So they bring their prey back to the nest where it is eaten by ant larvae
#Lesser prairie-chicken nest survival may decline by 2050lesser prairie-chicken nest survival may decrease to a level considered too low to sustain the current population by 2050 according to a new report by Texas Tech
and West Texas. The study assessed the potential changes in number of eggs laid in a nest incubation start date
Increased temperatures and reduced humidity may lead to lesser prairie-chicken egg death or nest abandonment. The research showed that warm winter temperatures had the largest negative effect on reproductive success. Scientists suggest that above-average winter temperatures were correlated with La Niã a events
and nest there allowing for better odds that some nests will be successful. The lesser prairie-chicken has experienced widespread declines in abundance
Low survival in the Ozark nests harms bird numbers in other areas Faaborg said. Birds hatched in the Ozark forest spread out to colonize the rest of the state and surrounding region.
and by the availability of native prairie and vegetation cover at nest sites. Unexpectedly the scientists also found that female survival rates increased after wind turbines were installed.
and then hide nests in tall prairie grass The scientists researched many different features of prairie chickens and their biology:
patterns of nest site selection; reproductive components such as clutch size timing of laying eggs and hatchability of eggs;
but the avoidance within the home range doesn't seem to have an impact on nest site selection or nest survival.
because wind turbines may keep predators away from nest sites. Female mortality rates are highest during the breeding season
and need adequate cover for their nests to survive. Grazing and fire management practices can affect how much nesting cover is available for chickens.
A lot of what drives nest survival is the local conditions around the nest Sandercock said. Do they have good nesting cover
and reproductive success was investigated by checking the nest boxes in the spring to determine the number of eggs laid and the growth and survival of chicks.
Given that chicks share the nest with their parents and eat food that is regurgitated by the parents we expected the level of bacterial sharing to be a lot higher.
The scientists then observed nest building activity and feeding of offspring and determined chick paternity through DNA analyses.
A cuckoo in the nesthoi and colleagues found that many nests housed nestlings fathered outside the pair-bond.
Those females that had been observed to show interest in the intruder were also later found to be more likely to have extra-pair chicks in their nest.
and nestlings such as robins when nests are built in buckthorn and honeysuckle compared to nests built in native shrubs or trees.
The relationship between invasive plants and wildlife is complex. This is the first study of its kind to investigate the association between buckthorn
because birds and their nests are easier to prey upon. He suggests that deer may be avoiding these areas
and finches add high-nicotine cigarette butts to their nests to reduce mite infestations. But less attention has been given to the many cases in
Wood ants incorporate an antimicrobial resin from conifer trees into their nests preventing microbial growth in the colony.
Honeybees are known to incorporate antimicrobial resins into their nests. Analysis of the honeybee genome suggests that they lack many of the immune-system genes of other insects raising the possibility that honeybees'use of medicine has been partly responsible
Unlike the other representatives of the family that chew leaves or flower petals many species of Megachile neatly cut circular pieces of leaves or petals for nest construction.
Nests of Megachile are constructed often within hollow twigs or other similarly constricted natural cavities but some species including members of the subgenus Megachiloides excavate burrows in the ground.
Boal said prairie chickens for example are not very likely to use cotton fields to nest in or for lekking (places where males aggregate to try to attract females to mate with).
and build new nests in Argentine ant territory as early as March while The argentine ants remain inactive until late April or early May.
Staff and volunteers stationed on Midway are responsible for monitoring the health of the beautiful seabirds that arrive every year by the hundreds of thousands to nest.
This bird makes its nest in the marsh's shallow slush forming its home with strands of the California cordgrass Spartina foliosa.
The nests float and bob with the rising and lowering of the tides. Another marsh creature relies on the same cordgrass:
when they fall from a nest a skill that improves with age until they become coordinated and graceful flyers.
when they first emerge from the nest. Smith is tracking neonate pine snakes to find out where they go
Smith's tracking of neonate pine snakes over two years has shown that the young snakes stay fairly close to the nest in their first year--ranging from 30 to about 250 meters away
and are preferred not by any of the three hawk species. A nest located on artificial substrate is nearly 100 percent 89.4 percent
Why the difference in nest selection between ravens and large hawks? The answer may be linked to the availability of preferred prey.
and surrounding areas in Idaho USA locating nest sites for all four species over a three year span Researchers analyzed four primary factors that influence nest locations among species:
Common Ravens are now the most pervasive predatory species nesting in this area accounting for 46 percent of nests among these four avian predator species. Transmission towers are the tallest objects at the study area.
â#¢73 percent of ravens nests were located on artificial nesting substrates of which 53 percent were located on transmission line towers. â#¢Both ravens
and Red-tailed hawks selected nest sites in close proximity to habitat edges while Swainson's and Ferruginous Hawks selected nest sites far from habitat edges.
