Common Chaffinch Fringilla Coelebs Research Articles

Detection of tick-borne pathogens in wild birds and their ticks in Western Siberia and high level of their mismatch.

The Tomsk region located in the south of Western Siberia is one of the most high-risk areas for tick-borne diseases due to elevated incidence of tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme disease in humans. Wild birds may be considered as one of the reservoirs for tick-borne pathogens and hosts for infected ticks. A high mobility of wild birds leads to unpredictable possibilities for the dissemination of tick-borne pathogens into new geographical regions. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in wild birds and ticks that feed on them as well as to determine the role of different species of birds in maintaining the tick-borne infectious foci. We analysed the samples of 443 wild birds (60 species) and 378 ticks belonging to the genus Ixodes Latraille, 1795 collected from the wild birds, for detecting occurrence of eight tick-borne pathogens, the namely tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), West Nile virus (WNV), and species of Borrelia, Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, Bartonella and Babesia Starcovici, 1893, using RT-PCR/or PCR and enzyme immunoassay. One or more tick-borne infection markers were detected in 43 species of birds. All markers were detected in samples collected from fieldfare Turdus pilaris Linnaeus, Blyth's reed warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum Blyth, common redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus (Linnaeus), and common chaffinch Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus. Although all pathogens have been identified in birds and ticks, we found that in the majority of cases (75.5 %), there were mismatches of pathogens in birds and ticks collected from them. Wild birds and their ticks may play an extremely important role in the dissemination of tick-borne pathogens into different geographical regions.

Travelling across subspecies borders: songs and calls of the Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs in the contact zones and adjoining areas of southern Russia

ABSTRACT Capsule Although many acoustic signals of Common Chaffinches Fringilla coelebs, including both songs and rain calls, are widespread across its distribution range, the boundaries between subspecies place formidable obstacles to the spread of vocal patterns. Aims To investigate the diversity of song types and song structure of rain calls in the contact zone between the Caucasian and Crimean subspecies of Chaffinches in the north-western Caucasus, as well as between the nominate and Caucasian subspecies in the northern Ciscaucasia (south of European Russia). Methods In total, the songs and rain calls of more than 300 males were recorded in 10 different locations in the Crimea, Caucasus, and Ciscaucasia. For comparison with more remote areas, we used our recording of Chaffinches from the Voronezh region and the city of Moscow. Results The song repertoires of Chaffinches in the Crimea and on the Abrau Peninsula (Black Sea basin) were very different despite being less than 100 km apart. In contrast, the repertoire of the Abrau population had much in common with the more distant (270–300 km) populations of the Caucasus and Ciscaucasia. The rain calls of Chaffinches on the Abrau had a unique two-syllable structure. On a sonogram, both of these types of sounds look very similar to the single-element calls of Caucasian and Crimean Chaffinches, but are significantly different in their frequency and temporal characteristics. Conclusion Zones of contact between Chaffinch subspecies appear to be a kind of filter that make it difficult to spread vocal patterns from the range of one subspecies to the range of another.

Insulation of Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs Nests is Largely Driven by Animal-Derived Materials in the Cup Lining

Incubation of eggs and nestlings is energetically costly and may be affected by the amount of thermal insulation the surrounding nest provides. In many small passerine species, animal-derived materials, i.e., feathers and hair, are often used in the nest lining where, presumably, their lower thermal conductance offers better insulation. A previous study that involved partial deconstruction of thrush nests revealed that different parts of the nest confer different levels of insulation. The present study examined the insulatory values of Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs nests because of the high proportion of animal-derived materials in their cup lining but not the outer nest. Insulatory values and cooling rates of temperature loggers inside the cup were determined for whole nests and then only the cup lining. There were no significant relationships between nest measurements and measures of thermal insulation. However, removal of the outer nest wall reduced the insulatory value by around 10% despite the cup lining being less than half the thickness of the complete nest wall and the cup lining being only a third of the total nest mass. Differential placement of animal-derived materials within the cup lining of Common Chaffinch nests means that the birds seem to be able to confer a high level of insulation without expending too much energy searching for a large mass of particular nest materials.

Water Vapour Conductance of Passerine Nest Walls

Avian incubation relies on maintenance of the appropriate temperature and humidity within the nest. Previous studies suggested that conductance of the nest wall to water vapour was relatively low, albeit greater than the conductance of the eggshell, but no empirical studies confirmed this. In this study hygrometer loggers were used to measure water vapour inside and outside nest cups to determine conductance of the nest wall. Average water vapour conductance values for nine species of passerine ranged from 479 mgH2O·day-1·Torr-1 for Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs nests to 712 mgH2O·d-1·Torr-1 for Eurasian Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus nests. Generally, water vapour conductance values were two orders of magnitude higher than that of published values for the eggshell for these species, although humidity in the nest cup were comparable to published data for passerine nests. These results indicate that in the study species the nest wall was not an effective barrier to water vapour loss. Reconsideration of high values for nest wall conductance, nest attentiveness and sources of water to create humidity, have led to a new approach that deals with nest humidity as part of the water budget during the incubation period. Over time the amount of water vapour required to raise nest humidity far exceeds that released by the eggs. It is proposed that nest humidity is driven by cutaneous water loss from the incubating bird, rather than water vapour lost from the eggs, in order to counter loss of humidity through the nest wall and during incubation recesses.

