Category: Eurasia

Seasonal variation in bill morphology of Nuthatches Sitta europaea dietary adaptations or consequences?

Wood Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) Science Article 3 abstract Bills of juvenile Nuthatches continue to increase in size (length and depth) for up to three months after fledging. Bills of individual full-grown birds increase in length from April to October with a temporary drop in June, and decrease throughout the winter season. Bill depth increases from […]

Extra-pair young despite strong pair bonds in theEuropean Nuthatch ( Sitta europaea)

Wood Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) Science Article 2 abstract We choose the European Nuthatch (Sitta europaea), an extremely socially monogamous passerine species, to investigate the breeding biology and frequency of extra-pair activities of females. Breeding individuals live in strong pair bonds for their total life and defend their territory all year round. As a consequence of […]

The population decline of the starling, Sturnus vulgaris, in GreatBritain: patterns and causes

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Science Article 9 abstract Although the starling has the capacity for explosive population growth, its population in Britain has declined bytwo-thirds over the last 40 years. Here we summarize a major study (Crick et al., 2002) which investigates the reasons for this.The starling is commonest in urban and farmland habitats, though density […]

Population trends of the Finnish starling Sturnus vulgaris, 1952-1998, as inferred from annual ringing totals

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Science Article 3 abstract Finnish starling populations have declined, a phenomenon first noted towards the end of the 1970s. Here we use national ringing totals to estimate changes in the starling population. However, the numbers ringed depend not only on the population size but also on yearly variations in ringing activities. Thus, […]