In a little house in a little old village in Japan lived a little old man and his little old wife. One morning when the old woman slid open the screens which form the sides of the Japanese houses, she saw on the doorstep a poor little sparrow. She took him up gently and fed […]
Category: Eurasia
The blacksmith’s wife stole the Dove’s egg, and all were punished
A dove laid an egg in the hollow of a big tree in front of the blacksmith’s house. When she flew away from her nest in search of food, the blacksmith’s wife stole the egg. The dove came back to her nest and found the egg missing. The dove knew at once that the blacksmith’s […]
The Geese and the abbess
Many years ago there was near the sea a convent famed for the rich crops of grain that grew on its farm. On a certain year a large flock of wild geese descended on its fields and devoured first the corn, and then the green blades. The superintendent of the farm hastened to the convent […]
The Eagles
A poster featuring Eagles from the Palearctic region. The drawings are made by Jan Gerrard Keulemans, a famous 19th century artist. I have collected many of his drawings, primarily from his work for the Britsh Museum
Vintage plate Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)
In 1902: The breeding-habits of the Fieldfare are only to be observed in the north and east of Europe ; for in every other part of the continent the bird is scarcely ever known as other than a winter visitant. It is fond of the neighbourhood of cultivated land, birch-woods, or those wherein birch and […]
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 […]
Do male Nuthatches (Sitta europaea) guard their mates?
Wood Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) Science Article 1 abstract We expected to find a clearly manifested mate guarding behaviour in males of Sitta europaea as males of this socially monogamous species participate extensively in parental care. We recorded behaviour of nuthatches during one breeding season in primaeval stands of the Biatowie
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 […]
Kinematics and mechanics of ground take-off in the starling Sturnis vulgaris and the quail Coturnix coturnix .
Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Science Article 4 abstract The mechanics of avian take-off are central to hypotheses about flight evolution, but have not been quantified in terms of whole-body movements for any species. In this study, I use a combination of high-speed video analysis and force plate recording to measure the kinematics and mechanics of ground […]
Host responses against natural and experimental conspecific brood parasitism in the Starling Sturnus vulgaris.
Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Science Article 15 abstract Intraspecific brood parasitism in the Starling Sturnus vulgaris was studied inCentralNorway. Before clutch initiation, Starlings recognise and remove parasitic conspecific eggs but are usually not able to do so after they have started to lay eggs themselves. The frequency of natural parasitism was 10%. Since ejection of the […]