| daily laying time in free-living european starlings: solar noon, a potential synchronizer. | reproduction is generally controlled by important temporal constraints involving complex adaptive mechanisms. birds, in temperate zones, present marked breeding seasonality as well as marked daily organization of reproductive behavior, especially laying. intra-specific variability and determinants of this pattern have been investigated mainly in domestic non-passerine birds. the present study analyzed the daily temporal organization of laying in a free-living species, the european starling, stur ... | 2007 | 17453845 |
| european starlings are capable of discriminating subtle size asymmetries in paired stimuli. | small deviations from bilateral symmetry (fluctuating asymmetries) are cues to fitness differences in some animals. therefore, researchers have considered whether animals use these small asymmetries as visual cues to determine appropriate behavioral responses (e.g., mate preferences). however, there have been few systematic studies of animals' abilities to visually discriminate such minor asymmetries. if the asymmetries cannot be discriminated, fluctuating asymmetry can not be a visual cue. here ... | 2007 | 17345950 |
| seasonality in a temperate zone bird can be entrained by near equatorial photoperiods. | birds use photoperiod to control the time of breeding and moult. however, it is unclear whether responses are dependent on absolute photoperiod, the direction and rate of change in photoperiod, or if photoperiod entrains a circannual clock. if starlings (sturnus vulgaris) are kept on a constant photoperiod of 12h light:12h darkness per day (12l:12d), then they can show repeated cycles of gonadal maturation, regression and moult, which is evidence for a circannual clock. in this study, starlings ... | 2007 | 17254997 |
| accumulation, tissue-specific distribution and debromination of decabromodiphenyl ether (bde 209) in european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | in this study we investigated the accumulation, tissue-specific distribution and possible debromination of bde 209 in a terrestrial songbird species, the european starling, using silastic implants as a method of exposure. bde 209 accumulated in the blood of the exposed starlings to a mean peak concentration of 16+/-4.1 ng/ml on day 10. after this peak, there was a decline to 3.3+/-0.4 ng/ml blood at the end of the exposure period of 76 days, which suggests elimination of bde 209. in the exposed ... | 2007 | 17239511 |
| lesions to the medial preoptic nucleus differentially affect singing and nest box-directed behaviors within and outside of the breeding season in european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | little is known about how the brain regulates context-appropriate communication. european starlings produce song in various social contexts. during the breeding season, males with nest sites sing high levels of sexually motivated song in response to a female. outside of this context, song rates are not affected by female presence. the medial preoptic nucleus (pom) regulates male sexual behavior, and studies in songbirds implicate the pom in sexually motivated song. recent data suggest that the r ... | 2006 | 17201478 |
| experimental evaluation of the usefulness of feathers as a non-destructive biomonitor for polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs) using silastic implants as a novel method of exposure. | risk assessment of pollutants requires both monitoring studies in the field and experimental exposure studies. in this study, we evaluated silastic implants as an alternative method of exposure for use in toxicological studies and at the same time evaluated the usefulness of feathers as a non-destructive biomonitor for pcbs. european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) were exposed to different doses (including a control group) of environmentally relevant concentrations of pcb 153 during a 15-week peri ... | 2007 | 17125836 |
| zenk labeling within social behavior brain regions reveals breeding context-dependent patterns of neural activity associated with song in male european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | in songbirds, song learning and production are regulated by the song control system. how the rest of the brain interacts with song nuclei to ensure that song is produced in an appropriate context is not yet clear. in male european starlings (sturnus vulgaris), breeding context song is sexually motivated, whereas, non-breeding context song is more broadly socially motivated. brain regions involved in regulating social behavior might differentially regulate starling song depending upon the context ... | 2007 | 17113163 |
| a statistical framework for genetic association studies of power curves in bird flight. | how the power required for bird flight varies as a function of forward speed can be used to predict the flight style and behavioral strategy of a bird for feeding and migration. a u-shaped curve was observed between the power and flight velocity in many birds, which is consistent to the theoretical prediction by aerodynamic models. in this article, we present a general genetic model for fine mapping of quantitative trait loci (qtl) responsible for power curves in a sample of birds drawn from a n ... | 2006 | 17066123 |
| respiratory water loss during rest and flight in european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | respiratory water loss in starlings (sturnus vulgaris) at rest and during flight at ambient temperatures (t(amb)) between 6 and 25 degrees c was calculated from respiratory airflow and exhaled air temperature. at rest, breathing frequency f (1.4+/-0.3 hz) and tidal volume vt (1.9+/-0.4 ml) were independent of t(amb), but negatively correlated with each other. mean ventilation at rest was 156+/-28 ml min(-1) at all t(amb). exhaled air temperature (t(exh)) at rest increased with t(amb) (t(exh) = 0 ... | 2006 | 17011222 |
| breeding-context-dependent relationships between song and cfos labeling within social behavior brain regions in male european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | male european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) sing throughout the year, but the social factors that motivate singing behavior differ depending upon the context in which song is produced. in a non-breeding context (when testosterone concentrations are low), starlings form large, mixed-sex flocks and song is involved in flock cohesion and perhaps maintenance of social hierarchies. in contrast, in a breeding context (when testosterone concentrations are high), male song plays a direct role in mate att ... | 2006 | 16914152 |
| control of molt in birds: association with prolactin and gonadal regression in starlings. | despite the importance of molt to birds, very little is known about its environmental or physiological control. in starlings sturnus vulgaris, and other species, under both natural conditions and experimental regimes, gonadal regression coincides with peak prolactin secretion. the prebasic molt starts at the same time. the aim of this series of experiments was to keep starlings on photo-schedules that would challenge the normally close relationship between gonadal regression and molt, to determi ... | 2006 | 16530194 |
| stress hormones: a link between maternal condition and sex-biased reproductive investment. | in species where offspring fitness is sex-specifically influenced by maternal reproductive condition, sex allocation theory predicts that poor-quality mothers should invest in the evolutionarily less expensive sex. despite an accumulation of evidence that mothers can sex-specifically modulate investment in offspring in relation to maternal quality, few mechanisms have been proposed as to how this is achieved. we explored a hormonal mechanism for sex-biased maternal investment by measuring and ex ... | 2005 | 16475090 |