â#¢70 percent of nests located on natural substrates (cottonwood and juniper tress) â#¢Breeding pairs of Red-tailed hawks also considered a generalist species increased substantially from the mid-1970s (1 nest) to the mid-1990s (33 nests)
and have remained stable since that time. Swainson's Hawks: â#¢98 percent of nests located on natural substrates (juniper cottonwood
and cultivated trees) â#¢Nested in communities dominated by native grasses and near agricultural areasferrugionous Hawks:
â#¢Approximately 74 percent of nests were located on natural substrates mostly juniper trees. â#¢Selected areas dominated by contiguous stands of sagebrush. â#¢Ferruginous Hawk nests were located farther from roads
or have not yet built nests Craine said. Additionally moving to a more flexible burning schedule helps manage the large volume of smoke that carry to Manhattan and Wichita Kansas;
or--when the heat stress is localized--absorb heat by pressing themselves against the brood nest wall (a behavior known as heat-shielding).
Using thermal imaging the scientists observed that temperatures increased peripheral to the heated regions of the hive as the brood nest began to cool.
and targeted control of ant nests in the most disturbed habitats. Future research should experimentally assess
Assembling such a group in the nest after having found a food source through eavesdropping uses time
Grassland bird species use the living and dead vegetation in grasslands to build nests and for use as cover.
and Ruby since 2010 and found Ruby lifeless on the ground beneath her nest wanted to turn the loss into something positive.
Adult bees create the nests. The nests have several cells with an egg in each one that metamorphosizes--like butterflies do--through the summer.
By fall they are adults in their cocoons where they overwinter. The initial phase of the program that Bunker and Devan have initiated with the help of other NJIT colleagues
A video camera placed at each nest will allow building a database of the bees'response to manipulated changes in their natural schedule
Physical examination of pollen in the nests also is expected to yield information about the food sources the bees visit
because they are out of synch with the flowering of their food sources could keep them away from their nests for longer periods.
For example in the Fernando de Noronha archipelago the cattle egret drives adult native seabirds away from their nests in breeding colonies
Save threatened species by giving them treated cotton for nestswhen University of Utah biologists set out cotton balls treated with a mild pesticide wild finches in the Galapagos islands used the cotton to help build their nests killing parasitic
because there currently are no other methods to control this parasite bloodsucking maggots of the nest fly Philornis downsi says University of Utah biology doctoral student Sarah Knutie the study's first author.
Clayton says the parasitic nest fly may have invaded Ecuador's Galapagos islands via ships and boats from the mainland at an unknown time and showed up in large numbers in the 1990s.
Nest flies have been implicated in population declines of Darwin's finches including the two endangered species. Clayton says the pesticide--permethrin--is safe for the birds:
It might kill a few other insects in the nest. This is the same stuff in head-lice shampoo you put on your kid.
and so if the birds can be encouraged to incorporate fumigated cotton into their nests then they may be able to lessen the effects of the parasites Knutie says.
Knutie says permethrin-treated cotton has been used in the Northeast to get mice to incorporate it in their nests to kill Lyme disease-carrying ticks.
when she noticed Darwin's finches were coming to my laundry line grabbing frayed fibers from the line and taking it away presumably back to their nests she recalls.
Parasitic nest flies lay their eggs in finch nests which have shaped dome roofs of woven plant fibers.
Past studies found that in some years maggots kill all the nestlings in nests they parasitize
if finches could be encouraged to pick up treated cotton to fumigate their own nests located in tree cacti and acacia trees.
Processed and unprocessed cotton balls appear slightly different so researchers could distinguish treated or untreated cotton in nests.
which are territorial travel no more than 55 feet from their nests to collect nest-building material.
none of the nests were found to have both types of cotton. The researchers searched for active finch nests weekly within 65 feet of each dispenser using a camera on a pole to check each nest
which species occupied a nest. After birds in a given nest finished breeding (within three weeks) and left the nest the scientists collected the nest dissected it counted the number of parasitic fly maggots
and then weighed and separated all the nest materials including cotton. The Utah biologists found 26 active nests of which 22 (85 percent) contained cotton:
13 nests had treated permethrin cotton nine had untreated cotton and four had no cotton. Regardless of treatment the amount of cotton in nests and the percent of the nest made of cotton didn't vary significantly.
The researchers write that their study found self-fumigation had a significant negative effect on parasites killing at least half the fly maggots.
The 13 nests with treated cotton averaged 15 maggots give or take 10. Nests with untreated cotton averaged 30 maggots give or take eight.
The amount of untreated cotton in a nest was unrelated to the number of maggots; but the more treated cotton the fewer the parasites.
Of eight nests with at least 1 gram of cotton (one 28th of an ounce) seven had no maggots
and one nest had four. If the birds insert a gram or more of treated cotton--about a thimbleful--it kills 100 percent of the fly larvae Clayton says.
A separate follow-up experiment--and earlier studies by others--showed killing the parasites with sprayed permethrin increases baby bird survival.
