DOCSLIB.ORG

Reconstructing the Geographic Origin of the New World Jays

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Reconstructing the Geographic Origin of the New World Jays Neotropical Biodiversity ISSN: (Print) 2376-6808 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tneo20 Reconstructing the geographic origin of the New World jays Sumudu W. Fernando, A. Townsend Peterson & Shou-Hsien Li To cite this article: Sumudu W. Fernando, A. Townsend Peterson & Shou-Hsien Li (2017) Reconstructing the geographic origin of the New World jays, Neotropical Biodiversity, 3:1, 80-92, DOI: 10.1080/23766808.2017.1296751 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23766808.2017.1296751 © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 05 Mar 2017. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 956 View Crossmark data Citing articles: 2 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=tneo20 Neotropical Biodiversity, 2017 Vol. 3, No. 1, 80–92, https://doi.org/10.1080/23766808.2017.1296751 Reconstructing the geographic origin of the New World jays Sumudu W. Fernandoa* , A. Townsend Petersona and Shou-Hsien Lib aBiodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA; bDepartment of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan (Received 23 August 2016; accepted 15 February 2017) We conducted a biogeographic analysis based on a dense phylogenetic hypothesis for the early branches of corvids, to assess geographic origin of the New World jay (NWJ) clade. We produced a multilocus phylogeny from sequences of three nuclear introns and three mitochondrial genes and included at least one species from each NWJ genus and 29 species representing the rest of the five corvid subfamilies in the analysis. We used the S-DIVA, S-DEC, and BBM analyses implemented in RASP to create biogeographic reconstructions, and BEAST to estimate timing of NWJ diversification. Biogeographic reconstructions indicated that NWJs originated from an ancestor in the Eastern Palearctic or Eastern + Western Palearctic, diversified in Mesoamerica and spread subsequently to North and South America; the group has been diversifying in the New World since the late Miocene. Keywords: New World jays; Corvidae; biogeographic origin; divergence times Introduction of Bonaccorso and Peterson [14], who offered support The New World jays (NWJs) are a monophyletic group for a hypothesis that the NWJ ancestor was in of corvids [1,2], presently considered to comprise seven Mesoamerica or North America + Mesoamerica and radi- genera (Aphelocoma, Calocitta, Cyanocitta, Cyanocorax, ated into North and South America independently. The Cyanolyca, Gymnorhinus and Psilorhinus); the ~36 spe- origins of this diverse clade are of considerable interest cies [3,4] represent the product of a radiation across in light of questions about the biogeography of Asian much of the Americas [1]. The group has long been a and American tropical groups [15], morphological focus of research in behavioral ecology, in light of com- innovation [2] and the evolutionary origins of social plex behavioral repertoires, particularly as regards social behavior [2]. behavior [5–7]. Several previous studies have examined the evolu- The origins of corvids can be traced to Australia, tionary history, phylogeny and biogeography of the from where the ancestor of the family dispersed to Asia, NWJs, but invariably based on sparse representation of followed by radiations in Asia, Europe and elsewhere NWJ genera and limited outgroup sampling. De los fi [8]. Ericson and colleagues [9–11] provided evidence Monteros and Cracraft [1] proposed a rst hypothesis of that the origin of the oscine passerines, to which the intergeneric relationships in the group based on cyto- Corvidae belongs, dates to the split of the Australo- chrome b sequences. Ericson et al. [11] added markers Papuan tectonic plate from Antarctica in the early but included only single species per genus. Saunders and Tertiary, ~53M years ago. Thus, the replacement of the Edwards [16] examined mitochondrial DNA control early Tertiary rainforests in Australia by drier vegetation region (CR) variation among representatives of