scholarly journals Social and life-history correlates of hormonal partner compatibility in greylag geese (Anser anser)

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte M. Weiß ◽  
Kurt Kotrschal ◽  
Erich Möstl ◽  
Katharina Hirschenhauser
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Greylag Geese

Influence of socially involved hand-raising on life history and stress responses in greylag geese

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 380-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Hemetsberger ◽  
Isabella B.R. Scheiber ◽  
Brigitte M. Weiß ◽  
Didone Frigerio ◽  
Kurt Kotrschal
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Egg Weight ◽  
Greylag Goose ◽  
Greylag Geese ◽  
Predator Stress ◽  
Weight Number

Animals are hand-raised in a variety of contexts, including experimental research. This has been criticized frequently as producing animals with species-untypical behaviour. Here we compare life histories of 330 hand-raised and 631 gooseraised Greylag geese from a free-flying flock to determine whether hand-raising affected life history, reproductive variables and behaviour. We found little differences in life histories (e.g. male age, age at pair bond) or reproductive variables (e.g. number of eggs, egg weight, number of young hatched and fledged) of hand-raised and goose-raised geese. However, hand-raised females had lower life expectancies than goose-raised ones, mainly due to predation during breeding. Hand-raised geese were stressed significantly less during social, handling and predator stress, were attacked less by conspecifics and were less vigilant than goose-raised geese. We conclude that hand-raising resulted in geese with species-typical life histories but reduced stress responses. This makes hand-raised geese cooperative partners for research, but also more vulnerable when exposed to predators. Keywords: hand-raising; greylag goose; Anser anser; life-history; reproductive success; stress

scholarly journals From individual to population level: Temperature and snow cover modulate fledging success through breeding phenology in greylag geese (Anser anser)

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Didone Frigerio ◽  
Petra Sumasgutner ◽  
Kurt Kotrschal ◽  
Sonia Kleindorfer ◽  
Josef Hemetsberger
Keyword(s):  
Ambient Temperature ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Breeding Phenology ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Fledging Success ◽  
Average Annual Temperature ◽  
Greylag Geese

AbstractLocal weather conditions may be used as environmental cues by animals to optimize their breeding behaviour, and could be affected by climate change. We measured associations between climate, breeding phenology, and reproductive output in greylag geese (Anser anser) across 29 years (1990–2018). The birds are individually marked, which allows accurate long-term monitoring of life-history parameters for all pairs within the flock. We had three aims: (1) identify climate patterns at a local scale in Upper Austria, (2) measure the association between climate and greylag goose breeding phenology, and (3) measure the relationship between climate and both clutch size and fledging success. Ambient temperature increased 2 °C across the 29-years study period, and higher winter temperature was associated with earlier onset of egg-laying. Using the hatch-fledge ratio, average annual temperature was the strongest predictor for the proportion of fledged goslings per season. There is evidence for an optimum time window for egg-laying (the earliest and latest eggs laid had the lowest fledging success). These findings broaden our understanding of environmental effects and population-level shifts which could be associated with increased ambient temperature and can thus inform future research about the ecological consequences of climate changes and reproductive output in avian systems.

Social allies modulate corticosterone excretion and increase success in agonistic interactions in juvenile hand-raised graylag geese (Anser anser)

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (10) ◽  
pp. 1746-1754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didone Frigerio ◽  
Brigitte Weiss ◽  
John Dittami ◽  
Kurt Kotrschal
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Foster Parent ◽  
Social Partner ◽  
Agonistic Behaviour ◽  
Agonistic Interactions ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Access To Resources ◽  
Standard Distance ◽  
Social Alliances ◽  
Corticosterone Metabolites

In mammals, support by a social partner may reduce stress levels and ease access to resources. We investigated the effects of the passive presence of a nearby social ally on excreted corticosterone immunoreactive metabolites and behaviour in juvenile graylag geese (Anser anser). Two groups of hand-raised juveniles (N1 = 9, N2 = 3) were tested over 1 year by positioning humans of different familiarity (i.e., the human foster parent, a familiar human, a nonfamiliar human, no human) at a standard distance to the focal geese. Their success in agonistic interactions significantly decreased with age and with decreasing familiarity of the accompanying human. The humans present modulated the excretion of corticosterone immunoreactive metabolites, with the strongest effects recorded after fledging when corticosterone metabolites were also positively correlated with agonistic behaviour. This suggests that a human foster parent may provide similar supportive benefits as goose parents do in natural families. We discuss the benefits of social alliances with regard to the integration into the flock, access to resources, and life history.

Behavioural and physiological correlates of personality in greylag geese (Anser anser)

2009 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Kralj-Fišer ◽  
Brigitte M. Weiß ◽  
Kurt Kotrschal
Keyword(s):  
Anser Anser ◽  
Greylag Geese

scholarly journals Social context modulates digestive efficiency in greylag geese (Anser anser)

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Didone Frigerio ◽  
Kurt Kotrschal ◽  
Carla Fabro ◽  
Verena Puehringer-Sturmayr ◽  
Lara Iaiza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Digestive Efficiency ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Greylag Geese

scholarly journals Latitudinal-Related Variation in Wintering Population Trends of Greylag Geese (Anser Anser) along the Atlantic Flyway: A Response to Climate Change?

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. e0140181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Ramo ◽  
Juan A. Amat ◽  
Leif Nilsson ◽  
Vincent Schricke ◽  
Mariano Rodríguez-Alonso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Population Trends ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Related Variation ◽  
Atlantic Flyway ◽  
Greylag Geese ◽  
Wintering Population

Changes in body mass and organ size during wing moult in non-breeding greylag geese Anser anser

2005 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
pp. 060118052425006-???
Author(s):  
Anthony D. Fox ◽  
Johnny Kahlert
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Organ Size ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Greylag Geese ◽  
Wing Moult

scholarly journals Physiological implications of pair-bond status in greylag geese

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia A. F. Wascher ◽  
Brigitte M. Weiß ◽  
Walter Arnold ◽  
Kurt Kotrschal
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Energy Expenditure ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Pair Bond ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
The Social ◽  
Greylag Geese ◽  
Free Ranging

In group-living vertebrates, reliable social allies play a decisive role in dealing with stressors. For example, support by social allies is known to dampen glucocorticoid responses. It remains unknown, however, how social embedding affects the sympatho-adrenergic axis as indicated by heart rate (HR) in non-human animals. We studied the relationships between HR, pair-bond status and distance from the pair-partner in twenty-five free-ranging greylag geese ( Anser anser ) in a natural social environment. In three individuals, we investigated HR responses following partner loss. Overall, we found a context- and sex-dependent difference in HR between paired and unpaired individuals, paired males having a lower HR during agonistic encounters, and unpaired females having a lower HR during resting. Also, in paired females HR increased with increasing distance from the partner. Our data suggest that HR is modulated by pair-bond status in greylag geese in a context- and sex-dependent manner, which may be representative for social vertebrates in general. Despite the low sample size, the present study indicates that proper social embedding may optimize an individual's physiological investment in the social domain. This reduces individual energy expenditure and may benefit health and reproductive success.

All you can eat: do peck rates of Greylag Geese (Anser anser) vary with age and social status?

2012 ◽  
Vol 153 (4) ◽  
pp. 1025-1029 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friederike Woog ◽  
Konrad Schwarz ◽  
Mark Hulme
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Anser Anser ◽  
Greylag Geese
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