ABSTRACT Nella stagione riproduttiva 2012 abbiamo analizzato, attraverso la raccolta di borre e r... more ABSTRACT Nella stagione riproduttiva 2012 abbiamo analizzato, attraverso la raccolta di borre e resti di prede, il regime alimentare del Gheppio Falco tinnunculus nella Riserva Naturale di Decima-Malafede (Lazio). La raccolta è stata effettuata ispezionando 20 cassette nido posizionate su tralicci dell’alta tensione di Terna e una torre medievale ristrutturata utilizzata come luogo di nidificazione. Tutti i siti controllati erano inseriti in un contesto tipico della campagna agricola romana. Sono state esaminate 91 borre integre, più numerosi frammenti e resti alimentari, per un totale complessivo di 228 prede. Il 46,3% della biomassa predata è rappresentato da uccelli, la restante parte è distribuita tra mammiferi (27,0%), rettili (19,1%) e insetti (7,6%). L’ampia disponibilità di uccelli legati ad ambienti agricoli e la presenza in tarda primavera di individui appena involati, quindi più inesperti, sono i fattori che hanno probabilmente determinato questo risultato; le preferenze alimentari sono indirizzate principalmente verso i passeriformi di piccole dimensioni, il genere Passer è il più rappresentato (26,8% degli uccelli predati). Tra gli insetti catturati la specie dominante è il Coleottero Pentodon bidens (60,0%), un ruolo importante rivestono anche gli ordini degli Odonati (8,8%) e degli Ortotteri (8,0%). I mammiferi sono rappresentati quasi esclusivamente da Roditori: Microtus savii e, in misura minore, Apodemus sp.; l’apporto trofico dei Soricomorfi è irrilevante (0,4%). I Lacertidi costituiscono l’81,5% dei rettili, le catture sono ripartite tra Podarcis sp. (44,4%) e Lacerta bilineata (37,0%); tra le prede compaiono anche Tarentola mauritanica (1,3%) e Chalcides chalcides (0,9%). I risultati di questa indagine confermano che il Gheppio in ambiente Mediterraneo mostra uno spettro trofico più ampio rispetto ai conspecifici nidificanti in zone a clima continentale, dove i micromammiferi rappresentano le prede più comuni. Il carattere opportunistico del gheppio gli permette di sfruttare le risorse trofiche più abbondanti all'interno del proprio territorio di caccia.
ABSTRACT Shearwaters, like many Petrels use different flight modes. Gliding flight is the most ty... more ABSTRACT Shearwaters, like many Petrels use different flight modes. Gliding flight is the most typical flight, allowing consuming a minimum amount of energy. However, birds do also flap when taking off, fishing or manoeuvring and this might add substantial cost to the energetic balance of a foraging trip. The GPS track alone is not sufficient to distinguish different flight modes, as filters on speed thresholds do not reflect the pattern of wing beat. We simultaneously deployed small accelerometers and GPS dataloggers on Scopoli’s shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) to identify the daily activity budget particularly with regard to the flight pattern. We tracked birds breeding in Linosa island during the chick rearing period at the time when they performed short (one day-long) foraging trips. Using combined data gathered with GPS and accelerometers we identified, within the flight portion of the GPS track, different flying modes used by the birds. Then, we compared the estimated energy consumption among flight modes with the overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) to produce time and energetic budgets of the foraging trips.
Highly specialized diving birds display substantial dichotomy in neck length with, for example, c... more Highly specialized diving birds display substantial dichotomy in neck length with, for example, cormorants and anhingas having extreme necks, while penguins and auks have minimized necks. We attached acceleration loggers to imperial cormorants <i>Phalacrocorax atriceps</i> and Magellanic penguins <i>Spheniscus magellanicus</i>, both foraging in waters over the Patagonian Shelf, to examine the difference in movement between their respective heads and bodies in an attempt to explain this dichotomy. The penguins had head and body attitudes and movements that broadly concurred throughout all phases of their dives. By contrast, although the cormorants followed this pattern during the descent and ascent phases of dives, during the bottom (foraging) phase of the dive, the head angle differed widely from that of the body and its dynamism (measured using vectorial dynamic acceleration) was over four times greater. A simple model indicated that having the head on an ex...