all NWJ may have placed presumably forest-adapted early corvids genera. Finally, Bonaccorso and Peterson [14] derived a in more open habitats, resulting in a new radiation that multilocus phylogeny with much-improved NWJ species led to the present global distribution of the family. How- representation and included a historical biogeographic ever, a recent study [12] estimated the age of the family analysis that concluded that NWJ origins were in at ~20M years. Colonization of the New World by Mesoamerica or Mesoamerica + North America. corvids occurred more recently, apparently via a trans- These previous studies, however, did not provide fi Beringian route [8]. The ancestor of NWJs, thought to suf cient detail in terms of representation of taxa of be jay-like lineages related to Cissa and Urocissa, NWJs and other corvids to permit thorough understand- reached North America 10−8M years ago, in the Mio- ing the geographic origin of NWJs or to identify their fi cene [13]. Once in the Americas, a rapid radiation in closest corvid relatives. The key de ciency has been in South America by the early Pliocene, was apparently fol- terms of representation of taxa from the deepest branches lowed by a secondary radiation in North America [1]. of the corvid phylogeny; thus, we here derive a denser This hypothesis was not supported by the later analyses phylogenetic hypothesis by deriving DNA sequences for *Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Published online 05 Mar 2017 Neotropical Biodiversity 81 these early lineages, placing several species of treepies, Phylogenetic analysis blue magpies and green magpies in a molecular phy- Single-gene matrices were concatenated using Geneious fi logeny for the rst time, to permit more robust biogeo- 8.1.6 to produce an overall mitochondrial data set, a graphic analyses. In light of this new data set, we nuclear intron data set and a total combined matrix. Phy- discuss geographic origins of NWJs and offer a new logenies were estimated with Bayesian analysis (BA) hypothesis. and maximum-likelihood (ML) inference methods. GARLI v2.01 [44] was used for the maximum-likelihood Methods analysis. We performed 100 independent analyses and Taxon and gene sampling chose the tree with the best likelihood score. Nodal support values for topologies were evaluated via 500 Taxon sampling included at least one species from each nonparametric bootstrap replicates [45]. The 50% NWJ genus, 29 species representing the rest of the five majority-rule consensus tree was acquired in PAUP* 4.0 corvid subfamilies and Lanius as a definitive outgroup [46]; 70% bootstrap support was considered as indicative (see Appendix 1 for a summary). Frozen tissue samples of solid nodal support [47,48]. (muscle tissue) were obtained from the American Bayesian phylogenetic estimates were obtained in Museum of Natural History, Louisiana State University MrBayes 3.2.2 [49–51]. Two independent Markov chain Museum of Natural Science, National Taiwan Normal Monte Carlo (MCMC) runs of 2 Â 107 generations using University and the University of Kansas Natural History four chains (temp = 0.1) per run were conducted. We Museum. We also added DNA sequences from GenBank sampled trees every 2000 generations and discarded the from previous studies [1,11,14,17–34] that overlapped first 25% of the trees as burn-in. We used TRACER 1.6 our sequenced gene regions. [52] to assess convergence of parameter estimates and DNA sequences were obtained for three mitochon- posterior probabilities. The remaining trees were summa- drial genes (cytochrome b, or Cytb; nicotinamide adenine rized to obtain a 50% majority-rule consensus tree. dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 2, or ND2; and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase subunit 3, or ND3), and three nuclear introns (the seventh intron Ancestral area reconstructions of the beta-fibrinogen gene, or βfib7; the second intron We employed S-DIVA (Statistical Dispersal-Vicariance of the myoglobin gene, or Myo2; and the fifth intron of Analysis), ‘Bayes−Lagrange’ or Statistical Dispersal- the transforming growth factor β2, or TGFβ2). Genes Extinction-Cladogenesis (S-DEC [53,54]), and Bayesian were amplified using the following primers: Cytb, Binary Method (BBM) analysis implemented in RASP L14851 [35] and L428 and H494 [36]; ND2, L5215 and 3.2 [55,56] to reconstruct ancestral areas of corvid lin- H6313 [37]; ND3, L10755 and H11151 [38]; βfib7, FIB- eages. DIVA is an event-based method in which vicari- B17U and FIB-B17L [39]; Myo2, Myo2 [40] and Myo3f ance is assumed and includes potential contributions for [41]; and TGFβ2, TGF5 and TGF6 [35]. dispersal and extinction by assigning a cost [57]. S-DIVA is an expansion of Bayes-DIVA implemented by DNA extraction, PCR amplification, sequencing, Nylander et al. [58] that incorporates the entire posterior alignment and model selection distribution of tree topologies, thus accounting for both phylogenetic and ancestral state uncertainty [55,56]. DNA was extracted from frozen tissues
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Orden Passeriformes, Familias Malaconotidae a Passeridae)
    Ardeol a 57(1), 2010, 199-205 Artículos especiales NOMBRES EN CASTELLANO DE LAS AVES DEL MUNDO RECOMENDADOS POR LA SOCIEDAD ESPAÑOLA DE ORNITOLOGÍA (DECIMOCUARTA PARTE: ORDEN PASSERIFORMES, FAMILIAS MALACONOTIDAE A PASSERIDAE) Eduardo DE JUANA *, Josep DEL HOYO , Manuel FERNÁNDEZ -C RUZ , Xavier FERRER , Ramón SÁEZ -R OYUELA y Jordi SARGATAL INTRODUCCIÓN 110, 51(2): 491-499, 52(2): 389-398, 54(1): 145-153, 56(1): 127-134 y 56(1): 135-142. Esta es la decimocuarta entrega de los nom - En relación a las especies de la avifauna es - bres para las aves del mundo en castellano que pañola, cuando los nombres no coinciden con propone la Sociedad Española de Ornitología los de la Lista Patrón de la Sociedad Españo - (SEO/BirdLife). Tiene su base en el volumen la de Ornitología ( Ardeola , 1: 11-85), en un 14 del Handbook of the Birds of the World apartado final se explican de forma sucinta (Lynx Edicions, Barcelona) , con las siguien - las razones que provocan tales cambios. Son tes 17 familias del orden Passeriformes: Ma - seis especies de córvidos: Garrulus glanda - laconotidae, Prionopidae, Vangidae, Dicruri - rius , Cyanopica cooki , Pica pica , Nucifraga dae, Callaeidae, Notiomystidae, Grallinidae, caryocatactes , Corvus monedul a y Corvus Struthideidae , Artamidae, Cracticidae, Pity - corax . riaseidae, Ptilonorhynchidae, Paradiseidae, Corvidae, Buphagidae, Sturnidae y Passeri - dae. Estas familias agrupan un total de 468 LISTA SISTEMÁTICA DE LOS NOMBRES PROPUESTOS , especies . Como es habitual, la lista sigue en POR FAMILIAS todos sus detalles la clasificación y nomen - clatura científica del mencionado Handbook 176. MALACONOTIDAE (48 especies) of the Birds of the World .
    [Show full text]
  • Printable PDF Format
    Field Guides Tour Report Taiwan 2020 Feb 1, 2020 to Feb 12, 2020 Phil Gregory & local guide Arco Huang For our tour description, itinerary, past triplists, dates, fees, and more, please VISIT OUR TOUR PAGE. This gorgeous male Swinhoe's Pheasant was one of the birds of the trip! We found a pair of these lovely endemic pheasants at Dasyueshan. Photo by guide Phil Gregory. This was a first run for the newly reactivated Taiwan tour (which we last ran in 2006), with a new local organizer who proved very good and enthusiastic, and knew the best local sites to visit. The weather was remarkably kind to us and we had no significant daytime rain, somewhat to my surprise, whilst temperatures were pretty reasonable even in the mountains- though it was cold at night at Dasyueshan where the unheated hotel was a bit of a shock, but in a great birding spot, so overall it was bearable. Fog on the heights of Hohuanshan was a shame but at least the mid and lower levels stayed clear. Otherwise the lowland sites were all good despite it being very windy at Hengchun in the far south. Arco and I decided to use a varied assortment of local eating places with primarily local menus, and much to my amazement I found myself enjoying noodle dishes. The food was a highlight in fact, as it was varied, often delicious and best of all served quickly whilst being both hot and fresh. A nice adjunct to the trip, and avoided losing lots of time with elaborate meals.
