Vocal communication plays an important role for individual recognition and male-female interaction during mating in greater horseshoe bats,especially in respect to mate fidelity,which ensures that the bats can maintai...Vocal communication plays an important role for individual recognition and male-female interaction during mating in greater horseshoe bats,especially in respect to mate fidelity,which ensures that the bats can maintain a stable social organization.Few studies,however,have addressed the calling behavior during copulating in bats.Here,we initially report the copulation vocalizations and behaviors of both male and female greater horseshoe bats.During copulation,the male assumed a dorsal position and arched his back,arming around the female using his feet and thumbs.The male repeatedly produced very short constant frequency(SCF) syllables with high intensity and repetition rate(male 1:16.48±4.8 ms,male 2:17.79±4.03 ms) when he tried to insert the penis into the female,and then long syllables(male 1:42.08±12.67 ms,male 2:43.02±11.44 ms) after penile insertion.The female bats sometime refused the male bats in the early phase of copulations as emitting noise bursts and broad-band vocalizations,but kept silence during actual copulation.We also found that the SCF copulation calls of one male remained stable peak frequencies on different copulation days although its echolocation call frequency varied each day.Moreover,different male individuals maintained their own "private frequency" in the SCF copulation calls.Therefore,we predicted that the SCF copulation calls may serve as an indicator for female greater horseshoe bats to recognize the mating males in order to maintain mate fidelity because horseshoe bats exhibit sexual segregation before mating.Our results stipulate further studies on mating system and copulation strategies in polygynous bats.Such work may also aid in promoting the preservation of greater horseshoe bats.展开更多
Breeding philopatry is well known in the Black-headed Gull(Chroicocephalus ridibundus).Using a capture-markrecapture method,we studied if Black-headed Gulls show nest site tenacity and mate fidelity as well,and invest...Breeding philopatry is well known in the Black-headed Gull(Chroicocephalus ridibundus).Using a capture-markrecapture method,we studied if Black-headed Gulls show nest site tenacity and mate fidelity as well,and investigated if there are differences between a stable,and a newly established and fast-growing colony,as well as for differences between the center and edges of these colonies located in north-eastern Germany.We found a high level of nest site tenacity in the center of the stable colony on B?hmke Island,and lower degrees of nest site tenacity at the edge of the same colony and in the newly established and fast-growing colony on Riether Werder.Mate fidelity was very strong in all individuals which returned to their previous breeding place,regardless of the nest site location.展开更多
Background:Information pertaining to nest-site fidelity and breeding dispersal over successive years can help to better our understanding of how birds respond to nest predation.Methods:By using mist nets and tracking ...Background:Information pertaining to nest-site fidelity and breeding dispersal over successive years can help to better our understanding of how birds respond to nest predation.Methods:By using mist nets and tracking the color banded individuals,we investigated nest-site fidelity and breeding dispersal by Common Tailorbirds(Orthotomus sutorius)throughout a year and between successive years in 2017–2018.Results:The present study showed that Common Tailorbirds could produce up to four clutches per breeding season.When multiple broods were produced within a year,breeding pairs remained together,and the nest rebuilding rate was up to 92.2%,with only four cases(7.8%)in which birds reused their old nests.The dispersal distance between the nests during multiple breeding was found to be 10.0±10.5 m,and nest-site fidelity within the same year was 90.0%.By the second year of breeding,76.2%of individuals remained in the original breeding pairs,while for those that did switch partners,the females remained in the nest from the previous year and paired with new males.The dispersal distance between years was 26.5±41.9 m,and nest-site fidelity between different years was 80.1%.There was no significant difference between within-year and between-year dispersal distances.Moreover,there was no significant difference in the dispersal distance of rebuilt nests between birds that had experienced nest predation and those that had not.Conclusions:Our findings suggest that Common Tailorbirds maintain a high degree of fidelity to mates and nestsites,and nest predation had no significant effect on territorial changes or breeding dispersal distance between each breeding attempt.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31030011 and 30900166)the Ministry of Education of China(MS2011DBSF023)+1 种基金Jilin Provincial Science and Technology Department (20100148)NIH grant to Metzner Walter (dc5400)
文摘Vocal communication plays an important role for individual recognition and male-female interaction during mating in greater horseshoe bats,especially in respect to mate fidelity,which ensures that the bats can maintain a stable social organization.Few studies,however,have addressed the calling behavior during copulating in bats.Here,we initially report the copulation vocalizations and behaviors of both male and female greater horseshoe bats.During copulation,the male assumed a dorsal position and arched his back,arming around the female using his feet and thumbs.The male repeatedly produced very short constant frequency(SCF) syllables with high intensity and repetition rate(male 1:16.48±4.8 ms,male 2:17.79±4.03 ms) when he tried to insert the penis into the female,and then long syllables(male 1:42.08±12.67 ms,male 2:43.02±11.44 ms) after penile insertion.The female bats sometime refused the male bats in the early phase of copulations as emitting noise bursts and broad-band vocalizations,but kept silence during actual copulation.We also found that the SCF copulation calls of one male remained stable peak frequencies on different copulation days although its echolocation call frequency varied each day.Moreover,different male individuals maintained their own "private frequency" in the SCF copulation calls.Therefore,we predicted that the SCF copulation calls may serve as an indicator for female greater horseshoe bats to recognize the mating males in order to maintain mate fidelity because horseshoe bats exhibit sexual segregation before mating.Our results stipulate further studies on mating system and copulation strategies in polygynous bats.Such work may also aid in promoting the preservation of greater horseshoe bats.
文摘Breeding philopatry is well known in the Black-headed Gull(Chroicocephalus ridibundus).Using a capture-markrecapture method,we studied if Black-headed Gulls show nest site tenacity and mate fidelity as well,and investigated if there are differences between a stable,and a newly established and fast-growing colony,as well as for differences between the center and edges of these colonies located in north-eastern Germany.We found a high level of nest site tenacity in the center of the stable colony on B?hmke Island,and lower degrees of nest site tenacity at the edge of the same colony and in the newly established and fast-growing colony on Riether Werder.Mate fidelity was very strong in all individuals which returned to their previous breeding place,regardless of the nest site location.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.31472013 and 31772453 to WL)
文摘Background:Information pertaining to nest-site fidelity and breeding dispersal over successive years can help to better our understanding of how birds respond to nest predation.Methods:By using mist nets and tracking the color banded individuals,we investigated nest-site fidelity and breeding dispersal by Common Tailorbirds(Orthotomus sutorius)throughout a year and between successive years in 2017–2018.Results:The present study showed that Common Tailorbirds could produce up to four clutches per breeding season.When multiple broods were produced within a year,breeding pairs remained together,and the nest rebuilding rate was up to 92.2%,with only four cases(7.8%)in which birds reused their old nests.The dispersal distance between the nests during multiple breeding was found to be 10.0±10.5 m,and nest-site fidelity within the same year was 90.0%.By the second year of breeding,76.2%of individuals remained in the original breeding pairs,while for those that did switch partners,the females remained in the nest from the previous year and paired with new males.The dispersal distance between years was 26.5±41.9 m,and nest-site fidelity between different years was 80.1%.There was no significant difference between within-year and between-year dispersal distances.Moreover,there was no significant difference in the dispersal distance of rebuilt nests between birds that had experienced nest predation and those that had not.Conclusions:Our findings suggest that Common Tailorbirds maintain a high degree of fidelity to mates and nestsites,and nest predation had no significant effect on territorial changes or breeding dispersal distance between each breeding attempt.