Datasets as supporting information to article Combined use of tri-axial accelerometers and GPS re... more Datasets as supporting information to article Combined use of tri-axial accelerometers and GPS reveals the flexible foraging strategy of a bird in relation to weather conditions. to be published in Plos ONE. Adress questions to Jesus Hernandez-Pliego: jhpliego@ebd.csic.es
Summary. During spring migration, a few tens of thousands of European Honey-buzzards wintering in... more Summary. During spring migration, a few tens of thousands of European Honey-buzzards wintering in sub-Saharan Africa cross the central Mediterranean to reach their breeding grounds in central-eastern Europe. In so doing they concentrate passage through the Sicilian Channel but choose different flyways in response to different wind conditions. This study investigated the influence of local and regional wind conditions on the movement patterns of this species along the Strait of Messina, a migration bottleneck located between eastern Sicily and southern continental Italy where some raptors fall victim to illegal shooting by poachers each spring. Simultaneous observations occurred at four watchpoints, three on the Sicilian side and one on the continental boundary (Calabrian side). Although northwesterly winds prevailed at the Strait during peak migration days, slightly different local patterns of both horizontal and vertical winds at each observation site affected flocking and shaped the passage of raptors through this bottleneck, broadening the migration front. The results confirm that the magnitude of Honey-buzzard spring migration at the Strait is strongly affected by wind patterns in the Sicilian Channel. In particular, migrants concentrate at this bottleneck after crossing the Channel in northwesterly winds the previous day. In conclusion, by interpreting migratory behaviour both at local and regional scales, this work can help to plan more efficient monitoring of Honey-buzzards through the Strait and improving the siting of conservationist efforts. —Agostini, N., Chiatante, G., Gustin, M., Cento, M., von Hardenberg, J., Dell'Omo, G. & Panuccio, M. (2021). Local and regional wind patterns affect spring migration magnitude, flyways and flocking of European Honey-buzzards Pernis apivorus at the Strait of Messina. Ardeola, 68: 373-390.
The European honey buzzard Pernis apivorus is a summer visitor in Europe, wintering mostly in Wes... more The European honey buzzard Pernis apivorus is a summer visitor in Europe, wintering mostly in West-central Africa. Previous studies concerning timing of autumn migration in relation to sex groups provided contrasting results. In particular, a field survey made in southern Sweden did not report differences in timing, while a satellite study via GPS tracking on six adults, three males, and three females, revealed that the latter departed earlier. The aim of this 4-year study is to further investigate the timing of autumn migration in this species carrying out observations at the Strait of Messina, a bottleneck located along the Central Mediterranean flyway, between August 10th and September 30th 2016–2019. Adult European honey buzzards concentrated the passage between late August early September, with females passing on average 5 days earlier than males. It is suggested that a different role of sexes concerning exhibition of territorial displays during the late breeding season, would ...
SUMMARYProviding homing pigeons with a 5 min preview of the landscape at familiar sites prior to ... more SUMMARYProviding homing pigeons with a 5 min preview of the landscape at familiar sites prior to release reliably improves the birds' subsequent homing speeds. This phenomenon has been taken to suggest that the visual panorama is involved in familiar-site recognition, yet the exact nature of the improvement has never been elucidated. We employed newly developed miniature Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking technology to investigate how access to visual cues prior to release affects pigeons' flight along the length of the homing route. By applying a variety of novel analytical techniques enabled by the high-resolution GPS data (track efficiency, virtual vanishing bearings,orientation threshold), we localised the preview effect to the first 1000 m of the journey. Birds denied preview of a familiar landscape for 5 min before take-off flew an initially more tortuous path, including a high incidence of circling, possibly as part of an information-gathering strategy to determ...
This study was aimed at investigating the behavioral effects of ozone (O3) exposure in CD-1 mice.... more This study was aimed at investigating the behavioral effects of ozone (O3) exposure in CD-1 mice. Pairs of same-sex adult male and female mice were continuously exposed for 13 days to either 0, 0.4, 0.8, or 1.2 ppm O3. The exposure apparatus consisted of a system for O3 production and delivery into four stainless-steel chambers, each equipped to contain up to 24 home cages, with continuous monitoring and recording of concentrations. Acute behavioral changes were assessed during the first hour of O3 exposure without removing animals from the chambers. The onset of exposure produced remarkable behavioral disturbances consisting of a sharp increase of several responses (rearing, sniffing, grooming, feeding, and social interactions) paralleled by a reduction of bar-holding. These changes were rapidly reversed within 1 hour, suggesting that they constituted a response to strong novel stimulation followed by habituation. Subsequently, brief sessions of videorecording of the animals' a...