| metabolic adjustments to increasing foraging costs of starlings in a closed economy. | knowledge of the physiological consequences of variation in food availability may be essential for understanding behavioural and life history responses to such variation. to study the physiological consequences of food availability animals are generally subjected to caloric restriction or starvation, thereby reducing the upper limit to the energy budget. the relevance of this approach to free-living animals is questionable, however, because under natural conditions low food availability often re ... | 2005 | 16244169 |
| in vivo diffusion tensor imaging (dti) of brain subdivisions and vocal pathways in songbirds. | the neural substrate for song behavior in songbirds, the song control system (scs), is thus far the best-documented brain circuit in which to study neuroplasticity and adult neurogenesis. not only does the volume of the key song control nuclei change in size, but also the density of the connections between them changes as a function of seasonal and hormonal influences. this study explores the potentials of in vivo diffusion-tensor mri (dt-mri or dti) to visualize the distinct, concentrated conne ... | 2006 | 16242349 |
| immediate early gene activity in song control nuclei and brain areas regulating motivation relates positively to singing behavior during, but not outside of, a breeding context. | in some species, such as songbirds, much is known about how the brain regulates vocal learning, production, and perception. what remains a mystery is what regulates the motivation to communicate. european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) sing throughout most of the year, but the social and environmental factors that motivate singing behavior differ seasonally. male song is highly sexually motivated during, but not outside of, the breeding season. brain areas outside the song control system, such as ... | 2005 | 16155901 |
| auditory stream segregation in the songbird forebrain: effects of time intervals on responses to interleaved tone sequences. | for both humans and other animals, the abilities to integrate separate sound elements over time into coherent perceptual representations, or 'auditory streams', and to segregate these auditory streams from other interleaved sounds are critical for hearing and vocal communication. in humans and european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) the ability to perceptually segregate a simple interleaved tone sequence comprised of two alternating tones differing in frequency (aba-aba-aba-...) into separate audi ... | 2005 | 16127270 |
| corticosterone inhibits feather growth: potential mechanism explaining seasonal down regulation of corticosterone during molt. | corticosterone (cort) is seasonally modulated in many passerines, with plasma cort concentrations lowest during the prebasic molt when all feathers are replaced. to explain why, we proposed that the birds downregulate natural cort release during molt in order to avoid cort's degradative effects on proteins and its inhibition of protein synthesis. if cort exerted these effects during molt, it could slow protein deposition during feather production and potentially result in a longer period of degr ... | 2005 | 16125989 |
| why birdsong is sometimes like music. | the sounds and songs of birds have inspired the musical compositions of numerous cultures throughout the globe. this article examines a variety of compositions from western music that feature birdsong and explores the concept of birds as both vocalists and instrumentalists. the concept of birds as composers is then developed-how they use rhythmic variations, pitch relationships, and combinations of notes similar to those found in music-and the theory that birds create variation in their songs pa ... | 2005 | 16085998 |
| myoclonus induced by cathode ray tube screens and low-frequency lighting in the european starling (sturnus vulgaris). | | 2005 | 16055664 |
| a potential cardiovascular mechanism for the behavioral effects of central and peripheral arginine vasotocin. | few studies have attempted to separate the behavior modulating actions of central and peripheral arginine vasotocin/arginine vasopressin (avt/avp) from their roles in the endocrine and cardiovascular stress response. this series of experiments explored the relative contributions of avt's central and peripheral mechanisms on altering behavior while simultaneously investigating avt's effects on the behavioral, cardiovascular, and corticosteroid responses to acute stressors in european starlings (s ... | 2005 | 16029876 |
| influence of the number of repellent-treated and untreated food or water containers on intake by the european starling. | the availability of multiple sources of food and drink has a profound influence on choice behavior in rodents. it is not known how other taxa might respond to the same kind of variation in availability. we tested european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) with various combinations of unadulterated and repellent-treated (0.025% citronellyl acetate) resources. in experiment 1, birds drank more plain than repellent-treated water than when given (a) 2 bottles of plain water and 2 of repellent-water, or ( ... | 2005 | 15951054 |
| are the low protein requirements of nectarivorous birds the consequence of their sugary and watery diet? a test with an omnivore. | nectar-feeding birds have remarkably low nitrogen requirements. these may be due either to adaptation to a low-protein diet or simply to feeding on a fluid diet that minimizes metabolic fecal nitrogen losses. we measured minimal nitrogen requirements (mnr) and total endogenous nitrogen loss (tenl) in the omnivorous european starling sturnus vulgaris, fed on an artificial nectar-like fluid diet of varying concentrations of sugar and protein. the mnr and tenl of the birds were similar and even sli ... | 2013 | 15778943 |
| evidence for opioid involvement in the regulation of song production in male european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | many social animals vocalize at high rates, suggesting that vocal communication is highly motivated and rewarding. in songbirds, much is known about the neural control of vocal behavior; however, little is known about neurobiological mechanisms regulating the motivation to communicate. this study examined a possible role for opioid neuropeptides in motivation and reward associated with song production in male european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). peripheral opioid blockade facilitated male song ... | 2005 | 15727529 |
| social suppression of song is associated with a reduction in volume of a song-control nucleus in european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | in seasonally breeding songbirds, variations in testosterone and song correlate with volume changes in brain nuclei associated with song, including the hvc. the authors tested whether singing can lead to activity-dependent increases in hvc volume by examining song output in starlings (sturnus vulgaris). the authors manipulated males' environments so that only some were dominant with nestboxes, whereas others were not. some of these males thus sang at higher rates and had larger hvc volume than o ... | 2005 | 15727528 |
| effects of arginine vasotocin (avt) on the behavioral, cardiovascular, and corticosterone responses of starlings (sturnus vulgaris) to crowding. | previous studies in european starlings have concluded that conspecific crowding can be a significant stressor that is capable of simultaneously altering behavior, heart rate, and corticosterone (cort) concentrations. it was hypothesized that the peptide hormone arginine vasotocin (avt) has a role in the regulation of these three types of responses to crowding. four male and four female resident starlings were submitted to nine combinations of 3 crowding treatments (0, 1, or 5 intruder starlings) ... | 2005 | 15708756 |
