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Cynx, J., Hulse, S. H., & Polyzois, S. (1986). A psychophysical measure of pitch discrimination loss resulting from a frequency range constraint in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process, 12(4), 394–402.
Abstract: Earlier research (Hulse & Cynx, 1985) revealed that a number of species of songbirds acquired a pitch discrimination between rising and falling sequences in an arbitrarily defined training range of frequencies, but then failed to generalize the discrimination to new frequency ranges--a frequency range constraint. The two experiments here provide a psychophysical estimate of how pitch discrimination deteriorated in one species as sequences were stepped out from the training range. The gradient showing loss of discrimination was much sharper than would have been anticipated by stimulus generalization or the training procedures, and appeared unaffected by the removal of rising and falling frequency information. The frequency range constraint and its psychophysical properties have implications both for the analysis of birdsong and the study of animal cognition.
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Dauphin, G., Zientara, S., Zeller, H., & Murgue, B. (2004). West Nile: worldwide current situation in animals and humans. Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis, 27(5), 343–355.
Abstract: West Nile (WN) virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that is native to Africa, Europe, and Western Asia. It mainly circulates among birds, but can infect many species of mammals, as well as amphibians and reptiles. Epidemics can occur in rural as well as urban areas. Transmission of WN virus, sometimes involving significant mortality in humans and horses, has been documented at erratic intervals in many countries, but never in the New World until it appeared in New York City in 1999. During the next four summers it spread with incredible speed to large portions of 46 US states, and to Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. In many respects, WN virus is an outstanding example of a zoonotic pathogen that has leaped geographical barriers and can cause severe disease in human and equine. In Europe, in the past two decades there have been a number of significant outbreaks in several countries. However, very little is known of the ecology and natural history of WN virus transmission in Europe and most WN outbreaks in humans and animals remain unpredictable and difficult to control.
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Dawson, B. V., & Foss, B. M. (1965). Observational learning in budgerigars. Anim. Behav., 13(4), 470–474.
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Dierenfeld, E. S. (1994). Vitamin E in exotics: effects, evaluation and ecology. J Nutr, 124(12 Suppl), 2579s–2581s.
Abstract: The pathophysiology and lesions associated with vitamin E deficiency are similar between domestic and exotic species, and circulating plasma concentrations are also similar between comparable groups. However, many ecological variables must be considered for the most relevant comparisons. Tissue values of vitamin E, apart from plasma, are unknown for most exotics. Dietary vitamin E requirements of exotic species and domestics appear to differ; based on natural foodstuff analyses and clinical observations, between 50 and 200 mg vitamin E/kg DM are necessary to prevent vitamin E deficiency, 5- to 10-fold higher than current livestock recommendations.
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Doligez, B., Danchin, E., & Clobert, J. (2002). Public information and breeding habitat selection in a wild bird population. Science, 297(5584), 1168–1170.
Abstract: According to the “public information” hypothesis, some animal species may monitor the current reproductive success of conspecifics to assess local habitat quality and to choose their own subsequent breeding site. To test this hypothesis experimentally, we manipulated two components of public information, the mean number of offspring raised locally (“quantity”) and their condition (“quality”), in the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis. Immigration rate decreased with local offspring quantity but did not depend on local offspring quality, suggesting that immigrants are deprived of information regarding local quality. Conversely, emigration rate increased both when local offspring quantity or quality decreased, suggesting that residents can use both components of public information.
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Dowdle, W. R., & Schild, G. C. (1976). Influenza: its antigenic variation and ecology. Bull Pan Am Health Organ, 10(3), 193–195.
Abstract: Influenza viruses have two surface antigens, the glycoprotein structures hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). Antibodies to each of these are associated with immunity, but the structures themselves are antigenically variable. When an antigenic change is gradual over time it is referred to as a drift, while a sudden complete or major change in either or both antigens is termed a shift. The mechanism of antigenic drift is usually attributed to selection of preexisting mutants by pressure from increasing immunity in the human population. The mechanism of antigenic shift is less clear, but one tentative hypothesis is that shifts arise from mammalian or avian reservoirs, or through genetic recombination of human and animal influenza strains.
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Drent, P. J., van Oers, K., & van Noordwijk, A. J. (2003). Realized heritability of personalities in the great tit (Parus major). Proc Biol Sci, 270(1510), 45–51.
Abstract: Behaviour under conditions of mild stress shows consistent patterns in all vertebrates: exploratory behaviour, boldness, aggressiveness covary in the same way. The existence of highly consistent individual variation in these behavioural strategies, also referred to as personalities or coping styles, allows us to measure the behaviour under standardized conditions on birds bred in captivity, link the standardized measurements to the behaviour under natural conditions and measure natural selection in the field. We have bred the great tit (Parus major), a classical model species for the study of behaviour under natural conditions, in captivity. Here, we report a realized heritability of 54 +/- 5% for early exploratory behaviour, based on four generations of bi-directional artificial selection. In addition to this, we measured hand-reared juveniles and their wild-caught parents in the laboratory. The heritability found in the mid-offspring-mid-parent regression was significantly different from zero. We have thus established the presence of considerable amounts of genetic variation for personality types in a wild bird.
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Edman, J. D. (1971). Host-feeding patterns of Florida mosquitoes. I. Aedes, Anopheles, Coquillettidia, Mansonia and Psorophora. J Med Entomol, 8(6), 687–695.
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Emery, N. J., Dally, J. M., & Clayton, N. S. (2004). Western scrub-jays ( Aphelocoma californica) use cognitive strategies to protect their caches from thieving conspecifics. Anim. Cogn., 7(1), 37–43.
Abstract: Food caching birds hide food and recover the caches when supplies are less abundant. There is, however, a risk to this strategy because the caches are susceptible to pilfering by others. Corvids use a number of different strategies to reduce possible cache theft. Scrub-jays with previous experience of pilfering other's caches cached worms in two visuospatially distinct caching trays either in private or in the presence of a conspecific. When these storers had cached in private, they subsequently observed both trays out of reach of a conspecific. When these storers had cached in the presence of a conspecific, they subsequently watched the observer pilfering from one of the trays while the other tray was placed in full view, but out of reach. The storers were then allowed to recover the remaining caches 3 h later. Jays cached more worms when they were observed during caching. At the time of recovery, they re-cached more than if they had cached in private, selectively re-caching outside of the trays in sites unbeknown to potential thieves. In addition, after a single pilfering trial, the jays switched their recovery strategy from predominantly checking their caches (i.e. returning to a cache site to see whether the food remained there) to predominantly eating them. Re-caching remained constant across the three trials. These results suggest that scrub-jays use flexible, cognitive caching and recovery strategies to aid in reducing potential future pilfering of caches by conspecifics.
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Endy, T. P., & Nisalak, A. (2002). Japanese encephalitis virus: ecology and epidemiology. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol, 267, 11–48.
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