Breeding Biology

The Hybrid Sparrow’s reproduction was monitored in two stations, in the Filiach region at 5 km from Biskra (5°45'E, 34°50'N), on the one hand in a suburban (Tahraoui) and secondly date-palm-grove (Khireddine). To this end, we identified 327 nests of Passer domesticus × P. hispaniolensis with 221 nests placed in holes on walls and in the hangar roof of the Tahraoui’s farm. A set of 106 nests was installed in a livestock hangar in the date palm-grove of Khireddine. A sample of 52 nests was considered (27 nests in Tahraoui and 25 in Khireddine). On these 52 nests were followed on three consecutive clutches. The height of the nest location is between 2.4 and 5.5 m in Tahraoui’s farm where the clutch size varies between 1 and 5 eggs with a mean of 4.15 ± 1.14 during the first clutch, 3 to 6 eggs (mean = 4.9 ± 0.99) during the second clutch and 2 to 4 eggs (mean = 3 ± 0.82) for the third clutch. The most common clutch size is five eggs (AR% = 37.0%). In the palm-grove of Khireddine, the height of nest location varies between 2.7 to 3.4 m; where in a hutch size of 3 to 5 eggs (mean = 4.4 ± 0.89) was noted during the first clutch, 1 to 6 eggs (mean = 3.93 ± 1.38) during the second clutch and 2 to 4 eggs (mean = 3.5 ± 0.84) during the third clutch. The common clutch size is four eggs (AR% = 44%). Over the three clutches, the representative hatching rate is the third clutch with 93.8% in the first farm and 90.5% in the second.

In the summer of 2002 a combined Dutch-Russian expedition took place to the Willem Barentz field station at Medusa Bay near Dikson in north-western Taimyr, Russia. The expedition was organised by Alterra and the Agricultural Department of the Dutch Embassy in Moscow. Research questions addressed by the Alterra team and basic results obtained during the 2002 season are presented in

Avian life-history studies are often conducted on populations nesting in nestboxes. However, the type of nestbox used is a potentially confounding variable, as each model shows specific characteristics. In recent decades, a new commercial model of artificial nestbox made of woodcrete, a mixture of sawdust and additives, has become popular owing to its better protection against predators compared with the classic wooden design. We assess the effect of nestbox type on the breeding ecology of Tree Sparrows Passer montanus, focusing on ...

The Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilesnis) is a common bird in Southern America and commonly found in any large open areas, including agriculture and urban. The lapwing is a facultative cooperative breeder and aggressively defends its breeding territory. Thus, the breeding system and their consequences for reproductive success are interesting for evolutionary biology. Capture of the lapwing, however, is difficult. Most studies to date have not captured or individually marked birds even though identifying individuals to examine their roles in the breeding units is essential for understanding group evolution and interactions. Here we describe ways to efficiently capture the Southern Lapwing during the breeding season using mist-nets at night and by taking advantage of their defensive behaviors. Before hatching, nets were placed inside the breeding territories and by strategically walking towards the birds they were guided towards the nets, in which they fell when taking flight. After hatching, we captured the young birds and held them near the nets in which the adults fell when defending them. By using these methods, we captured 78 birds during the 2012 and 2013 breeding seasons. We observed no nest nor territory abandonment after captures. We suggest that our methods are useful in most situations with lapwings and better capture and marking will contribute to developing long-term population monitoring.