| metabolic power of european starlings sturnus vulgaris during flight in a wind tunnel, estimated from heat transfer modelling, doubly labelled water and mask respirometry. | it is technically demanding to measure the energetic cost of animal flight. each of the previously available techniques has some disadvantage as well advantages. we compared measurements of the energetic cost of flight in a wind tunnel by four european starlings sturnus vulgaris made using three independent techniques: heat transfer modelling, doubly labelled water (dlw) and mask respirometry. we based our heat transfer model on thermal images of the surface temperature of the birds and air flow ... | 2004 | 15531650 |
| comparison of the cost of short flights in a nectarivorous and a non-nectarivorous bird. | although most birds are accustomed to making short flights, particularly during foraging, the flight patterns during these short periods of activity differ between species. nectarivorous birds, in particular, often spend time hovering, while non-nectarivorous birds do not. the cost of short flights is likely therefore to differ between nectarivorous and non-nectarivorous birds because of the different energetic contributions of different flight types to the behaviour. the 13c-labelled bicarbonat ... | 2004 | 15472026 |
| direct social contacts override auditory information in the song-learning process in starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | social influence on song acquisition was studied in 3 groups of young european starlings raised under different social conditions but with the same auditory experience of adult song. attentional focusing on preferred partners appears the most likely explanation for differences found in song acquisition in relation to experience, sex, and song categories. thus, pair-isolated birds learned from each other and not from broadcast live songs, females did not learn from the adult male tutors, and shar ... | 2004 | 15250805 |
| mediation of a corticosterone-induced reproductive conflict. | current research in birds suggests that a conflict should exist during reproduction for the role of the glucocorticoid corticosterone (cort). while elevated levels have been correlated with the increased energetic demand of raising offspring, elevated cort levels have traditionally been implicated in reproductive abandonment. we examined the relationship between cort and nest desertion in breeding wild female european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) incorporating analyses of both total circulating ... | 2004 | 15215043 |
| hemispheric specialization in the primary auditory area of awake and anesthetized starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | although evidence exists for a lateralization of song production, few studies have focused on the perceptual aspect of lateralization in songbirds. in the present study, the authors recorded neuronal responses to a variety of species-specific and artificial, nonspecific stimuli in both hemispheres of awake and anesthetized male starlings (sturnus vulgaris). recordings were made in the primary auditory area of the songbird brain, the field l complex. the right hemisphere exhibited significantly m ... | 2004 | 15174938 |
| post-hatching dynamics of plasma biochemistry in free-living european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | this is the first study of plasma biochemical parameters in free-living altricial birds during an entire developmental period in a nest, represented by european starling (sturnus vulgaris). dynamics of postnatal changes from hatching until close to fledging (days 1 to 15) were registered. parameters of protein metabolism represented by total proteins, albumin and globulin concentrations increased continuously during the observed developmental period. there were two peaks in uric acid concentrati ... | 2004 | 15165575 |
| prior experience with photostimulation enhances photo-induced reproductive development in female european starlings: a possible basis for the age-related increase in avian reproductive performance. | reproductive performance in female birds improves with age, and this is generally attributed to experiences obtained during breeding. in temperate-zone species, experience with photostimulation during the first breeding year may prime the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis to respond to photic cues more rapidly or robustly in subsequent years. to test this idea, we captured 32 photorefractory juvenile (hence naive to photostimulation) female european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) and held half of ... | 2004 | 15151935 |
| developmental stress, social rank and song complexity in the european starling (sturnus vulgaris). | bird song is a sexually selected trait and females have been shown to prefer males that sing more complex songs. however, for repertoire size to be an honest signal of male quality it must be associated with some form of cost. this experiment investigates the effects of food restriction and social status during development on song complexity in the european starling (sturnus vulgaris). birds that experienced an unpredictable food supply early in life produced a significantly smaller repertoire o ... | 2004 | 15101438 |
| individual variation in plasma estradiol-17beta and androgen levels during egg formation in the european starling sturnus vulgaris: implications for regulation of yolk steroids. | while it is clear that maternal transfer of steroids to egg yolk can have significant effects on offspring phenotype, an unresolved question is whether females can facultatively adjust yolk hormone levels independently of their own plasma levels or whether yolk steroid levels are simply a direct consequence of temporal variation in the female's hormonal status. in part, this is because we lack detailed information about the day-to-day pattern of changes in plasma hormone levels during the laying ... | 2004 | 15081834 |
| primitive auditory stream segregation: a neurophysiological study in the songbird forebrain. | auditory stream segregation refers to the perceptual grouping of sounds, to form coherent representations of objects in the acoustic scene, and is a fundamental aspect of hearing and speech perception. the perceptual segregation of simple interleaved tone sequences has been studied in humans and european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) using sequences of 2 alternating tones differing in frequency (aba-aba-aba-...). the segregation of a and b tones into separate auditory streams is believed to be pr ... | 2004 | 15044521 |
| specific floater home ranges and prospective behaviour in the european starling, sturnus vulgaris. | in many bird species, floaters are present on the breeding grounds in one or more years before they breed. there is increasing evidence that they have specific home ranges in which they search for information about current and future breeding opportunities. we investigated the role of prospecting in a migratory european starling (sturnus vulgaris) population. radio-tracking showed that male starling floaters use specific home range areas during the breeding period. nest-box observations demonstr ... | 2004 | 14991146 |
| evidence against a period of relative photorefractoriness during the recovery of photosensitivity in common starlings. | in many species of birds, the end of the breeding season is caused by the development of absolute photorefractoriness, characterised by spontaneous gonadal regression under a long photoperiod followed by a period during which gonadal maturation cannot be stimulated by further photostimulation. it has been suggested that during the dissipation of photorefractoriness under short photoperiods, birds become relatively photorefractory-that there is a gradual decrease in critical photoperiod. if true, ... | 2004 | 14980802 |