ABSTRACT Nella stagione riproduttiva 2012 abbiamo analizzato, attraverso la raccolta di borre e r... more ABSTRACT Nella stagione riproduttiva 2012 abbiamo analizzato, attraverso la raccolta di borre e resti di prede, il regime alimentare del Gheppio Falco tinnunculus nella Riserva Naturale di Decima-Malafede (Lazio). La raccolta è stata effettuata ispezionando 20 cassette nido posizionate su tralicci dell’alta tensione di Terna e una torre medievale ristrutturata utilizzata come luogo di nidificazione. Tutti i siti controllati erano inseriti in un contesto tipico della campagna agricola romana. Sono state esaminate 91 borre integre, più numerosi frammenti e resti alimentari, per un totale complessivo di 228 prede. Il 46,3% della biomassa predata è rappresentato da uccelli, la restante parte è distribuita tra mammiferi (27,0%), rettili (19,1%) e insetti (7,6%). L’ampia disponibilità di uccelli legati ad ambienti agricoli e la presenza in tarda primavera di individui appena involati, quindi più inesperti, sono i fattori che hanno probabilmente determinato questo risultato; le preferenze alimentari sono indirizzate principalmente verso i passeriformi di piccole dimensioni, il genere Passer è il più rappresentato (26,8% degli uccelli predati). Tra gli insetti catturati la specie dominante è il Coleottero Pentodon bidens (60,0%), un ruolo importante rivestono anche gli ordini degli Odonati (8,8%) e degli Ortotteri (8,0%). I mammiferi sono rappresentati quasi esclusivamente da Roditori: Microtus savii e, in misura minore, Apodemus sp.; l’apporto trofico dei Soricomorfi è irrilevante (0,4%). I Lacertidi costituiscono l’81,5% dei rettili, le catture sono ripartite tra Podarcis sp. (44,4%) e Lacerta bilineata (37,0%); tra le prede compaiono anche Tarentola mauritanica (1,3%) e Chalcides chalcides (0,9%). I risultati di questa indagine confermano che il Gheppio in ambiente Mediterraneo mostra uno spettro trofico più ampio rispetto ai conspecifici nidificanti in zone a clima continentale, dove i micromammiferi rappresentano le prede più comuni. Il carattere opportunistico del gheppio gli permette di sfruttare le risorse trofiche più abbondanti all&#39;interno del proprio territorio di caccia.
ABSTRACT Shearwaters, like many Petrels use different flight modes. Gliding flight is the most ty... more ABSTRACT Shearwaters, like many Petrels use different flight modes. Gliding flight is the most typical flight, allowing consuming a minimum amount of energy. However, birds do also flap when taking off, fishing or manoeuvring and this might add substantial cost to the energetic balance of a foraging trip. The GPS track alone is not sufficient to distinguish different flight modes, as filters on speed thresholds do not reflect the pattern of wing beat. We simultaneously deployed small accelerometers and GPS dataloggers on Scopoli’s shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) to identify the daily activity budget particularly with regard to the flight pattern. We tracked birds breeding in Linosa island during the chick rearing period at the time when they performed short (one day-long) foraging trips. Using combined data gathered with GPS and accelerometers we identified, within the flight portion of the GPS track, different flying modes used by the birds. Then, we compared the estimated energy consumption among flight modes with the overall dynamic body acceleration (ODBA) to produce time and energetic budgets of the foraging trips.
Highly specialized diving birds display substantial dichotomy in neck length with, for example, c... more Highly specialized diving birds display substantial dichotomy in neck length with, for example, cormorants and anhingas having extreme necks, while penguins and auks have minimized necks. We attached acceleration loggers to imperial cormorants <i>Phalacrocorax atriceps</i> and Magellanic penguins <i>Spheniscus magellanicus</i>, both foraging in waters over the Patagonian Shelf, to examine the difference in movement between their respective heads and bodies in an attempt to explain this dichotomy. The penguins had head and body attitudes and movements that broadly concurred throughout all phases of their dives. By contrast, although the cormorants followed this pattern during the descent and ascent phases of dives, during the bottom (foraging) phase of the dive, the head angle differed widely from that of the body and its dynamism (measured using vectorial dynamic acceleration) was over four times greater. A simple model indicated that having the head on an ex...
