Abstract
Colonization of urban habitats requires physiological, behavioral and morphological changes in many species. This is well studied in the Common Blackbird (Turdus merula), one of the most common bird species in Europe. Former studies found that urban Blackbirds show decreased migratory behavior. However, it is still a matter of debate whether this is linked to morphological changes. According to Seebohm’s rule, sedentary individuals have less pointed wings in contrast to migratory individuals. Here we assess if wing pointedness—as measured by Kipp’s index—decreases along a rural to urban gradient in Blackbirds. To determine this, Blackbirds were caught in Frankfurt am Main and Heidelberg, as well as in the neighboring uplands of the Taunus and Odenwald, along a virtual continuous urbanization gradient, ranging from nearby forests to city centers. Along this gradient, wing pointedness significantly decreased in male, but not in female, Blackbirds. However, this trend was no longer significant when considering single regions. This indicates that wing pointedness does not change uniformly across the species’ range because of different intensities of urbanization. Sex-specific differences might be due to distinct territorial and dominance behavior. Variations in wing shape of urban and rural Blackbird populations are most likely based on a combination of better climatic conditions and increased food availability, as well as behavior adjusted to urban habitats. This study shows urbanization effects on the wing morphology of Blackbirds that might coincide with reduced migratory behavior.
Zusammenfassung
Beeinflusst die Urbanisierung die Flügelspitzigkeit bei der Amsel Turdus merula ?
Die Besiedlung urbaner Lebensräume erfordert bei vielen Arten Veränderungen in Physiologie, Verhalten und Morphologie. Dies ist bei der Amsel (Turdus merula) gut untersucht, einer der häufigsten Vogelarten in Europa. Frühere Studien fanden heraus, dass Stadt-Amseln ein reduziertes Zugverhalten zeigen. Allerdings ist es immer noch umstritten, ob dies mit morphologischen Veränderungen einhergeht. Nach Seebohm’s Regel besitzen nicht-ziehende Individuen weniger spitze Flügel als ziehende Individuen. In dieser Studie untersuchten wir, ob die Flügelspitzigkeit—basierend auf dem Kipp-Index—bei Amseln entlang eines Land-Stadt-Gradienten abnimmt. Um dies festzustellen, wurden Amseln in Frankfurt am Main und Heidelberg sowie in den angrenzenden Mittelgebirgen Taunus und Odenwald gefangen, und zwar entlang eines virtuellen kontinuierlichen Urbanisierungsgradienten, der von nahegelegenen Wäldern bis in die Innenstädte hineinreicht. Entlang dieses Gradienten nahm die Flügelspitzigkeit bei männlichen, aber nicht bei weiblichen Amseln signifikant ab. Dieser Trend ist jedoch nicht mehr signifikant, wenn die Regionen separat betrachtet werden. Das bedeutet, dass sich die Flügelspitzigkeit aufgrund unterschiedlicher Urbanisierungsintensitäten nicht einheitlich über das Artareal hinweg ändert. Geschlechterspezifische Unterschiede gehen möglicherweise auf unterschiedliches Territorial- und Dominanzverhalten zurück. Variationen in der Flügelform von Stadt- und Landpopulationen der Amsel basieren höchstwahrscheinlich auf einer Kombination von besseren klimatischen Bedingungen und höherer Nahrungsverfügbarkeit sowie an städtische Habitate angepasstem Verhalten. Diese Studie zeigt Auswirkungen der Verstädterung auf die Flügelmorphologie von Amseln, die möglicherweise mit reduziertem Zugverhalten in Zusammenhang stehen.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the regional authority for bird conservation, the Staatliche Vogelschutzwarte für Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz und Saarland, for a great deal of support, and other local as well as regional authorities for research permits. Franziska Beedgen, Franzisca Haffner, Rolf Hennes, Sabrina Hoffmann, Hans Koller, Liviu Pârâu, Lisa Söhn, Hedwig Sauer-Gürth, Sven Klimpel, Kristin Stützel, Rebekka Tietze, Olga Tzortzakaki, and Michael Wink helped invaluably with fieldwork and logistics. Comments from three reviewers greatly improved the original manuscript. The experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.
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Communicated by F. Bairlein.
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Saccavino, E., Krämer, J., Klaus, S. et al. Does urbanization affect wing pointedness in the Blackbird Turdus merula?. J Ornithol 159, 1043–1051 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-018-1575-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-018-1575-7