| neuroanatomical evidence for indirect connections between the medial preoptic nucleus and the song control system: possible neural substrates for sexually motivated song. | in european starlings ( sturnus vulgaris) as in other seasonally breeding songbirds, a major function of song during the breeding season is mate attraction, and song in this context is highly sexually motivated. song learning, perception, and production are regulated by nuclei of the song control system, but there is no evidence that these nuclei participate in the motivation to sing. evidence suggests that the medial preoptic nucleus (pom), a diencephalic nucleus outside of the song control sys ... | 2004 | 14968358 |
| european starling (sturnus vulgaris): avian model and monitor of polychlorinated biphenyl contamination at a superfund site in southern illinois, usa. | accumulation and effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs) in avian species were evaluated at a superfund site located at crab orchard national wildlife refuge (il, usa). european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) were monitored at nest boxes constructed at each of two study and two reference sites. during the breeding season, starling productivity and adult provisioning behavior were monitored. at 15 d after hatch, chicks and adults were collected for contaminant and biomarker analyses. chicks and ... | 2004 | 14768872 |
| plasticity in body composition in breeding birds: what drives the metabolic costs of egg production? | body composition in vertebrates is known to show phenotypic plasticity, and changes in organ masses are usually rapid and reversible. one of the most rapid and reversible changes is the transformation of the female avian reproductive organs before breeding. this provides an excellent system to investigate the effects of plasticity in organ size on basal metabolic rate (bmr) through relationships between organ masses and bmr. we compared body composition of female european starlings (sturnus vulg ... | 2006 | 14671719 |
| the metabolic cost of avian egg formation: possible impact of yolk precursor production? | little is known about the energy costs of egg production in birds. we showed in previous papers that, during egg production, european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) undergo a 22% increase in resting metabolic rate (rmr) and that the maintenance and activity costs of the oviduct are responsible for 18% of the variation in elevated laying rmr. therefore, other energy-consuming physiological mechanisms must be responsible for the remaining unexplained variation in elevated laying rmr. yolk precursor ... | 2003 | 14610029 |
| age-dependent changes in plasma and brain cholinesterase activities of house wrens and european starlings. | we determined age-dependent changes in plasma and brain cholinesterase (che) activity for two species of passerines: house wren (troglodytes aedon) and european starling (sturnus vulgaris, starling). in plasma from nestlings of both species, total che activity increased with age, acetycholinesterase (ache, ec 3.1.1.7) activity declined rapidly immediately after hatching, and butyrylcholinesterase (bche, ec 3.1.1.8) activity increased steadily. for both species, total che and bche activities and ... | 2003 | 14567225 |
| female presence affects male behavior and testosterone levels in the european starling (sturnus vulgaris). | in this study, we confronted individually housed male european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) with a female conspecific for 60 min to study the consequences on behavior and plasma testosterone (t) concentrations. control males experienced a similar procedure, the only difference being that they were tested in the absence of a female. female presence significantly affected both behavior and plasma t levels of male starlings. experimental males spent significantly more time singing in the nest box a ... | 2003 | 13129481 |
| within- and across-channel processing in auditory masking: a physiological study in the songbird forebrain. | synchronous envelope fluctuations in different frequency ranges of an acoustic background enhance the detection of signals in background noise. this effect, termed comodulation masking release (cmr), is attributed to both processing within one frequency channel of the auditory system and comparisons across separate frequency channels. here we present data on cmr from a study in field l2 of the auditory forebrain of the european starling (sturnus vulgaris) using two 25-hz-wide bands of masking no ... | 2003 | 12843277 |
| effect of age and testosterone on autumnal neurogenesis in male european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | the male european starling (sturnus vulgaris) is an open-ended learner that increases its repertoire throughout life. in parallel, the volume of high vocal center (hvc) is larger in older birds than in yearlings. we labeled with the thymidine analog 5'-bromodeoxyuridine (brdu) the cells that are generated during the fall in the brain of adult males that were 2 or more years old and in yearling males that were treated with exogenous testosterone (t) or kept intact before brdu administration. in a ... | 2003 | 12842292 |
| the volumes of song control nuclei, hvc and lman, relate to differential behavioral responses of female european starlings to male songs produced within and outside of the breeding season. | in seasonally breeding songbirds, such as european starlings (sturnus vulgaris), male song plays a direct role in immediate mate attraction during, but not outside of, the breeding season. the present experiment was designed to explore whether female starlings would display differential behavioral responses to male song recorded during (spring) and outside of (fall) the breeding season. recordings of spring and fall male starling songs were broadcast to female starlings from nest boxes in an avi ... | 2003 | 12834902 |
| castration does not decrease nonreproductive aggression in yearling male european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | in the nonbreeding season, some bird species express high levels of aggression despite basal plasma testosterone (t) concentrations. consequently, nonreproductive aggression is believed to be independent of plasma t. in the present study, we investigated the effect of castration on nonreproductive aggressive behavior in yearling male european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). we paired castrated (cx) with control (c) males in dyadic trials during three test periods (december, january-february, and m ... | 2003 | 12695113 |
| recent experience modulates forebrain gene-expression in response to mate-choice cues in european starlings. | mate-choice decisions can be experience dependent, but we know little about how the brain processes stimuli that release such decisions. female european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) prefer males with long-bout songs over males with short-bout songs, and show higher expression of the immediate early gene (ieg) zenk in the auditory forebrain when exposed to long-bout songs than when exposed to short-bout songs. we exposed female starlings to a short-day photoperiod for one of three durations and t ... | 2002 | 12495492 |
| context-dependent effects of castration and testosterone treatment on song in male european starlings. | most seasonally breeding songbirds display dramatic seasonal fluctuations in plasma testosterone (t) levels and mate attraction behaviors, including song. however, males of some songbird species, such as the european starling (sturnus vulgaris), continue to sing at high levels after the breeding season, when t levels are basal. in male starlings song during the breeding season functions mainly to attract mates, whereas song during the nonbreeding season appears unrelated to reproduction. this su ... | 2002 | 12460590 |
| corticosterone and insulin interact to regulate plasma glucose but not lipid concentrations in molting starlings. | captive starlings (sturnus vulgaris) undergoing a prebasic molt were given exogenous insulin (ins) and corticosterone (cort), to determine how these counterregulatory hormones would affect glucose and triglyceride concentrations during stress. experiments were conducted at both morning (11:00) and night (23:00) to monitor daily variation in these responses. concentrations of cort, glucose, and triglycerides were measured in blood plasma within 3 min of disturbance (basal) and at 40, 70, and 150 ... | 2002 | 12441118 |