The researchers did not study survival of offspring in nests with cotton balls because that requires repeatedly climbing to nests
so birds can be weighed and banded which might disrupt the birds from self-fumigating their nests with cotton balls.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Utah. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal Reference e
#Tomato turf wars: Benign bug beats salmonella; tomato eaters winscientists from the U s. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have identified a benign bacterium that shows promise in blocking Salmonella from colonizing raw tomatoes.
Their research is published ahead of print in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. When applied to Salmonella-contaminated tomato plants in a field study the bacterium known as Paenibacillus alvei significantly reduced the concentration of the pathogen compared to controls.
or architecture of each of the seven species. Of 1844 nests sampled chimpanzees selected Ugandan Ironwood for 73.6%of the nests
and livestock watering stations provide predatory ravens with high perches from which to spy sage grouse nests.
Ants haul seeds which have fallen to the ground to their nests or leave them intact on their way.
and scientist at Bik-F. Quite often the ants removed the seed aril only in their nests
while females stay near their nests male orchid bees travel with one study concluding they roam as far as 7 kilometers per day.
All hatchlings emerged from protected nests on a 950-meter beach that is now owned and managed by PALS (Pelestari Alam Liar dan Satwa or Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation).
and even former maleo hunters to guard nests from egg poachers. The most threatened of the beach nestersâ#he maleoâ#s a chicken-sized bird with a black helmet (or casque) yellow facial skin a red-orange beak
or in some instances volcanically heated soil the maleo parents abandon their nest. After an incubation period of approximately 70 days the chicks emerge fully feathered able to fly
Nest abandonment is normal for sea turtles such as the olive ridley one of three threatened sea turtle species known to nest on the Binerean Cape area.
#Deer feeding puts birds at risk, research showsby comparing the fate of artificial nests close
and wild boar researchers found that those nests in the vicinity of feeding sites were depredated twice more.
in a radius of 1-km the probability of nest survival is lowered. When accounting for all feeding sites in the study region (ca 2000 km2) this would mean that in one fifth of the area ground-nesting birds will have little chance to see their eggs hatching.
and wild boar--the boar is also a nest predator--but also corvids rodents bears and other species of nest predators
and plastic building materials to construct their nests. The research was published recently in the journal Ecosphere.
We found two solitary bee species using plastic in place of natural nest building materials which suggests innovative use of common urban materials.
Moore analyzed a grey goo that Macivor discovered in the nests of one kind of bee Megachile campanulae
Turns out that M. campanulae was occasionally replacing plant resins with polyurethane-based exterior building sealant such as caulking in its brood cells--created in a nest to rear larva.
In both cases larvae successfully developed from the plastic-lined nests. In fact the bees emerged parasite-free suggesting plastic nests may physically impede parasites the study said.
The nests containing plastic were among more than 200 artificial nest boxes monitored by Macivor as part of a large-scale investigation of the ecology of urban bees
and wasps a project involving numerous citizen scientists. The nest boxes are located in Toronto and the surrounding region in backyards community gardens
and parks and on green roofs. They are used by a variety of bee species. The novel use of plastics in the nests of bees could reflect the ecologically adaptive traits necessary for survival in an increasingly human-dominated environment Macivor said.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Guelph. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
During the breeding season researchers visit nests once or twice a day to see what is happening
and record the contents of the nest often hunting for chicks when they move around as they get older.
The team found more bird nests and greater species diversity in the no-till fields than in the tilled soybeans.
Nest losses were high however. About 80 percent of nests in the no-till fields and more than 90 percent in tilled fields failed
as a result of predation or the onset of farm operations before eggs hatched or young birds were ready to fly.
High mortality is fairly common in bird nests however and while the losses in no-till soybean fields were greater than those seen in pristine grasslands they were not much worse the researchers said.
--and we actually found a nest. The study adds to the evidence that agricultural practices can have a broad influence on bird abundance
Of the nests that failed 65.1 percent were raided by predators and 24.4 percent were lost to farm machinery during crop planting.
Continuously recording cameras trained on nests showed that coyotes were the primary predators of the ground-level nests--another surprise.
which are raised in open nests. Because hoatzins can fly short distances only the adult birds are also easy prey.
and accommodation in the form of food bodies and nectar as well as hollow thorns which can be used as nests.
Results showed that 58 percent of raven nests were located on transmission poles 19 percent were in trees
In addition to proximity to transmission lines ravens in the study area selected nest sites that were in close proximity to edges formed between sagebrush
and were able to divert Argentine ants from their trails and nest entrances. Lured by the pheromone the ants were exposed eventually to the insecticide residue
The Liyuan Library by architect Li Xiaodong encourages birds to build nests on its structure. The exterior is clad with more than 400,000 locally sourced sticks of firewood
One of the hot new ventures in Silicon valley is founded Nest Labs by Tony Fadell, a former Apple executive,
At the Nest offices in Palo alto, Calif.,there is a lot of talk of helping the planet, as well as the thrill of creating cool technology.
Matt Rogers, 28, a Nest cofounder, led a team of engineers at Apple that wrote software for ipods.
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