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Measuring Birds – Vögel Vermessen
Abstract
Developed by a team of field and museum ornithologists, this book is the first comprehensive presentation of a large number of different measurements that can be taken on birds: easy to use and with detailed illustrations this handy volume offers concise instructions and recommendations on how to measure birds. Problems with particular measuring techniques are discussed, as well as accuracy, reliability and compara bility of measurements, the numbering of flight feathers, skull ossification, measuring tools and weight. A comprehensive list of references rounds off this useful book. Printed on durable water resistant plastic and with a convenient spiral binding, this manual has been explicitly designed for use in the field and for taxidermy. An absolute must for bird ringers, museum curators, taxidermists and everyone concerned with morphometry.
Dieses Werk wurde von Feld- und Museumsornithologen entwickelt und stellt zum ersten Male eine große Zahl verschiedener Messstrecken an Vögeln vergleichend dar: Praxisorientiert und mit besonderem Augenmerk auf detaillierte Abbildungen bietet dieses handliche Büchlein genaue Anleitungen und Empfehlungen, wie Vögel vermessen werden. Auf besondere Probleme des Messens wird genauso eingegangen wie auf die Genauigkeit, Zuverlässigkeit und Vergleichbarkeit der Maße, die Nummerierung der Federn des Großgefi eders, die Schädelpneumatisation, die Messgeräte und das Gewicht. Abgeschlossen wird das Werk durch ein ausführliches Literaturverzeichnis. Gedruckt auf beständigem, abwaschbarem Kunststoff und mit praktischer Spiralbindung ist dieses Handbuch speziell auf den
Gebrauch im Feld und bei der Präparation abgestimmt. Ein Muss für Beringer, Kustoden, Präparatoren und alle, die sich mit der Morphometrie beschäftigen.
... We used tarsus length (Tar1) (see Eck et al., 2011 for measuring details), a skeletal measurement, as a proxy of body size (Senar & Pascual, 1997;Araya-Ajoy et al., 2019;Pepke et al., 2022), measuring it with a digital calliper (to 0.1mm). We used wing (Wmax) length as a proxy of flight surface (see Gosler et al., 1998), measuring it with a ruler (to 0.5mm) (Eck et al., 2011). ...
... We used tarsus length (Tar1) (see Eck et al., 2011 for measuring details), a skeletal measurement, as a proxy of body size (Senar & Pascual, 1997;Araya-Ajoy et al., 2019;Pepke et al., 2022), measuring it with a digital calliper (to 0.1mm). We used wing (Wmax) length as a proxy of flight surface (see Gosler et al., 1998), measuring it with a ruler (to 0.5mm) (Eck et al., 2011). To give an idea of the efficiency of our capture method, of the 117 nests monitored during the 2019-2020 breeding season, we were able to capture 88% of the unringed brownish males (7 individuals), 78% of the unringed blackand-white males (15 individuals) and 74% of the unringed females (21 individuals). ...
... For 56 bird species we measured bill length, bill width, tarsus length, wing length and length of 3 rd primary in the same study plots as we did for all bird species in the year 2014/ 2015 [33]. Specifically, we measured bill height at the proximal end of the operculum, bill length from the tip to the proximal end of the operculum, tarsus length from the intertarsal joint to the bent toes [34], and bill width at the widest point of the operculum (details on species and traits in S1 Table). Each metric was documented as a mean value with standard deviation (SD), and the range specified by the minimum and maximum measurements. ...
... Bird traits as used in analysis. The traits have been replicated from Renner and Hoesel [34]. Metadata of the data set with detailed descriptor of the variables including unit (if applicable) and source. ...
Forest birds respond to a diverse set of environmental factors, including those altered by forest management intensity, such as resource and habitat availability in the form of food or nesting sites. Although resource/habitat availability and bird traits likely mediate responses of bird diversity to global change drivers, no study has assessed the direct and indirect effects of changes in forest management and traits on bird assemblages jointly at large spatial scales. In this context the questions remain whether (1) the birds’ response to forest management changes through alterations in structural properties and/or food availability, or (2) if birds’ eco-morphological traits act as environmental filters in response to environmental factors. We audio-visually recorded birds at 150 forest plots in three regions of Germany and assessed the forest structure (LiDAR) as well as the diversity of the herbaceous layer and diversity and biomass of arthropods. We further assessed eco-morphological traits of the birds and tested if effects on bird assemblages are mediated by changes in eco-morphological traits’ composition. We found that abundance and species numbers of birds are explained best by models including the major environmental factors, forest structure, plants, and arthropods. Eco-morphological traits only increased model fit for indirect effects on abundance of birds. We found minor differences between the three regions in Germany, indicating spatial congruency of the processes at the local and regional scale. Our results suggest that most birds are not specialized on a particular food type, but that the size, diversity and species composition of arthropods are important. Our findings question the general view that bird traits adapt to the resources available.