| expression of camp response element binding protein-binding protein in the song control system and hypothalamus of adult european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | in songbirds, the initiation of song behaviour and the neural substrate of this system are highly influenced by gonadal steroids. receptors for gonadal steroid hormones, such as androgens and oestrogens, have been localized within select nuclei of the song system. an important step in steroid receptor action is the recruitment of nuclear receptor coactivators. the coactivator, camp response element binding protein (creb)-binding protein (cbp), has been implicated in both androgen and oestrogen r ... | 2002 | 12372005 |
| metabolic costs of egg production in the european starling (sturnus vulgaris). | the energy cost of egg production in passerine birds has typically been estimated to be 45%-60% of basal metabolic rate (bmr), but this is based on theoretical models using data on energy content of eggs and reproductive tissue; there are still very few empirical data on egg production costs. in this study, we directly measured resting metabolic rate (rmr) in egg-laying female european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) over 3 yr. we compared these data with rmr of nonbreeding and chick-rearing birds ... | 2006 | 12324894 |
| hormonal and behavioral responses of starlings during a confrontation with males or females at nest boxes during the reproductive season. | we investigated in an aviary experiment the behavioral and hormonal responses of european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) that were moved from a same sex group to an aviary containing either a nest box alone, a nest box and another male, or a nest box and a female. luteinizing hormone (lh) and testosterone (t) levels increased significantly and independently of the situation, suggesting that nest boxes were the most important stimulus affecting the levels of these hormones. some birds occupied more ... | 2002 | 12191644 |
| paternal care and male mate-attraction effort in the european starling is adjusted to clutch size. | in facultative polygynous birds with biparental care, a trade-off may occur between male parental care and attraction of additional mates. if there is a cost associated with reduced male parental care, the relative benefit of mate attraction may be predicted to decrease as the size of a male's clutch or brood increases. we tested this prediction in monogamous pairs of facultatively polygynous european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). the larger the clutch, the more time the male spent incubating an ... | 2002 | 12065042 |
| song predicts immunocompetence in male european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | according to the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis, sexually selected characteristics predict immune function and this relationship is mediated by testosterone. in the present study, we investigated whether bird song could predict immunity in european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). we recorded the singing and reproductive behaviours of 16 adult male starlings in an outdoor aviary and then assessed their cell-mediated and humoral immunity in vivo. the males were observed in groups of four for 2 ... | 2002 | 11958717 |
| seasonal variation in androgen-metabolizing enzymes in the diencephalon and telencephalon of the male european starling (sturnus vulgaris). | in seasonally breeding songbirds, seasonal fluctuations occur in serum testosterone (t) concentrations and reproductive behaviours. many t-dependent behaviours are regulated by the activity of androgenic and oestrogenic metabolites within specific brain regions. male european starlings breed in spring when circulating t concentrations peak. t and its metabolites act within portions of the diencephalon to regulate the pituitary-gonadal axis and to activate courtship and copulation. song in male s ... | 2001 | 11737557 |
| metabolic power, mechanical power and efficiency during wind tunnel flight by the european starling sturnus vulgaris. | we trained two starlings (sturnus vulgaris) to fly in a wind tunnel whilst wearing respirometry masks. we measured the metabolic power (p(met)) from the rates of oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production and calculated the mechanical power (p(mech)) from two aerodynamic models using wingbeat kinematics measured by high-speed cinematography. p(met) increased from 10.4 to 14.9 w as flight speed was increased from 6.3 to 14.4 m s(-1) and was compatible with the u-shaped power/speed curve pre ... | 2001 | 11606605 |
| corticosterone and insulin interact to regulate glucose and triglyceride levels during stress in a bird. | captive european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) were exposed to the stress of handling and restraint while corticosterone, glucose, and triglyceride concentrations were monitored in blood plasma. in saline-injected controls, basal samples were taken within 3 min of disturbance with subsequent samples taken at 40, 70, and 150 min. this was repeated at two times during the daily cycle (day and night) on two different photoperiods: short and long days. during both photoperiods, corticosterone concent ... | 2001 | 11507018 |
| lift generation by the avian tail. | variation with tail spread of the lift generated by a bird tail was measured on mounted, frozen european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) in a wind tunnel at a typical air speed and body and tail angle of attack in order to test predictions of existing aerodynamic theories modelling tail lift. measured lift at all but the lowest tail spread angles was significantly lower than the predictions of slender wing, leading edge vortex and lifting line models of lift production. instead, the tail lift coeff ... | 2001 | 11454286 |
| the avian tail reduces body parasite drag by controlling flow separation and vortex shedding. | the aerodynamic effect of the furled avian tail on the parasite drag of a bird's body was investigated on mounted, frozen european starling sturnus vulgaris in a wind tunnel at flight speeds between 6 and 14 m s(-1). removal of tail rectrices and dorsal and ventral covert feathers at the base of the tail increased the total parasite drag of the body and tail by between 25 and 55%. flow visualization and measurements of dynamic pressure in the tail boundary layer showed that in the intact bird a ... | 2001 | 11429141 |
| hepatic iron accumulation over time in european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) fed two levels of iron. | european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) were used as a passerine bird model to examine the effect of dietary iron on the level of hepatic iron in birds. nestling and fledgling starlings (n = 56) were raised on a controlled-iron diet. when birds maintained constant body weight, they were assigned in pairs to cages, and baseline sampling was performed. pairs were then assigned to one of two diets: the controlled-iron diet (168 ppm, dry basis) or a high-iron diet (3,035 ppm, dry basis). dry-matter in ... | 2000 | 11428395 |
| rate of moult affects feather quality: a mechanism linking current reproductive effort to future survival. | life-history theory proposes that costs must be associated with reproduction. many direct costs are incurred during breeding. there is also evidence for indirect costs, incurred after breeding, which decrease survival and future reproductive success. one possible indirect cost identified in birds is that breeding activity in some way compromises plumage quality in the subsequent moult. here we propose a mechanism by which this could occur. breeding activity delays the start of moult. birds that ... | 2000 | 11416914 |
