Clutch size and egg repeatability in three elusive bird species: Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus), Little Crake (Zapornia parva) and Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus) from north-west Romanian populations

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24193/subbbiol.2018.1.07

Keywords:

breadth, egg volume, laying period, length.

Abstract

Data were collected from Little Bittern, Water Rail and Little Crake nests located in North-Western Romania, between April and July of 2002 - 2006 and 2010 - 2012. The repeatability was calculated as intra-class correlation of length, breadth and egg volume coefficients. The total number of active nests considered for the present study was as follows: 43 for Little Bittern, 25 for Water Rail and 9 for Little Crake. The clutch size in Little Bittern ranged from 4 to 7 eggs, in Water Rail from 4 to 10 and in Little Crake from 4 to 8 eggs. The repeatability values of egg parameters varied between 0.844 to 0.860 in Little Bittern, 0.262 - 0.374 in Water Rail and 0.310 - 0.574 in Little Crake. Short-term environmental impact was strong in case of Water Rail and Little Cracke, while the genetic component had little influence. For these two species, the low repeatability could be explained by larger numbers of eggs in a clutch, reflecting in turn a longer laying period.

Author Biographies

Alin DAVID, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: alin.david@ubbcluj.ro

Babeş-Bolyai University, Department of Taxonomy and Ecology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: alin.david@ubbcluj.ro

Alexandru Nicolae STERMIN, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. E-mail: alexandru.stermin@ubbcluj.ro sandu.stermin@yahoo.com

Babeş-Bolyai University, Department of Taxonomy and Ecology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. E-mail: alexandru.stermin@ubbcluj.ro sandu.stermin@yahoo.com

Eliana SEVIANU, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: eliana.sevianu@ubbcluj.ro

Babeș-Bolyai University, Department of Environmental Science, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Email: eliana.sevianu@ubbcluj.ro

References

Arnold, T. W., Alisauskasand, R. T., Ankney, C. D. (1991) Egg composition of American coots in relation to habitat, year, laying date, clutch size, and supplemental feeding. Auk 108: 532-547

Bańbura, J., Zieliński, P. (1998) An analysis of egg-size repeatability in Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica. Ardeola 45: 183-192

Benassi, G., Battisti, C., Luiselli, L., Boitani, L. (2009) Areasensitivity of three reed bed bird species breeding in Mediterranean marshland fragments, Wetlands Ecol Manage 17: 555-564

Bibby, C. J., Burgess, N. D., Mustoe, S. H. (2000) Bird census techniques, London: Academic Press

Boag, P. T., van Noordwijk, A. J. (1987) Quantitative genetics. In: Buckley, P. A., Cooke, F. (ed.) Avian genetics, Academic Press, London, pp. 45-78

Bolton, M., Monaghan, P., Houston, D. C. (1993) Proximate determination of clutch size in lesser black-backed gulls: the roles of food supply and body condition, Canadian Journal of Zoology 71: 273-279

Christians, J. K. (2002) Avian egg size: variation within species and inflexibility within individuals, Biological Reviews 77: 1-26

Ciach, M. (2011) Habitat-related differences in egg size in the Spur-Winged Lapwing Vanellus spinosus. Ardeola 58: 335-341

David, A. (2008) Ecologia populaţiilor de păsări din Câmpia Fizeşului. Presa Universitară Clujeană, Cluj-Napoca [in Romanian]

Dombrowski, R. R. (1912) Ornis Romaniae: die Vogelwelt Rumänien's systematisch und biologisch-geographisch beschrieben, Staatsdruckerei, Bukarest [in German]

Dyrcz, A., Zdunek, W. (1996) Potential food resources and nestling food in the Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus and Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus at Milicz fish-ponds, Ptaki Śląska 11: 123-132

Falcone, D. S. (1989) Introduction to Quantitative Genetics, John Wiley and Sons, New York

Figuerola, J., Green, A. (2005) A comparative study of egg mass and clutch size in the Anseriformes. J Ornithol. DOI 10.1007/s10336-005-0017-5

Fint, P. L., Grand, J. B. (1996) Variation in egg size of the Northern Pintail, Condor 98: 162-165

