Whether or not a bird species will establish a new population after invasion of uncolonized habitat depends, from theory, on its life-history attributes and initial population size. Data about initial population sizes are often unobtainable for natural and deliberate avian invasions. In New Zealand, however, contemporary documentation of introduction efforts allowed us to systematically compare unsuccessful and successful invaders without bias. We obtained data for 79 species involved in 496 introduction events and used the present-day status of each species as the dependent variable in fitting multiple logistic regression models. We found that introduction efforts for species that migrated within their endemic ranges were significantly less likely to be successful than those for nonmigratory species with similar introduction efforts. Initial population size, measured as number of releases and as the minimum number of propagules liberated in New Zealand, significantly increased the probability of transloc...

Correlates of introduction success in exotic new zealand birds

This paper presents a list, compiled from the literature, of bird species in which intraspecific nest parasitism (INP) occurs. INP was reported in 234 species: one Struthioniformes, two Tinamiformes, two Procellariiformes, six Podicipediiformes, five Ciconiiformes, one Phoenicopteriformes, 74 Anseriformes, one Falconiformes, 32 Galliformes, eight Gruiformes, 19 Charadriiformes, nine Columbiformes, five Cuculiformes, two Apodiformes, one Coraciiformes and 66 Passeriformes. Hence, INP is very common among precocial species, and less so among altricials. Irrespective of this, most INP birds are colonial.

An updated list and some comments on the occurrence of intraspecific nest parasitism in birds

We wish to dedicate this paper to the memory of Professor A. J. Marshall whose untimely death occurred while it was in press. Professor Marshall was formerly the head of the Department of Zoology, St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, London, and subsequently held the Foundation Chair of Zoology and Comparative Physiology, Monash University, Australia. Probably the most valuable of his many contributions to the field of avian physiology was his ability to relate laboratory experimentation to the natural environment. Much of the thought contained in the present paper has been stimulated by his approach and pioneer studies.

Photoperiodic and physiological adaptations regulating avian breeding cycles and their ecological significance

Conspecific nest parasitism is much more common in birds that have self-feeding young than in those with parentally fed young. We review evidence for this pattern and suggest that it is produced by...

The distribution of conspecific nest parasitism in birds

There is a general concensus of opinion that onset of breeding in birds occurs when trophic resources are favorable for production and survival of young (e.g., Lack 1968, Perrins 1970). The environmental factors that provide proximate cues for development of reproductive function and timing of the onset of breeding have received considerable attention over the past 50 years (e.g., Farner and Gwinner 1980, Farner 1985, Wingfield 1980, 1983). However, the hormonal mechanisms underlying development of the gonads and associated structures, onset of breeding, transitions from sexual to parental behavior, and repetition of this temporal pattern in multiple broods have, of necessity, assumed ideal environmental conditions. Such an approach is crucial if experimental paradigms are to be controlled adequately and the mechanisms investigated. Nevertheless, free-living birds rarely experience “ ideal” conditions for prolonged periods and are exposed to a variety of unfavorable environmental factors that have profound influences on reproductive success. Thus one can pose a question, “what happens when something goes awry?”. For example, predators may consume the eggs or young, or storms may reduce food resources (Whitmore et al. 1977, Ojanen 1979, Pullamen 1977, Tompa 1971).

J. F. Monk

Papers

The Breeding Biology of the Greenfinch