Piotr Zieliński

Effects of nest characteristics on breeding success of Great Tits Parus major

Abstract. In this study, nest characteristics (size and proportions of basic components) were not correlated with the timing of breeding. Clutch size was negatively correlated with total nest mass but positively correlated with the proportion of the mass of the lining in the total nest mass. Analyses of hatching and fledging success showed that the quantity and proportion of moss in the nest structure as well as the nest size influenced the performance of eggs and nestlings at the nest. We suggest that variation in nest size and composition may be due to several contradictory pressures associated with the need to keep the moisture and temperature in the nest relatively constant, to protect the brood from predation, and to control sanitary standards.

Avian Feathers as Bioindicators of the Exposure to Heavy Metal Contamination of Food

The aim of this study was to determine the possibility of using feathers of blue tit nestlings to assess the level of endogenous accumulation of lead. For this purpose we conducted an experiment with lead application to randomly chosen nestlings from eight randomly drawn broods. Five days after the exposure, feathers of lead-treated nestlings had significantly higher lead concentrations than control nestlings. This result suggests that feathers can be used as reliable non-destructive bioindicators to assess the level of heavy metals originating from contaminated food, which is of great significance for comparative studies on ecological consequences of pollution.

Within-clutch repeatability of egg dimensions in the Black-headed GullLarus ridibundus

Within-clutch repeatability of length, breadth and volume of eggs of the Black-headed GullLarus ridibundus was studied in Central Poland (1981–1983). Significant repeatabilities of all traits were recorded and ranged from 0.510 to 0.607 for all clutch size categories pooled. The results suggest that in the studied population one should expect relatively low or intermediate heritability of egg dimensions. Zwischen 1981 und 1983 wurden in Polen die Wiederholbarkeit von Eilänge, -breite und-volumen innerhalb eines Geleges am Beispiel der Lachmöwe untersucht. Über alle Gelegegrößen hinweg ergeben sich signifikante Werte dieser Wiederholbarkeit zwischen 0.510 und 0.607, die aber unter den verfügbaren Vergleichsdaten für andere Vogelarten liegen. Da die Wiederholbarkeit eine Schätzung der Obergrenze der eigentlichen (unbekannten) Erblichkeit eines Merkmals darstellt, muß man davon ausgehen, daß in der untersuchten Lachmöwenpopulation die Erblichkeit von Eimaßen relativ gering ist.

Spatial and Temporal Variation in Heterophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratios of Nestling Passerine Birds: Comparison of Blue Tits and Great Tits

Environmental factors affecting trophic conditions act as stressors on nestling altricial birds. Access of parental birds to a sufficient supply of food in a limited period of the nestling stage differ in time and space, depending on nesting habitat, prey density and weather conditions. Heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (H/L) is considered as a reliable indicator of prolonged stress reaction in birds. In this study we examine if variation in H/L shows consistent spatio-temporal patterns in nestlings of two parids, blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus and great tit Parus major. We found that blue tit nestlings had on average higher H/L than great tit nestlings, which corresponds with the ecological sensitivity of these species. In both species H/L was higher in a poor parkland habitat than in a high quality forest habitat. In nestling blue tits, higher H/L values occurred in years characterized by more extreme weather conditions and worse caterpillar availability. Such consistent patterns of variation in the H/L ratio of nestling blue tits and great tits suggest that, when age-dependent effects are controlled, the ratio can be used as an indicator of physiological stress that is generated by food-related stressors differing in space and time. In particular, elevated H/L ratios are indicative of human-induced changes in the structure of breeding habitats.

Egg size variation in Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus and Great Tits Parus major in relation to habitat differences in snail abundance

Abstract. Wild passerines, especially tits, utilize snail shells as the main source of calcium necessary for laying females to construct egg shells. This research found that the two study areas, representing two habitat types — a mature deciduous forest and a human-disturbed parkland — are inhabited by different snail assemblages: both species richness and density are much higher in the parkland than in the forest. This means that less calcium is available to female tits in the forest than in the parkland, which could result in calcium limitation in the former habitat. Egg size traits, i.e. volume, length and breadth, in the Blue Tit show a consistent long-term pattern of variation that reflects the pattern of calcium availability: egg trait values are higher in the parkland than in the woodland. No habitat-related variation in egg size traits was found in the Great Tits. We suggest that the lack of a relation between Great Tit egg characteristics and snail availability results from the higher ecological plasticity of this species in comparison with the Blue Tit, including its ability to exploit alternative sources of calcium.