Flegg, J. J. M., Glue, D. E. (1973) A Water Rail study, Bird Study 20: 69-80

Flint, P. L., Grand, J. B. (1999) Patterns of variation in size and composition of Greater Scaup eggs: are they related? Wilson Bulletin 111: 465-471

Flint, P. L., Rockwell, R. F., Sedinger, J. S. (2001) Estimating repeatability of egg size, Auk 118: 500-503

Hendricks, P. (1991) Repeatability of size and shape of American Pipit eggs, Can. J. Zool. 69: 2624-2628

Hoyt, D. E. (1979) Practical methods for estimating volume and fresh weight of birds eggs, Auk 96: 73-77

Jager, T. D., Hulscher, J. B., Kersten, M. (2000) Egg size, egg composition and reproductive success in the oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus, Ibis 142: 603-613

Jerzak, L., Bocheński, M., Kuczyński, L., Tryjanowski, P. (2000) Repeatability of size and shape of eggs in the urban Magpie Pica pica (Passeriformes: Corvidae) population, Acta zool Cracov 43: 165-169

Leblanc, Y. (1989) Variation in size and eggs of captive and wild Canada Geese, Ornis Scandinavica 20: 93-98

Marion, L., Ulenaers, P., Vanvessem, J. (2000) Herons in Europe, In: Kushalan, J. A., Hafner, H. (eds). Heron Conservation. Acad. Press, London

Martinez-Abrain, A. (1994) Notesonthebiology of Little Bittern Ixobrychus m. minutus during the breeding season in eastern Spain, Ardeola 41: 169-171

Nager, R. G., Noordwijk, A. J. V. (1992) Energetic limitation in the egg-laying period of Great Tits, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 249: 259-263

Nol, E., Baker, A. J., Cadman, M. D. (1984) Clutch initiation dates, clutch size, and egg size of the American Oystercatcher in Virginia, Auk 101: 855-867

Pardo-Cervera, F., Sørensen, I. H., Jensen, C., Ruiz, X., Sanchez Alonso, C. (2010) Breeding biology of the Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus in the Ebro delta (NE Spain), Ardeola 57: 407-416

Pezzo, F., Benocci, A. (2001) Spatial behavior of the Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus): implications for conservation, Avocetta 25: 78

Potti, J. (1993) Environmental, ontogenetic, and genetic variation in egg size of Pied Flycatchers, Can. J. Zool. 71: 1534-1542

Samraoui, F., Nedjah, R., Boucheker, A., Alfarhan, A. H., Samraoui, B. (2012) Breeding ecology of the Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus in northeast Algeria, Bird Study, iFirst,1-8, DOI:10.1080/00063657.2012.733335

Stermin, A. N., Pripon, L. R., David, A., Coroiu, I. (2011) Wetlands management for Little Crake (Porzana parva) conservation in a “Natura 2000” site, International Conference for Enviromental Sciences and Development, IPCBEE 4: 91-94

Stermin, A. N., David, A., Sevianu, E. (2013) An Evaluation of Acoustic Monitoring Methods for a Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus) Population in a Large Reed Bed, Waterbirds 36: 463-469

Surmacki, A., Stępiewski, J., Zduniak, P. (2003) Repeatability of egg dimensions within the clutches of Bearded Tit Panurus biarmicus, Acta Ornithologica 38: 123-127

Thompson, P. S., Hale, W. G. (1991) Age-related reproductive variation in the Redshank Tringa totanus, Ornis Scandinavica 22: 353-359

Tryjanowski, P., Kuczyński, L., Antczak, M., Skoracki, M., Hromada, M. (2001) Within–clutch repeatability of egg dimensions in the jackdaw Corvus monedula: a study based on a museum collection, Biologia Bratislava 56: 211-215

Zduniak, P., Antczak, M. (2003) Repeatability and within-clutch variation in egg dimensions in a Hooded Crow Corvus corone cornix population, Biol. Lett. 40: 37-42

Downloads

Published

2018-06-22

How to Cite

DAVID, A., STERMIN, A. N., & SEVIANU, E. (2018). Clutch size and egg repeatability in three elusive bird species: Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus), Little Crake (Zapornia parva) and Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus) from north-west Romanian populations. Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Biologia, 63(1), 81–88. https://doi.org/10.24193/subbbiol.2018.1.07

Issue

Section

Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)