A population genetics study of Pale-winged Starlings, Onychognathus nabouroup, using novel microsatellite markers
- Authors: Munshi, Naadhira , Symes, Craig , Maayer, Pieter de , Craig, Adrian J F K , Henry, Laurence , Hausberger, Martine , Mollett, Jean
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/448718 , vital:74754 , https://www.ajol.info/index.php/scopus/article/view/211291
- Description: Recent research into starling species has revealed the existence of vocal social markers and a link between song temporal structuring and social organisation. The aim of the present study was to develop a genetic tool for understanding the population structuring and behaviour (social/parental transmission) and mating in Pale-winged Starlings (Onychognathus nabouroup), a songbird which is found in arid areas of southern Africa. Using next-generation sequencing, microsatellite markers comprising six dinucleotides, eighteen trinucleotides and twenty-four tetra-nucleotides specific to the Pale-winged Starling were isolated and developed. A total of 77 birds were sampled from the Augrabies Falls Nature Reserve in South Africa (n= 53) and the Ai Ais-Richtersveld Transfrontier Park resort in Namibia (n= 24), respectively. Fifteen polymorphic microsatellite markers were genotyped. The statistical programme STRUCTURE revealed four different genetic clusters within the two populations.
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- Date Issued: 2021
Calling rhythm as a predictor of the outcome of vocal interactions: flight departure in pale-winged starling pairs
- Authors: Hausberger, Martine , Giacalone, Aline , Harmand, Mariane , Craig, Adrian J F K , Henry, Laurence
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/449283 , vital:74808 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-019-1658-1
- Description: Vocal communication plays an important role in the regulation of social interactions and the coordination of activities in many animal species. Synchrony is an essential part of the establishment and maintenance of pair bonds, but few reports have investigated decision-making at the pair level. We investigated temporal characteristics of call exchanges in pale-winged starlings (Onychognathus nabouroup) that could predict whether one, two, or neither members of a pair would take off. Our analysis of these interactions revealed that the overall rhythm of a call exchange, as well as the acceleration towards the end of an interaction, were significantly associated with the type of behavioural outcome. Faster rhythms were associated with higher probabilities that both birds would fly away. Our results confirm the findings of previous studies showing that higher rates of alarm calls indicate imminent departure and highlight the relationship between temporal features of vocal interactions and their outcome.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Social coordination in animal vocal interactions. Is there any evidence of turn-taking? The starling as an animal model
- Authors: Henry, Laurence , Craig, Adrian J F K , Lemasson, Alban , Hausberger, Martine
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465614 , vital:76625 , ISBN 978-2-88919-825-2 , 10.3389/978-2-88919-825-2
- Description: Turn-taking in conversation appears to be a common feature in various human cultures andthis universality raises questions about its biological basis and evolutionary trajectory. Functional convergence is a widespread phenomenon in evolution, revealing sometimes striking functional similarities between very distant species even though the mechanisms involved may be different. Studies on mammals (including non-human primates) and bird species with different levels of social coordination reveal that temporal and structural regularities in vocal interactions may depend on the species’ social structure. Here we test the hypothesis that turn-taking and associated rules of conversations may be an adaptive response to the requirements of social life, by testing the applicability of turn-taking rules to an animal model, the European starling.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Sexing adult pale-winged starlings using morphometric and discriminant function analysis
- Authors: Henry, Laurence , Biquand, Véroniquee , Craig, Adrian J F K , Hausberger, Martine
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465458 , vital:76611 , https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135628
- Description: Accurate sexing of birds is vital for behavioral studies but can be a real problem in the field, especially for monomorphic species. Our goal here was to characterize the morphology of male and female monomorphic pale-winged starlings (Onychognathus nabouroup), a South African sturnid whose plumage is sexually monomorphic. Morphological measurements of genetically sexed animals indicated that males were statistically larger than females for five measurements: Mass, tail length, tarsus length and wing length. By using a Discriminant Function Analysis based on the measurements taken by one ringer, we were able to predict correctly the sex of 81.10% of the birds of data collected in the field and 77.9% of museum skins independently of year of capture and ringer. The model developed here should be useful for further field studies of this species.
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- Date Issued: 2015
The timing of moult in males and females of the monomorphic Pale-winged Starling Onychognathus nabouroup
- Authors: Craig, Adrian J F K , Bonnevie, Bo T , Hausberger, Martine , Henry, Laurence
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/443805 , vital:74155 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC177689
- Description: Pale-winged Starlings Onychognathus nabouroup inhabit the arid western interior of southern Africa and moult-breeding overlap may occur. We collected field data in two successive years on the moult of individual birds, whose sex was confirmed by genetic techniques. Small samples revealed a non-significant tendency for the moult of females in the early stages of wing moult to be more advanced than that of males in both years, but also clear evidence that the starting date of moult differed in the two years. In this species the moult schedule may thus be variable at both the individual and the population levels.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Songs of two starling species: common traits versus adaptations to the social environment
- Authors: Houdelier, C , Hausberger, Martine , Craig, Adrian J F K
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/465475 , vital:76612 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-012-0987-0
- Description: We analysed, for the first time, songs of the African Red-winged Starling Onychognathus morio and compared their general characteristics with those of the European Starling Sturnus vulgaris. Both species are gregarious during the non-breeding season, but European Starlings tend to nest in colonies, form unstable pair-bonds and are occasionally polygynous, whereas Red-winged Starlings form long-term pair-bonds and occupy exclusive nesting territories. Red-winged Starlings produced the same basic song categories as European Starlings: warbles and whistles. These two categories appeared to be involved in similar social interactions in the two species. However, several aspects of song behaviour differed between the two species: Red-winged Starlings, breeding in isolated nests, preferentially used whistles for long-distance communication and showed a simpler organization of warbling song. Whistles in the Red-winged Starling were mostly shared between birds and, in contrast to the European Starling, were not indicators of individual identity. Also in contrast to the European Starling, female song in Red-winged Starlings appeared very important throughout the breeding period. Our results suggest that some song characteristics in the two species are phylogenetically conserved whereas others are affected by the distinct social systems of the two species.
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- Date Issued: 2014