... Other methods use a few linear measurements from the folded wing to estimate wing area ( Figure 1). Wright et al. (2014) described a way of estimating the area of the hand portion of a single wing by assuming that it is shaped as a quarter of an ellipse: the wing length (WL, or the distance from the wrist joint to the longest primary feather) would represent the semi-major axis, and the wing width (S1, or the distance from the wrist joint to the tip of the first secondary feather, Eck et al., 2011) would represent the semi-minor axis, giving rise to the formula WL·S1·π/4. Claramunt and Wright (2017) found that the formula 3·WL·S1 approximates the total wing area across a large sample of bird groups, but the formula implies that the wingspan is 3·WL and the wing is rectangular, two unrealistic assumptions. ...
Dispersal is a fundamental process in evolution and ecology. Due to the predominant role of flight in bird movement, their dispersal capabilities can be estimated from their flight morphology. Most predictors of flight efficiency require an estimate of the total wing area, but the existing methods for estimating wing area are multi‐stepped and prone to compounding error. Here, we validated a new method for estimating the total wing area that requires only the measurement of the wingspan plus two measurements from the folded wings of study skin specimens: wing length and wing width. We demonstrate that the new folded‐wing method estimates total wing area with high precision across a variety of avian groups and wing shapes. In addition, the new method performs as well as the old method when used to estimate natal dispersal distances of North American birds. The folded‐wing method will allow for estimates of the total wing to be readily obtained from thousands of specimens in ornithological collections, thus providing critical information for studies of flight and dispersal in birds.
... Birds were caught and ringed with aluminum rings from SAFRING to enable individual identification in the future. All measurements were taken by FW following Eck et al. (2011) and included wing (maximum chord), 3rd (outermost) primary, Kipp measure (outermost secondary to tip of wing), tip of outermost primary to longest primary, minimum tarsus (metatarsal bone), tail, bill to skull, bill length, height, and width from distal edge of nostril, weight, breeding and molting status. Up to five flank feathers from underneath the wing and a tail feather were collected for stable isotope analyses. ...
Introduction
Tropical rainforest species interact with each other and their environment over a wide range of spatiotemporal scales. However, our understanding of resource partitioning and the mechanisms of avian species coexistence is largely restricted to subjective visual observations or acoustic monitoring. Therefore, the relative magnitudes of interspecific and intraspecific differences in resource use have remained difficult to quantify, particularly regarding different diets and habitat use. The eastern rainforest belt of Madagascar is inhabited by several species of insectivorous tetrakas belonging to an endemic bird family of Madagascar (Bernieridae). These species occupy similar habitats in the forest understory and are morphologically similar but because of likely differences (e.g., in foraging behaviors) we expect their foraging niches to be segregated allowing coexistence.
Methods
We examined the niche differentiation of four of these species: the Grey-crowned Tetraka (Xanthomixis cinereiceps), Long-billed Tetraka (Bernieria madagascariensis), Spectacled Tetraka (Xanthomixis zosterops), and White-throated Oxylabes (Oxylabes madagascariensis) in the Maromizaha rainforest in eastern Madagascar combining morphometry with stable carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur isotope ratios (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, and δ³⁴S) from feathers.
Results
We show considerable variation in isotopic niche positions, niche breadth and interspecific niche overlap. In two species, the Long-billed Tetraka and Spectacled Tetraka, we found an indication of sex-specific niche space, with males exhibiting a larger isotopic niche-area relative to females. Morphological traits of five species (including the Wedge-tailed Tetraka, Hartertula flavoviridis) coupled with stable isotope data provided explanations of patterns of niche overlap and isotopic position.
Discussion
The observed isotopic niche differences may be explained by differences in resource acquisition strategies that might be associated with specific morphological traits and spatial distribution. This may play an important role in niche differentiation among coexisting and phylogenetically closely related species.
... Further, we measured the wing length of insects as the maximum forewing length, except for Coleoptera where we measured the maximum hindwing length. In bird pollinators, we measured the distance from the carpal joint to the longest primary, following Eck et al. (2011). Finally, we measured species-level insect pollinator mean body mass as the accumulated dry body mass for all collected specimens (accurate to 0.001 g) divided by the number of specimens. ...
Combined studies of the communities and interaction networks of bird and insect pollinators are rare, especially along environmental gradients. Here, we determined how disturbance by fire and variation in sugar resources shape pollinator communities and interactions between plants and their pollinating insects and birds. We recorded insect and bird visits to 21 Protea species across 21 study sites and for 2 years in Fynbos ecosystems in the Western Cape, South Africa. We recorded morphological traits of all pollinator species (41 insect and nine bird species). For each site, we obtained estimates of the time since the last fire (range: 2-25 calendar years) and the Protea nectar sugar amount per hectare (range: 74-62 000 g/ha). We tested how post-fire age and sugar amount influence the total interaction frequency, species richness and functional diversity of pollinator communities, as well as pollinator specialization (the effective number of plant partners) and potential pollination services (pollination service index) of insects and birds. We found little variation in the total interaction frequency, species richness and functional diversity of insect and bird pollinator communities, but insect species richness increased with post-fire age. Pollinator specialization and potential pollination services of insects and birds varied differently along the environmental gradients. Bird pollinators visited fewer Protea species at sites with high sugar amount, while there was no such trend for insects. Potential pollination services of insect pollinators to Protea species decreased with increasing post-fire age and resource amounts, whereas potential pollination services of birds remained constant along the environmental gradients. Despite little changes in pollinator communities, our analyses reveal that insect and bird pollinators differ in their specialization on Protea species and show distinct responses to disturbance and resource gradients. Our comparative study of bird and insect pollinators demonstrates that birds may be able to provide more stable pollination services than insects. K E Y W O R D S Cape Floristic Region, community composition, plant-animal interactions, pollination networks, pollinator specialization 2 | NEU et al.