| follicular development and plasma yolk precursor dynamics through the laying cycle in the european starling (sturnus vulgaris). | we investigated the quantitative matching of plasma yolk precursor supply (the plasma pool) to follicle demand during yolk formation in european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). plasma concentrations of the two yolk precursors, vitellogenin (vtg) and very low density lipoprotein (vldl), were only elevated coincident with rapid yolk development (ryd) and matched variation in total yolky follicle mass. vtg and vldl were low (<0.4 microg/ml and <4.2 mg/ml, respectively) in nonbreeders and prebreeders ... | 2006 | 11331507 |
| signal detection in amplitude-modulated maskers. ii. processing in the songbird's auditory forebrain. | in the natural environment, acoustic signals have to be detected in ubiquitous background noise. temporal fluctuations of background noise can be exploited by the auditory system to enhance signal detection, especially if spectral masking components are coherently amplitude modulated across several auditory channels (a phenomenon called 'comodulation masking release'). in this study of neuronal mechanisms of masking release in the primary auditory forebrain (field l) of awake european starlings ... | 2001 | 11264677 |
| signal detection in amplitude-modulated maskers. i. behavioural auditory thresholds in a songbird. | vertebrates have evolved mechanisms to exploit amplitude modulations in background noise for improving signal detection. however, the mechanisms underlying this masking release are not yet well understood. here we present evidence for masking release observed in european starlings (sturnus vulgaris, aves) that were trained in a go/nogo paradigm to report the detection of a short tone (20 ms) in 100% sinusoidally amplitude-modulated noise maskers (400 ms duration). maskers centred at the tone fre ... | 2001 | 11264676 |
| photoperiod-induced testicular apoptosis in european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | to determine the extent to which testicular regression involves apoptotic cell death, photosensitive adult starlings were photostimulated for up to 9 wk by exposure to long-day (18 h of light) photoperiods. apoptotic activity in recrudescing and regressing testes was assessed by in situ tunel labeling. absolute testis mass in male starlings increased after 2 wk of photostimulation and subsequently decreased with continued long-day exposure. seminiferous tubule diameter also increased after 1-3 w ... | 2001 | 11159376 |
| response biases in auditory forebrain regions of female songbirds following exposure to sexually relevant variation in male song. | in many species of songbirds, individual variation between the songs of competing males is correlated with female behavioral preferences. the neural mechanisms of song based female preference in songbirds are not known. working with female european starlings (sturnus vulgaris), we used immunocytochemistry for zenk protein to localize forebrain regions that respond to sexually relevant variation in conspecific male song. the number of zenk-ir cells in ventral caudo-medial neostriatum [ncmv] was s ... | 2001 | 11108615 |
| seasonal changes in courtship song and the medial preoptic area in male european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | in male starlings (sturnus vulgaris) courtship song plays a critical role in mate attraction. during the breeding season courtship song occurs prior to copulation and appears to reflect male sexual arousal. outside the breeding season starlings sing, but song appears unrelated to reproduction. the aromatization of testosterone (t), likely within the medial preoptic nucleus (pom), is critical for the expression of male sexual arousal. the present study was performed to determine whether seasonal ... | 2000 | 11104643 |
| daily and seasonal variation in response to stress in captive starlings (sturnus vulgaris): glucose. | we investigated the seasonal and daily variation in plasma glucose levels in response to stress in captive wild starlings. starlings were captured from the wild during the winter, held on short days (11l:13d, mimicking winter), and then shifted to long days (19l:5d, mimicking summer). birds were maintained on long days until they began a prebasic molt, the energetically costly replacement of feathers. throughout the daily cycle we took a basal blood sample within 3 min of disturbance and took su ... | 2000 | 10882550 |
| daily and seasonal variation in response to stress in captive starlings (sturnus vulgaris): corticosterone. | captive starlings were used to examine daily and seasonal changes in basal and stress-induced corticosterone levels. birds were bled at 4 times during the daily cycle and during three different simulated seasons: under a short-day photoperiod (mimicking winter), under a long-day photoperiod (mimicking summer), and while undergoing a prebasic molt. basal corticosterone samples were assayed from blood collected within 3 min of disturbance and corticosterone increases in response to handling and re ... | 2000 | 10882549 |
| perceptual classification based on the component structure of song in european starlings. | the ability to recognize individuals based on their vocalizations is common among many species of songbirds. examining the psychological and neural basis of this functionally relevant behavior can provide insight into the perceptual processing of acoustically complex, real-world, communication signals. in one species of songbird, european starlings (sturnus vulgaris), males sing long and acoustically complex songs composed of small stereotyped note clusters called motifs. previous studies demons ... | 2000 | 10875382 |
| differential toxicities of organophosphate and carbamate insecticides in the nestling european starling (sturnus vulgaris). | the concept of b-esterase buffering against anti-cholinesterase (che) insecticide toxicity has been extensively researched in mammalian species. presumably due to relatively low levels of anti-che detoxifying enzyme activity in birds, however, avian species are often more susceptible to the toxic effects of these compounds. we quantified b-esterase buffering of organophosphate (diazinon and methyl parathion) and carbamate (aldicarb and oxamyl) toxicity in nestling european starlings (sturnus vul ... | 2000 | 10871426 |
| neuromuscular correlates to the evolution of flapping flight in birds. | the neuromotor pattern (i.e. the onset/offset of muscle contraction within the locomotor cycle) is conserved for some homologous muscles of the tetrapod shoulder but not others in the transition from terrestrial locomotion to flight. here we test for three shoulder muscles of the european starling (sturnus vulgaris) to determine whether retention of, or deviation from, a conserved neuromotor pattern can be predicted on the basis of the location of the muscle's motor nucleus within the motor colu ... | 2000 | 10838479 |
| multiple levels of representation of song by european starlings (sturnus vulgaris): open-ended categorization of starling song types and differential forgetting of song categories and exemplars. | four european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) were trained to discriminate among conspecific and heterospecific song segments in a go/no-go operant task. in experiment 1, the starlings discriminated among novel starling and heterospecific songs, indicating an open-ended category of conspecific song types. the starlings also showed excellent memory for reinforced conspecific songs and discriminated among subordinate categories of conspecific song. in experiment 2, the starlings were presented with t ... | 2000 | 10739312 |
