
Keyword(s):  
House Sparrow ◽  
Passer Domesticus
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document