    [Show full text]
  • Cyanocitta Stelleri)
    MOBBING BEHAVIOR IN WILD STELLER’S JAYS (CYANOCITTA STELLERI) By Kelly Anne Commons A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Humboldt State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Natural Resources: Wildlife Committee Membership Dr. Jeffrey M. Black, Committee Chair Dr. Barbara Clucas, Committee Member Dr. Micaela Szykman Gunther, Committee Member Dr. Alison O’Dowd, Graduate Coordinator December 2017 ABSTRACT MOBBING BEHAVIOR IN WILD STELLER’S JAYS (CYANOCITTA STELLERI) Kelly Anne Commons Mobbing is a widespread anti-predator behavior with multifaceted functions. Mobbing behavior has been found to differ with respect to many individual, group, and encounter level factors. To better understand the factors that influence mobbing behavior in wild Steller’s jays (Cyanocitta stelleri), I induced mobbing behavior using 3 predator mounts: a great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), common raven (Corvus corax), and sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter cooperii). I observed 90 responses to mock predators by 33 color-marked individuals and found that jays varied in their attendance at mobbing trials, their alarm calling behavior, and in their close approaches toward the predator mounts. In general, younger, larger jays, that had low prior site use and did not own the territory they were on, attended mobbing trials for less time and participated in mobbing less often, but closely approached the predator more often and for more time than older, smaller jays, that had high prior site use and owned the territory they were on. By understanding the factors that affect variation in Steller’s jay mobbing behavior, we can begin to study how this variation might relate to the function of mobbing in this species.
    [Show full text]
  • Thailand Highlights 14Th to 26Th November 2019 (13 Days)
    Thailand Highlights 14th to 26th November 2019 (13 days) Trip Report Siamese Fireback by Forrest Rowland Trip report compiled by Tour Leader: Forrest Rowland Trip Report – RBL Thailand - Highlights 2019 2 Tour Summary Thailand has been known as a top tourist destination for quite some time. Foreigners and Ex-pats flock there for the beautiful scenery, great infrastructure, and delicious cuisine among other cultural aspects. For birders, it has recently caught up to big names like Borneo and Malaysia, in terms of respect for the avian delights it holds for visitors. Our twelve-day Highlights Tour to Thailand set out to sample a bit of the best of every major habitat type in the country, with a slight focus on the lush montane forests that hold most of the country’s specialty bird species. The tour began in Bangkok, a bustling metropolis of winding narrow roads, flyovers, towering apartment buildings, and seemingly endless people. Despite the density and throng of humanity, many of the participants on the tour were able to enjoy a Crested Goshawk flight by Forrest Rowland lovely day’s visit to the Grand Palace and historic center of Bangkok, including a fun boat ride passing by several temples. A few early arrivals also had time to bird some of the urban park settings, even picking up a species or two we did not see on the Main Tour. For most, the tour began in earnest on November 15th, with our day tour of the salt pans, mudflats, wetlands, and mangroves of the famed Pak Thale Shore bird Project, and Laem Phak Bia mangroves.
    [Show full text]
  • Walker Marzluff 2017 Recreation Changes Lanscape Use of Corvids
    Recreation changes the use of a wild landscape by corvids Author(s): Lauren E. Walker and John M. Marzluff Source: The Condor, 117(2):262-283. Published By: Cooper Ornithological Society https://doi.org/10.1650/CONDOR-14-169.1 URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1650/CONDOR-14-169.1 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/terms_of_use. Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. Volume 117, 2015, pp. 262–283 DOI: 10.1650/CONDOR-14-169.1 RESEARCH ARTICLE Recreation changes the use of a wild landscape by corvids Lauren E. Walker* and John M. Marzluff College of the Environment, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA * Corresponding author: [email protected] Submitted October 24, 2014; Accepted February 13, 2015; Published May 6, 2015 ABSTRACT As urban areas have grown in population, use of nearby natural areas for outdoor recreation has also increased, potentially influencing bird distribution in landscapes managed for conservation.