Structure, phase transitions and molecular?dynamics of?[C(NH2)3]3[M2I9], M = Sb, Bi

Two novel guanidinium iodoantimonate(III) and iodobismuthate(III) crystals, [C(NH2)3]3[Sb2I9] and [C(NH2)3]3[Bi2I9], have been synthesized and their structures have been determined by means of single-crystal x-ray diffraction studies at three temperatures (293, 348 and 362 K). Both compounds appeared to be isomorphous in corresponding phases. The crystal structure of the title compounds is composed of discrete M2I93− (M = Sb, Bi) anions and C(NH2)3+ guanidinium cations. A non-equivalence of two guanidinium cations has been found. Both guanidinium analogs exhibit a rich sequence of phase transitions. In Gu3Sb2I9, three solid–solid structural phase transformations of the first order type are detected at 119/121, 341/344 and 355/362 K (on cooling/heating) by the DSC and dilatometric techniques. Gu3Bi2I9 displays four first order phase transitions: 179/185, 202/215, 287/291 and 358/368 K. The low temperature phases appear to have ferroic (ferroelastic) properties. The prototypic paraelastic phase for both compounds belongs to hexagonal symmetry (space group P63/mmc). The dielectric response has been measured in a wide frequency region (100 Hz–1 MHz), but no dielectric dispersion has been detected. Possible mechanisms of the phase transitions in Gu3M2I9 (M = Sb, Bi) are discussed on the basis of the presented results.

Extreme weather event in spring 2013 delayed breeding time of Great Tit and Blue Tit

The impact of climatic changes on life cycles by re-scheduling the timing of reproduction is an important topic in studies of biodiversity. Global warming causes and will probably cause in the future not only raising temperatures but also an increasing frequency of extreme weather events. In 2013, the winter in central and north Europe ended late, with low temperatures and long-retained snow cover—this extreme weather phenomenon acted in opposition to the increasing temperature trend. In 2013, thermal conditions measured by the warmth sum in the period 15 March–15 April, a critical time for early breeding passerines, went far beyond the range of the warmth sums for at least 40 preceding years. Regardless of what was the reason for the extreme early spring 2013 and assuming that there is a potential for more atypical years because of climate change, we should look closely at every extreme phenomenon and its consequences for the phenology of organisms. In this paper, we report that the prolonged occurrence of winter conditions during the time that is crucial for Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and Great Tit (Parus major) reproduction caused a substantial delay in the onset of egg laying in comparison with typical springs.

Long-Term Variation in Laying Date and Clutch Size of the Great Tit Parus major in Central Poland: A Comparison between Urban Parkland and Deciduous Forest

Summary. Numerous studies from different locations in Europe show that nest-box populations of tits in urban areas lay earlier and produce fewer eggs than do tits in rural areas. We collected data on laying dates and clutch size in two great tit Parus major populations nesting in oak deciduous forest and urban parkland areas, only about 10 km apart, in central Poland over 11 years. The abundance of caterpillars, the optimal food of breeding tits, at both breeding areas was also quantified. We analysed long-term trends in the timing of egg laying and clutch size. We focused on the effects of year, habitat type, insect availability and weather conditions shortly before egg laying on the patterns of variation in laying date and clutch size. In general, our study supports earlier generalisations on urban and rural tit populations. In particular, our finding that great tits initiated breeding consistently earlier in the urban site than in the forest area supports earlier studies on urbanised birds. The mean laying date was strongly and negatively associated with air temperature between 15 March and 15 April in both habitats. Mean clutch size was lower in the parkland than in the forest population, at least partly in response to the greater abundance of caterpillars in the forest. A novel result of this study is that clutch size differed between habitats to a varying degree in different years, in association with a stronger response to caterpillar abundance in the forest than in the park. Clutch size tended to decline with the progress of the breeding season within years in the parkland site, especially in “early years”, but not in the forest habitat.

Brood Reduction and Parental Infanticide — are the White Stork Ciconia ciconia and the Black Stork C. nigra exceptional?

Abstract. Brood size in birds is reduced through fatal starvation, siblicide or parental infanticide (killing of own offspring). Both Black and White Storks were observed practising facultative parental infanticide. In the White Stork parents regurgitate large amount of food consisting of many small items on the nest bottom. Chicks pick up food themselves, trying to eat as quickly as possible. No aggression among chicks is observed. As a result monopolisation of food does not occur and elimination of the weakest chick is very ineffective. Sometimes parent storks accelerate brood reduction by killing some of the offspring. Surprisingly, although parental infanticide is a quick and efficient method of brood reduction it is rarely observed, even in species practising it.

Structure–property relationships in hybrid (C3H5N2)3[Sb2I9] and (C3H5N2)3[Bi2I9] isomorphs

Two hybrid crystals imidazolium iodoantimonate(III) and iodobismuthate(III), (C3H5N2)3[Sb2I9] (ImIA) and (C3H5N2)3[Bi2I9] (ImIB), have been synthesized and characterized in a wide temperature range (100–350 K) by means of X-ray diffraction, dielectric spectroscopy, proton magnetic resonance (1H NMR), FT-IR spectroscopy and optical observations. They undergo two temperature induced solid–solid structural phase transitions. The first one, quasi-continuous (with temperature hysteresis below 1 K), occurs at 324 K in ImIA and 327 K in ImIB, and the second one, clearly of the first order, at 273/278 (cooling/heating) and 291/295 K, in ImIA and ImIB, respectively. Ferroelastic properties are maintained in low-temperature phases. Both materials are isomorphic in the corresponding phases. High temperature phase I has a hexagonal P63/mmc symmetry, and phase II has orthorhombic Cmcm. The crystal architecture is composed of discrete, face-sharing bioctahedra [M2I9]3− (M: Sb, Bi) and imidazolium cations which are highly disordered over phases I and II. The dynamics of the imidazolium cations has a prominent impact on the stability of the particular phases.