Threat recognition and response in an avian brood-parasite host from New Caledonia

AbstractNest predation and avian brood parasitism are the main sources of nest failure in many passerine birds. Large predators threaten both brood and parents, whereas brood parasites pose only a danger to eggs or nestlings. The fan-tailed gerygone Gerygone flavolateralis from New Caledonia is subjected to high rates of nest predation by the New Caledonian crow Corvus moneduloides (responsible for about 20–40% of predation) and moderate rates of brood parasitism by the shining bronze-cuckoo Chalcites lucidus (parasitizing about 18% of nests), which also depredates nests that are too advanced for parasitism (13% of nests). To test if fan-tailed gerygones are able to discriminate predators from brood parasites, we presented 3 bird models at active gerygone nests: a brood parasite/small nest predator (shining bronze-cuckoo), a large nest predator (crow), and a small non-native bird (common chaffinch Fringilla coelebs), which is unknown to the gerygone, as a control. We assessed the response of adult gerygones to the presentation of each model by measuring the minimum approach distance, number of alarm calls, number of attacks, and time to first nest visit after the presentation (latency). Adult gerygones often attacked the cuckoo, approached but never attacked the chaffinch and always avoided the crow. Latency was shorter after an attack response and during brooding, but similar among models. We did not find any link between the cuckoo model presentation and later ejection of cuckoo nestlings. We conclude that adult fan-tailed gerygones discriminate between different models and respond accordingly to the level of threat, but do not show awareness of parasitism risk and increase of nestling ejection rates following exposure to the cuckoo model.

Simulated Rainfall Reduces the Insulative Properties of Bird Nests

Bird nests are variable in design but all are constructed for the purpose of incubation. The potentially onerous energetic costs of incubation have meant that previous studies have focussed on thermal insulation but nests are often exposed to a variety of environmental factors, including rainfall. Those few studies that have investigated the effects of water on nests have saturated the walls by soaking but this may not reflect what a nest would typically encounter in situ during rainfall. Here, nests of four species of songbird (Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, Common Linnets Linaria cannabina, Meadow Pipits Anthus pratensis, and Whinchats Saxicola rubetra) were investigated using temperature loggers to determine the effect of simulated rainfall on nest wall insulation. Simulated rainfall, produced by water dripping through a coffee percolator, significantly reduced the insulatory values of nests, and significantly increased the rate of cooling of temperature loggers inside the nest cup. No significant effect of species, or nest mass, was observed. Even when wet nest walls provided some insulation but whether this is attributable to the nest materials chosen by each species was not clear. The nest site chosen by the birds may also offer considerable protection from the weather. Further research is needed to better understand how rainfall affects the insulative properties of nests in situ.

Beech forest structure and territory size of four songbird species in Puszcza Bukowa, NW Poland: implications for bird-friendly silvicultural practices in a temperate forest

Despite the fact that the structure of a forest, its vegetation composition and the species diversity in its tree stands are among the key factors shaping avian communities in forests in general, there are few studies on this topic relating to the deciduous forests of Central and East-Central Europe. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the relationship between the forest structure and the occurrence of common chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, wood warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix, common chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita and Eurasian blackcap Sylvia atricapilla, and also investigate habitat occupancy as expressed by territory size, in certain areas of NW Poland. The hypothesis tested was that if a habitat is rich, then the territory should be smaller. The mean territory size was 0.704 ha in the case of F. coelebs, 0.307 ha for P. sibilatrix, 0.148 ha for P. collybita and 0.312 ha for S. atricapilla. The use of a generalised linear mixed model demonstrated statistically significant relationships between the environmental variables and the territory size of the target bird species, the number of trees being the most significant environmental variable positively correlated with the territory size of birds. With regard to the canopy, a statistically significant negative relationship was demonstrated between the environmental variables and the territory size, whereas in the case of shrubs it was positive. The obtained results indicate need to restore the diversified structure of beech forests by ensuring the heterogeneity of forest stands, to increase avian diversity in managed forests.

Genetic diversity and morphological variation of the common chaffinch Fringilla coelebs in the Azores

We present new insights into the genetic diversity and phylogeography of the common chaffinch Fringilla coelebs from the Azores, based on sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear genes from 44 individuals and an outgroup/comparison of 44 birds from Madeira, the Canary Islands and the Continental Western Palearctic. To understand the level of concordance between the genetic data and morphometric variability we analysed eight morphometric characters from 413 adult living birds from all the Azores islands and compared the population genetic distances with quantitative morphometric traits. Our results indicate the occurrence of gene flow among the common chaffinch populations in the archipelago revealing the lack of current genetic structure within it and the existence of two co‐occurring lineages. Results also indicate the existence of morphometric differences among islands that could be due to ecological features instead of island isolation. This study also confirms the genetic distance among the common chaffinch populations within Macaronesia and between these archipelagos and the Continental Western Palearctic.

Impacts of trichomonosis epidemics on Greenfinch Chloris chloris and Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs populations in Finland

Population consequences of parasites in wild birds are rarely documented. One exception is the decline of British finch populations due to an epidemic caused by the protozoan parasite Trichomonas gallinae. Finch trichomonosis has recently spread from the UK to northern Europe, but its consequences for local finch populations have not been studied. We assessed the extent to which the trichomonosis epidemic affected the Finnish population sizes of European Greenfinch Chloris chloris, Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs and a control species, Great Tit Parus major, and the body condition of Greenfinches. The disease was first documented in Finland in 2008 and epidemics were observed mainly in southwestern Finland. Greenfinches showed a significant decline of 47% in breeding numbers and 65% in wintering numbers in southern Finland during 2006–2010. Breeding Chaffinch numbers showed a slight decline (4%) during the same study period that was significant only in central Finland. Great Tit did not show a significant change in breeding numbers. During the initial disease epidemic the body condition of all demographic groups of Greenfinches decreased equally, which suggests that the disease was not selective in respect of age or sex. There were no encounters of Finnish‐ringed Greenfinches or Chaffinches in the UK, which could indicate that the parasite has not necessarily been transferred directly from the UK, but perhaps by migrants from Sweden and Germany.