    [Show full text]
  • Records of Four Critically Endangered Songbirds in the Markets of Java Suggest Domestic Trade Is a Major Impediment to Their Conservation
    20 BirdingASIA 27 (2017): 20–25 CONSERVATION ALERT Records of four Critically Endangered songbirds in the markets of Java suggest domestic trade is a major impediment to their conservation VINCENT NIJMAN, SUCI LISTINA SARI, PENTHAI SIRIWAT, MARIE SIGAUD & K. ANNEISOLA NEKARIS Introduction 1.2 million wild-caught birds (the vast majority Bird-keeping is a popular pastime in Indonesia, and of them songbirds) were sold in the Java and Bali nowhere more so than amongst the people of Java. markets each year. Taking a different approach, It has deep cultural roots, and traditionally a kukilo Jepson & Ladle (2005) made use of a survey of (bird in the Javanese language) was one of the five randomly selected households in the Javan cities things a Javanese man should pursue or obtain in of Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya, order to live a fulfilling life (the others being garwo, and Medan in Sumatra, which together make up a wife, curigo, a Javanese dagger, wismo, a house or a quarter of the urban Indonesian population, to a place to live, and turonggo, a horse, as a means estimate that between 600,000 and 760,000 wild- of transportation). A kukilo represents having a caught native songbirds were acquired each year. hobby, and it often takes the form of owning a Extrapolating this to the urban population of Java, perkutut (Zebra Dove Geopelia striata) or a kutilang which amounts to 60% of Indonesia’s total, it (Sooty-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus aurigaster) but suggests that a total of 1.4–1.8 million wild-caught also a wide range of other birds (Nash 1993, Chng native songbirds were acquired.
    [Show full text]
  • A Fossil Scrub-Jay Supports a Recent Systematic Decision
    THE CONDOR A JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY Volume 98 Number 4 November 1996 .L The Condor 98~575-680 * +A. 0 The Cooper Omithological Society 1996 g ’ b.1 ;,. ’ ’ “I\), / *rs‘ A FOSSIL SCRUB-JAY SUPPORTS A”kECENT ’ js.< SYSTEMATIC DECISION’ . :. ” , ., f .. STEVEN D. EMSLIE : +, “, ., ! ’ Department of Sciences,Western State College,Gunnison, CO 81231, ._ e-mail: [email protected] Abstract. Nine fossil premaxillae and mandibles of the Florida Scrub-Jay(Aphelocoma coerulescens)are reported from a late Pliocene sinkhole deposit at Inglis 1A, Citrus County, Florida. Vertebrate biochronologyplaces the site within the latestPliocene (2.0 to 1.6 million yearsago, Ma) and more specificallyat 2.0 l-l .87 Ma. The fossilsare similar in morphology to living Florida Scrub-Jaysin showing a relatively shorter and broader bill compared to western species,a presumed derived characterfor the Florida species.The recent elevation of the Florida Scrub-Jayto speciesrank is supported by these fossils by documenting the antiquity of the speciesand its distinct bill morphology in Florida. Key words: Florida; Scrub-Jay;fossil; late Pliocene. INTRODUCTION represent the earliest fossil occurrenceof the ge- nus Aphelocomaand provide additional support Recently, the Florida Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma for the recognition ofA. coerulescensas a distinct, coerulescens) has been elevated to speciesrank endemic specieswith a long fossil history in Flor- with the Island Scrub-Jay(A. insularis) from Santa ida. This record also supports the hypothesis of Cruz Island, California, and the Western Scrub- Pitelka (195 1) that living speciesof Aphefocoma Jay (A. californica) in the western U. S. and Mex- arose in the Pliocene. ico (AOU 1995).