... Values corresponding to food items and forest strata are percentages of use of each item (Wilman, et al., 2014). Morphometry was obtained according to Eck, et al. (2011), from five individuals of each species at the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo (MZUSP). ...
Urban areas, i.e. dense housing and reduced green spaces, can significantly impact avian health, through altering land use and increasing biotic and abiotic stress. This study assessed the association of urbanization on haemosporidian infections, vectors, immune response, and body condition in Parus major nestlings, across four classes of urbanization along an urban-to-rural gradient in Vienna, Austria. Contrary to our expectations, vector abundance remained consistent across the gradient, while an increase in leukocyte count is positively associated with total parasite intensity. We found that nestlings in more urbanized areas exhibited higher parasite intensity and altered immune response, as evidenced by variations in the heterophil to lymphocyte ratio and leukocyte counts. Culicidae female vectors were associated with nestlings’ total parasites, scaled mass index, and industrial units. Nestlings in highly developed areas had higher infection rates than those in forests, suggesting increased exposure to infections. However, there was no clear relationship between total female vectors and total parasites. The level of urbanization negatively affected nestling body condition, with a decrease in fat deposits from forested to highly urbanized areas. Our findings highlight the complex interplay between urbanization, vector-borne parasite transmission, and host immune response, emphasizing the need for comprehensive urban planning to improve wildlife health and guarantee ecosystem functioning. Understanding how urbanization affects bird immunity and parasite infections is critical for adapting urban landscapes for wildlife health and ecosystem integrity.
Urban areas, i.e. dense housing and reduced green spaces, can significantly impact avian health, through altering land use and increasing biotic and abiotic stress. This study assessed the influence of urbanization on Haemosporidian infections, vectors, immune response, and body condition in Parus major nestlings, across four classes of urbanization along an urban-to-rural gradient in Vienna, Austria. Contrary to our expectations, vector abundance remained largely consistent across the gradient, while urban environmental factors, particularly impervious surfaces, significantly influenced Haemosporidian intensity. We found that nestlings in more urbanized areas exhibited higher parasite intensities and altered immune responses, as evidenced by variations in the heterophil to lymphocyte ratio and leucocyte counts. Moreover, nestlings from smaller clutches faced higher infection risks, suggesting increased probabilities to precept infections. Urbanization negatively impacted nestling body condition, with a decrease in fat deposits from forested to highly urbanized areas. Our findings highlight the complex interplay between urbanization, vector-borne parasite transmission, and host immune response, emphasizing the need for comprehensive urban planning. Understanding how urbanization affects bird immunity and parasite infections is critical for adapting urban landscapes for wildlife health and ecosystem integrity.
Wing and tail feather damage in Western Common Kingfishers Alcedo atthis ispida in relation to moult
Margret Bunzel-Drüke, Olaf Zimball & Alina Burgert
Received 23 Jun 2023, Accepted 30 Oct 2023, Published online: 02 Jan 2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/03078698.2023.2284687
ABSTRACT
Feathers have to be moulted to repair sustained damage. Our objective is to understand the relationship between the frequency of feather damage, feather sturdiness and moult sequence. Damage was recorded in five flight feather tracts for over 2000 Common Kingfishers Alcedo atthis ispida captured during a population study in northwestern Germany. We found that, of the feather tracts studied before the first moult, the tail feathers sustained most wear and damage, especially the more sturdily built outermost ones. Nevertheless, the probability of moulting a rectrix decreased from the central pair to the outside, while the damage risk increased. The sturdy distal primaries and the more lightly built innermost secondaries were the remiges with the highest frequency of damage, but not the most severe damage, while a row of midwing secondaries and primaries had the lowest damage risk. Where remiges had been retained when moult was suspended at the beginning of winter, about 75% of unmoulted feathers belonged to this low-risk group. The distal alula feather and the outermost primary covert had damage rates comparable to the low-risk row of remiges. Feather damage in the wings does not accumulate evenly over time, but increased markedly from March to April, coinciding with courtship and nest excavation, especially in females. Ultraviolet light seems to be an important factor for the observed feather deterioration, but is not the only one. The Kingfisher’s unusual moult sequence of remiges and primary coverts matches the distribution pattern of feather damage, but the sequence of the first tail-feather moult does not. Very few previous studies have investigated the relationship between patterns of feather damage and moult sequence. We hope this work encourages more investigation of this subject.
KEYWORDS:
• Kingfisher
• Alcedo atthis ispida
• feather damage
• moult
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