Datasets as supporting information to article Combined use of tri-axial accelerometers and GPS re... more Datasets as supporting information to article Combined use of tri-axial accelerometers and GPS reveals the flexible foraging strategy of a bird in relation to weather conditions. to be published in Plos ONE. Adress questions to Jesus Hernandez-Pliego: jhpliego@ebd.csic.es
Summary. During spring migration, a few tens of thousands of European Honey-buzzards wintering in... more Summary. During spring migration, a few tens of thousands of European Honey-buzzards wintering in sub-Saharan Africa cross the central Mediterranean to reach their breeding grounds in central-eastern Europe. In so doing they concentrate passage through the Sicilian Channel but choose different flyways in response to different wind conditions. This study investigated the influence of local and regional wind conditions on the movement patterns of this species along the Strait of Messina, a migration bottleneck located between eastern Sicily and southern continental Italy where some raptors fall victim to illegal shooting by poachers each spring. Simultaneous observations occurred at four watchpoints, three on the Sicilian side and one on the continental boundary (Calabrian side). Although northwesterly winds prevailed at the Strait during peak migration days, slightly different local patterns of both horizontal and vertical winds at each observation site affected flocking and shaped the passage of raptors through this bottleneck, broadening the migration front. The results confirm that the magnitude of Honey-buzzard spring migration at the Strait is strongly affected by wind patterns in the Sicilian Channel. In particular, migrants concentrate at this bottleneck after crossing the Channel in northwesterly winds the previous day. In conclusion, by interpreting migratory behaviour both at local and regional scales, this work can help to plan more efficient monitoring of Honey-buzzards through the Strait and improving the siting of conservationist efforts. —Agostini, N., Chiatante, G., Gustin, M., Cento, M., von Hardenberg, J., Dell'Omo, G. & Panuccio, M. (2021). Local and regional wind patterns affect spring migration magnitude, flyways and flocking of European Honey-buzzards Pernis apivorus at the Strait of Messina. Ardeola, 68: 373-390.
The European honey buzzard Pernis apivorus is a summer visitor in Europe, wintering mostly in Wes... more The European honey buzzard Pernis apivorus is a summer visitor in Europe, wintering mostly in West-central Africa. Previous studies concerning timing of autumn migration in relation to sex groups provided contrasting results. In particular, a field survey made in southern Sweden did not report differences in timing, while a satellite study via GPS tracking on six adults, three males, and three females, revealed that the latter departed earlier. The aim of this 4-year study is to further investigate the timing of autumn migration in this species carrying out observations at the Strait of Messina, a bottleneck located along the Central Mediterranean flyway, between August 10th and September 30th 2016–2019. Adult European honey buzzards concentrated the passage between late August early September, with females passing on average 5 days earlier than males. It is suggested that a different role of sexes concerning exhibition of territorial displays during the late breeding season, would ...
SUMMARYProviding homing pigeons with a 5 min preview of the landscape at familiar sites prior to ... more SUMMARYProviding homing pigeons with a 5 min preview of the landscape at familiar sites prior to release reliably improves the birds' subsequent homing speeds. This phenomenon has been taken to suggest that the visual panorama is involved in familiar-site recognition, yet the exact nature of the improvement has never been elucidated. We employed newly developed miniature Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking technology to investigate how access to visual cues prior to release affects pigeons' flight along the length of the homing route. By applying a variety of novel analytical techniques enabled by the high-resolution GPS data (track efficiency, virtual vanishing bearings,orientation threshold), we localised the preview effect to the first 1000 m of the journey. Birds denied preview of a familiar landscape for 5 min before take-off flew an initially more tortuous path, including a high incidence of circling, possibly as part of an information-gathering strategy to determ...
This study was aimed at investigating the behavioral effects of ozone (O3) exposure in CD-1 mice.... more This study was aimed at investigating the behavioral effects of ozone (O3) exposure in CD-1 mice. Pairs of same-sex adult male and female mice were continuously exposed for 13 days to either 0, 0.4, 0.8, or 1.2 ppm O3. The exposure apparatus consisted of a system for O3 production and delivery into four stainless-steel chambers, each equipped to contain up to 24 home cages, with continuous monitoring and recording of concentrations. Acute behavioral changes were assessed during the first hour of O3 exposure without removing animals from the chambers. The onset of exposure produced remarkable behavioral disturbances consisting of a sharp increase of several responses (rearing, sniffing, grooming, feeding, and social interactions) paralleled by a reduction of bar-holding. These changes were rapidly reversed within 1 hour, suggesting that they constituted a response to strong novel stimulation followed by habituation. Subsequently, brief sessions of videorecording of the animals' a...
Uploads
Papers