| circadian rhythms of melatonin in european starlings exposed to different lighting conditions: relationship with locomotor and feeding rhythms. | in passerine birds, the periodic secretion of melatonin by the pineal organ represents an important component of the pacemaker that controls overt circadian functions. the daily phase of low melatonin secretion generally coincides with the phase of intense activity, but the precise relationship between the melatonin and the behavioral rhythms has not been studied. therefore, we investigated in european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) (1) the temporal relationship between the circadian plasma melato ... | 2000 | 10707318 |
| foraging rate versus sociality in the starling sturnus vulgaris. | it is well established that social conditions often modify foraging behaviour, but the theoretical interpretation of the changes produced is not straightforward. changes may be due to alterations of the foraging currency (the mathematical expression that behaviour maximizes) and/or of the available resources. an example of the latter is when both solitary and social foragers maximize rates of gain over time, but competition alters the behaviour required to achieve this, as assumed by ideal free ... | 2000 | 10687821 |
| female european starling preference and choice for variation in conspecific male song. | data from several field studies support the hypothesis that female european starlings, sturnus vulgaris, attend to variation among the songs of conspecific males when making mate-choice decisions. however, for a variety of methodological reasons, direct evidence for female preferences based on song in starlings has been lacking. this study presents a novel technique for assaying directly female preference and choice in european starlings by using the presentation of conspecific male song as an o ... | 2000 | 10675267 |
| green plants in starling nests: effects on nestlings. | european starlings, sturnus vulgaris, intermingle fresh herbs, especially species rich in volatile compounds, with their otherwise dry nest material. in this field study we investigated whether these herbs reduce ectoparasites and thereby protect nestlings (the nest protection hypothesis). we also considered whether volatile compounds in herbs improve the condition of nestlings (the drug hypothesis). as measures of condition we used body mass, haematocrit levels and immunological parameters. we ... | 2000 | 10675252 |
| effects of chronic dietary cadmium on hepatic glutathione levels and glutathione peroxidase activity in starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | the effects of chronic exposure to dietary cadmium on the levels of hepatic glutathione (gsh) and on the activity of the glutathione peroxidase enzymes (gsh-px) were studied for the first time in starlings (sturnus vulgaris). thirty-three individuals (17 females and 16 males) were divided into three groups: one represented the untreated control and two were respectively fed with diets containing 10 and 50 ppm cadmium chloride (cdcl(2)). the total duration of treatment was 22 weeks. the three gro ... | 2000 | 10667934 |
| retinal asymmetry in birds. | vertebrate sensory systems are generally based on bilaterally symmetrical sense organs. it is evident, nevertheless, that birds preferentially use either their left or right eye for viewing novel or familiar stimuli [1], and perform visual discrimination tasks under monocular viewing conditions better with one eye than with the other [2] [3]. because of the nearly complete contralateral decussation of the optic nerves in birds [4], it has been assumed that this division of labour is due solely t ... | 2000 | 10662673 |
| individual vocal recognition and the effect of partial lesions to hvc on discrimination, learning, and categorization of conspecific song in adult songbirds. | among songbirds, the capacity to associate particular songs with particular singers (i.e., vocal recognition) forms the cognitive basis for more complex communication behaviors such as female choice and territoriality. in the present study, we combine operant conditioning techniques and excitotoxic lesions to the forebrain nucleus hvc to examine the role of this region in the discrimination, associative learning, and categorization of conspecific song. we trained adult male and female european s ... | 2000 | 10623906 |
| lesions to the medial preoptic area affect singing in the male european starling (sturnus vulgaris). | the aromatization of testosterone (t) in the medial preoptic nucleus (pom) is known to regulate male courtship and sexual behaviors expressed prior to, and in anticipation of, copulation. singing in male european starlings is used to attract mates prior to physical sexual contact, suggesting that the pom might be involved. the present study was performed to examine the effects of lesions targeting the pom on singing and courtship behavior in reproductively active male starlings. a significant de ... | 1999 | 10603291 |
| the effect of clutch cooling rate on starling, sturnus vulgaris, incubation strategy. | in avian species where only one parent incubates, that parent must divide its time between the mutually exclusive activities of incubation and foraging in such a way as to maintain both body condition and clutch temperature within certain limits. in a uniparental incubator, the starling, we experimentally reduced the rate at which unattended clutches of eggs cooled down and monitored the resulting changes in the parent's incubation strategy. opposite to the predictions of standard models of time ... | 1999 | 10600136 |
| stimulus learning and response learning by observation in the european starling, in a two-object/two-action test. | juvenile european starlings, sturnus vulgaris, were allowed to observe a conspecific demonstrator using its beak to remove one of two distinctively coloured objects (i.e. a red or a black plug) from a hole in the lid of a plastic box. both plugs could be removed by either pulling up on a loop of string inserted through the centre of the plug, or pushing down on the plug. when subsequently allowed access to the plugs, and rewarded with food for all removal responses, regardless of the object to w ... | 1999 | 10413551 |
| auditory preference for conspecific song in isolation-reared zebra finches. | seven female and six male zebra finches, taeniopygia guttata, were reared in acoustic isolation from song and tested for their preference for conspecific song when 28-53 days old by allowing them to select exposure to zebra finch or european starling, sturnus vulgaris, song. the birds hopped more frequently on a perch that generated zebra finch song than one that produced starling song, and they spent more time listening to zebra finch song. there were no sex differences. the results indicate th ... | 1999 | 10413546 |
| estimating power curves of flying vertebrates. | the power required for flight in any flying animal is a function of flight speed. the power curve that describes this function has become an icon of studies of flight mechanics and physiology because it encapsulates the accessible animal's flight performance. the mechanical or aerodynamic power curve, describing the increase in kinetic energy of the air due to the passage of the bird, is necessarily u-shaped, for aerodynamic reasons, and can be estimated adequately by lifting-line theory. predic ... | 1999 | 10562528 |
| does sex or photoperiodic condition influence zenk induction in response to song in european starlings? | variables such as the photoperiod a bird experiences, or its sex, affect behavioral responses to song. the present experiment investigated whether song-induced expression of the immediate-early gene zenk is also influenced by sex or photoperiod. we examined the expression of the protein product of zenk in wild-caught male and female european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) in different photoperiodic conditions. in the first experiment, adult reproductively active male and female starlings were pres ... | 1999 | 10536263 |