    [Show full text]
  • The Relationships of the Starlings (Sturnidae: Sturnini) and the Mockingbirds (Sturnidae: Mimini)
    THE RELATIONSHIPS OF THE STARLINGS (STURNIDAE: STURNINI) AND THE MOCKINGBIRDS (STURNIDAE: MIMINI) CHARLESG. SIBLEYAND JON E. AHLQUIST Departmentof Biologyand PeabodyMuseum of Natural History,Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511 USA ABSTRACT.--OldWorld starlingshave been thought to be related to crowsand their allies, to weaverbirds, or to New World troupials. New World mockingbirdsand thrashershave usually been placed near the thrushesand/or wrens. DNA-DNA hybridization data indi- cated that starlingsand mockingbirdsare more closelyrelated to each other than either is to any other living taxon. Some avian systematistsdoubted this conclusion.Therefore, a more extensiveDNA hybridizationstudy was conducted,and a successfulsearch was made for other evidence of the relationshipbetween starlingsand mockingbirds.The resultssup- port our original conclusionthat the two groupsdiverged from a commonancestor in the late Oligoceneor early Miocene, about 23-28 million yearsago, and that their relationship may be expressedin our passerineclassification, based on DNA comparisons,by placing them as sistertribes in the Family Sturnidae,Superfamily Turdoidea, Parvorder Muscicapae, Suborder Passeres.Their next nearest relatives are the members of the Turdidae, including the typical thrushes,erithacine chats,and muscicapineflycatchers. Received 15 March 1983, acceptedI November1983. STARLINGS are confined to the Old World, dine thrushesinclude Turdus,Catharus, Hylocich- mockingbirdsand thrashersto the New World. la, Zootheraand Myadestes.d) Cinclusis
    [Show full text]
  • Azure-Winged Magpie Onaga (Jpn) Cyanopica Cyana
    Bird Research News Vol.6 No.6 2009.6.24. Azure-winged Magpie Onaga (Jpn) Cyanopica cyana Morphology and classification Flock: Azure-winged Magpies live in a flock in the breeding and non- Classification: Passeriformes Corvidae breeding seasons, holding their flock territory throughout the year (Hosono 1989). In breeding period they roost in a flock except for Total length: 366.8mm (319-390) Wing length: 130.7mm (122-141) females incubating eggs and nestlings. In Nagano Pref., for instance, Tail length: 214.8mm (192-240) Culmen length: 25.7mm (24-30) the mean flock and home range sizes were 23 birds (9-45) and 21.8 ha Tarsus length: 33.3mm (32-35) Weight: 83.4g (69-96) (11-48), respectively in Kawanakajima (Hosono 1968), 28.7 birds and 135.1ha (103-243) in Ina, and 16.7 birds and 287.6 ha (130-376) in Measurements by Kuzu (1942). Nobeyama (Imanishi 2003). In Saitama Pref., on the other hand, they Appearance: were 24 birds (17-31, n = 16) and 13.4ha (6.2-24.8, n = 11) respec- Azure-winged Magpies are similar in tively in Tokorozawa, where Azure-winged Magpies are assumed to plumage coloration in males and fe- occur in the highest density. They also roost in a flock, but more than one flock occasionally roosted together in the same site. They use as a males. Males are slightly larger than roost site a dense thicket of bamboo, a coniferous wood and a broad- females in body size. They are gray on leaved deciduous wood. A coniferous wood and a thicket of bamboo the upperpart and white or light gray were used with higher frequency in winter, but a broad-leaved decidu- on the underpart (Photo 1).
    [Show full text]
  • Cooperative Breeding in Azure-Winged Magpies, Cyanopica Cyana, Living in a Region of Heavy Snowfall ’
    The Condor89:835-841 0 The CooperOrnithological Society 1987 COOPERATIVE BREEDING IN AZURE-WINGED MAGPIES, CYANOPICA CYANA, LIVING IN A REGION OF HEAVY SNOWFALL ’ SHIGEMOTO KOMEDA,~ SATOSHI YAMAGISHI,~ AND MASAHIRO FUJIOKA Department of Biology, Faculty of Science,Osaka City University,Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558, Japan Abstract. The frequencyof occurrenceof helpers, their age and sex, and certain behavior at nests were investigated in Azure-winged Magpies, Cyanopica cyana, living in central Japan, a region of heavy snowfall. One group of 16 birds was a summer visitor and the other two groupsof about 20 birds were resident. Out of 14 nestswe observed in 1983, six had one to two helpers, one had no helper, and at the other seven we could not confirm whether helpers attended or not. Therefore, 43% to 93% of nests had helpers. One helper was known to attend at least four nests, and seven of 14 marked individuals (50%) acted as helpers.These resultsmean that cooperativebreeding occurs regularly in this population. Key words: Cooperativebreeding; helper; Corvidae;group living;feeding; plural nester: Cyanopica cyana. INTRODUCTION amples of regular cooperative breeders in cool- Cooperative breeding, which involves care of temperate zones are the Long-tailed Tit, Aegi- young by individuals other than parents, has been thalos caudatus (Nakamura 1972, 1975; Gaston reported in a few hundred avian speciesin a wide 1973), Pinyon Jay, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus variety of taxonomic groups. Most cooperative (Balda and Balda 1978), Gray-breasted Jay, breedersoccur in tropical or subtropical regions Aphelocoma ultramarina (Brown 1970, 1972) or in temperate zones with equable climate and Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivo- , (Grimes 1976, Rowley 1976, Woolfenden 1976, rus (Stacey 1979, Koenig 198 1, Koenig et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Magnificent Magpie Colours by Feathers with Layers of Hollow Melanosomes Doekele G
    © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | Journal of Experimental Biology (2018) 221, jeb174656. doi:10.1242/jeb.174656 RESEARCH ARTICLE Magnificent magpie colours by feathers with layers of hollow melanosomes Doekele G. Stavenga1,*, Hein L. Leertouwer1 and Bodo D. Wilts2 ABSTRACT absorption coefficient throughout the visible wavelength range, The blue secondary and purple-to-green tail feathers of magpies are resulting in a higher refractive index (RI) than that of the structurally coloured owing to stacks of hollow, air-containing surrounding keratin. By arranging melanosomes in the feather melanosomes embedded in the keratin matrix of the barbules. barbules in more or less regular patterns with nanosized dimensions, We investigated the spectral and spatial reflection characteristics of vivid iridescent colours are created due to constructive interference the feathers by applying (micro)spectrophotometry and imaging in a restricted wavelength range (Durrer, 1977; Prum, 2006). scatterometry. To interpret the spectral data, we performed optical The melanosomes come in many different shapes and forms, and modelling, applying the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method their spatial arrangement is similarly diverse (Prum, 2006). This has as well as an effective media approach, treating the melanosome been shown in impressive detail by Durrer (1977), who performed stacks as multi-layers with effective refractive indices dependent on extensive transmission electron microscopy of the feather barbules the component media. The differently coloured magpie feathers are of numerous bird species. He interpreted the observed structural realised by adjusting the melanosome size, with the diameter of the colours to be created by regularly ordered melanosome stacks acting melanosomes as well as their hollowness being the most sensitive as optical multi-layers.
    [Show full text]
  • Costa Rica: the Introtour | July 2017
    Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica: The Introtour | July 2017 A Tropical Birding SET DEPARTURE tour Costa Rica: The Introtour July 15 – 25, 2017 Tour Leader: Scott Olmstead INTRODUCTION This year’s July departure of the Costa Rica Introtour had great luck with many of the most spectacular, emblematic birds of Central America like Resplendent Quetzal (photo right), Three-wattled Bellbird, Great Green and Scarlet Macaws, and Keel-billed Toucan, as well as some excellent rarities like Black Hawk- Eagle, Ochraceous Pewee and Azure-hooded Jay. We enjoyed great weather for birding, with almost no morning rain throughout the trip, and just a few delightful afternoon and evening showers. Comfortable accommodations, iconic landscapes, abundant, delicious meals, and our charismatic driver Luís enhanced our time in the field. Our group, made up of a mix of first- timers to the tropics and more seasoned tropical birders, got along wonderfully, with some spying their first-ever toucans, motmots, puffbirds, etc. on this trip, and others ticking off regional endemics and hard-to-get species. We were fortunate to have several high-quality mammal sightings, including three monkey species, Derby’s Wooly Opossum, Northern Tamandua, and Tayra. Then there were many www.tropicalbirding.com +1-409-515-9110 [email protected] Page Tropical Birding Trip Report Costa Rica: The Introtour | July 2017 superb reptiles and amphibians, among them Emerald Basilisk, Helmeted Iguana, Green-and- black and Strawberry Poison Frogs, and Red-eyed Leaf Frog. And on a daily basis we saw many other fantastic and odd tropical treasures like glorious Blue Morpho butterflies, enormous tree ferns, and giant stick insects! TOP FIVE BIRDS OF THE TOUR (as voted by the group) 1.
    [Show full text]