| response patterns and their relationship to frequency analysis in auditory forebrain centers of a songbird. | in the field l complex, the auditory part of the caudal telencephalon, multi-unit recordings were performed in seven awake, adult male starlings (sturnus vulgaris, l). pure tones in a frequency range between 0.5 and 6.0 khz were used as stimuli. the field l complex of starlings consists of at least 11 functionally separated, tonotopically organized subcenters. the auditory processing of frequency information was investigated in eight of these areas. two kinds of response patterns could be distin ... | 1999 | 10511628 |
| predicting starling chick carcass pcb concentrations from pcb concentrations in ingested animal matter. | preremediation studies at crab orchard national wildlife refuge (conwr) revealed statistically significant accumulations of polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs) and effects in starling chicks (sturnus vulgaris) from contaminated sites, including decreased nest attentiveness, decreased fledging success, and an increase in chick mortality. although the expected route of exposure for starling chicks is thought to be via diet, this has not previously been documented at conwr. the purpose of this study w ... | 1999 | 10508904 |
| effects of exogenous 17(&bgr;)-estradiol on the reproductive physiology and reproductive performance of european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) | egg mass shows large intraspecific variation in birds and yet the mechanisms underlying this variation remain unknown. we hypothesized that estradiol would play a central role in determining egg mass, since this hormone stimulates the production of yolk precursors (vitellogenin and very-low density lipoprotein, vldl) by the liver, and of albumen by the oviduct. we gave european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) silastic implants containing estradiol prior to egg formation, which we predicted would in ... | 1999 | 10482726 |
| organ mass dynamics in relation to yolk precursor production and egg formation in european starlings sturnus vulgaris. | egg production in passerines and other birds requires rapid synthesis of proteins and lipids. we hypothesized that these biosynthetic demands would necessitate hypertrophy of the liver, which produces the yolk precursors vitellogenin and very low-density lipoprotein (vldl), and of the metabolic machinery that supports the liver's biosynthetic activity (e.g., heart, kidneys, lungs, and digestive organs). to test this hypothesis, free-living female european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) were collec ... | 2008 | 10438683 |
| heat transfer from starlings sturnus vulgaris during flight | infrared thermography was used to measure heat transfer by radiation and the surface temperature of starlings (sturnus vulgaris) (n=4) flying in a wind tunnel at 6-14 m s-1 and at 15-25 degrees c. heat transfer by forced convection was calculated from bird surface temperature and biophysical modelling of convective heat transfer coefficients. the legs, head and ventral brachial areas (under the wings) were the hottest parts of the bird (mean values 6.8, 6.0 and 5.3 degrees c, respectively, above ... | 1999 | 10333506 |
| intraspecific brood parasitism: a strategy for floating females in the european starling. | in many bird species, there is a floating population of females that are excluded from breeding because of competition for limited breeding resources. female floaters may enhance their reproductive success by engaging in intraspecific brood parasitism. we studied female floaters in a population of european starlings, sturnus vulgaris, in order to determine their identity and potential parasitic behaviour. females were caught after being attracted to nestboxes with artificial nests during 1993-19 ... | 1999 | 10053087 |
| behavioral adjustment to modifications in the temporal parameters of the environment. | we study the dynamics of behavioral transitions when european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) experience stepwise changes in the value of a meaningful time interval. subjects were primed to respond at a certain time t1. after extensive training, the primed time changed to a new value t2. in experiment 1 subjects were reinforced on 40% of the trials and they experienced a single transition which lasted until asymptotic behavior was reached. starlings showed a progressive adjustment to t2, with no ob ... | 1999 | 24897535 |
| effects of dietary quality on basal metabolic rate and internal morphology of european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). | european starlings (sturnus vulgaris) were fed either a low- or high-quality diet to test the effects of dietary quality on basal metabolic rate (bmr) and internal morphology. basal metabolic rate did not differ significantly between the two dietary groups, but internal morphology differed greatly. starlings fed the low-quality diet had heavier gastrointestinal tracts, gizzards, and livers. starlings fed the high-quality diet had heavier breast muscles. starlings on the low-quality diet maintain ... | 2003 | 10068622 |
| time course of simultaneous masking in the starling's auditory forebrain. | simultaneous masking of pure tones was studied in the primary auditory forebrain of a songbird species, the european starling (sturnus vulgaris). the responses of 32 multi-unit clusters in the input layer of the auditory neostriatum (field l2a) were recorded via radiotelemetry from freely moving birds. the probe was a 10-ms tone burst at the units' characteristic-frequency (cf) presented 20 db above the threshold. the masker was an 80-ms tone burst presented either at the units' cf (excitatory m ... | 1999 | 9989437 |
| adjustable frequency selectivity of auditory forebrain neurons recorded in a freely moving songbird via radiotelemetry. | one of the hearing system's basic properties that determines the detection of signals is its frequency selectivity. in the natural environment, a songbird may achieve an improved detection ability if the neuronal filters of its auditory system could be sharpened to adapt to the spectrum of the background noise. to address this issue, we studied 35 multi-unit clusters in the input layer of the primary auditory forebrain of nine european starlings (sturnus vulgaris). microelectrodes were chronical ... | 1999 | 9925015 |
| perceptual mechanisms for individual vocal recognition in european starlings, sturnus vulgaris. | the capacity for vocal recognition of individual conspecifics is well documented in many species, but the perceptual mechanisms that underlie this ability in oscines are less well understood. using operant conditioning, we trained three groups of european starlings on a baseline task to discriminate the songs of one male starling from those of four others. each subject heard songs from the same five singers, but the to-be-recognized individual varied among birds. we grouped the subjects accordin ... | 1998 | 9784206 |
| melatonin, immunity and cost of reproductive state in male european starlings. | the effects of reproductive condition and exogenous melatonin on immune function were investigated in castrated european starlings, sturnus vulgaris. photorefractory and photostimulated starlings exposed to long days were implanted with melatonin or with blank capsules. photostimulated starlings with blank capsules exhibited reduced splenocyte proliferation in response to the t-cell mitogen, concanavalin a, compared with the other long-day birds. exogenous melatonin prevented the suppression of ... | 1998 | 9699312 |
| auditory scene analysis by european starlings (sturnus vulgaris): perceptual segregation of tone sequences. | like humans, animals that use acoustic stimuli to perceive their world ought to be able to parse the auditory scene into functionally significant sounds. the ability to do so ought to have significant adaptive value when, for example, an animal can identify the sounds of a predator among other natural noises. in earlier work it was shown that a species of songbird, the european starling, can identify excerpts of both its own song and songs from other avian species when the songs are mixed concur ... | 1998 | 9637040 |