The research was carried out in the village of Mokrice (46°00\u27N, 15°55\u27E) in NW Croatia during 1998–1999. Egg length averaged 19.16 mm, egg breadth 13.72 mm, egg volume 1840.8 mm3, egg shape index 1.40 and egg weight 1.81 g (during both years). The nests were situated at a height of 1.5–4.5 m above ground (mean = 2.5 m). I found 2–7 eggs per nest, on average 4.56 eggs. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between mean egg volume and egg breadth, as well as length, egg length and egg shape index, egg length and egg breadth; whereas a statistically significant negative correlation was observed between egg breadth and egg shape index. The laying order did not affect egg dimensions (length, breadth, volume, shape index, all p>0.05). The %D-value is 2.31.Istraživanja su obavljena na području sela Mokrice (46°00\u27N, 15° 55\u27E) na sjeverozapadnom dijelu Hrvatske u razdoblju od 1998. do 1999. godine. Prosječna duljina jaja lastavice iznosi 19.16 mm, širina 13.72 mm, volumen 1840.8 mm3, indeks oblika jaja 1.40 te masa jaja 1.81 g (u obje godine istraživanja). Gnijezda su smještena na visini 1.5 do 4.5 m (prosjek 2.5 m). U gnijezdima prvog pologa nalazi se 2 do 7 jaja (prosjek 4.56 po gnijezdu). Statistički su značajne pozitivne korelacije između volumena i širine jaja, volumena i dužine jaja, dužine jaja i indeksa oblika jaja, dužine i širine kao i negativna korelacija između širine i indeksa oblika jaja. Nije bilo statistički značajne korelacije između redoslijeda nesenja jaja i dimenzija jaja (dužina, širina, volumen, indeks oblika jaja). Vrijednost %D iznosi 2.31

Z. Dolenec

Hrčak - Portal of scientific journals of Croatia

ISSN 1330-0520 original scientific paper / izvorni znanstveni radUDK 598.812.591.561(497.5/1-16)BREEDING CHARACTERISTICS OFTHE BARN SWALLOW (HIRUNDO RUSTICA)IN NW CROATIAZDRAVKO DOLENECDepartment of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb,Rooseveltov trg 6, 10000 Zagreb, CroatiaDolenec, Z.: Breeding characteristics of the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) in NW Croatia.Nat. Croat., Vol. 11, No. 4., 439–445, 2002, Zagreb.The research was carried out in the village of Mokrice (46°00'N, 15°55'E) in NW Croatia during1998–1999. Egg length averaged 19.16 mm, egg breadth 13.72 mm, egg volume 1840.8 mm3, eggshape index 1.40 and egg weight 1.81 g (during both years). The nests were situated at a height of1.5–4.5 m above ground (mean = 2.5 m). I found 2–7 eggs per nest, on average 4.56 eggs. A statisti-cally significant positive correlation was found between mean egg volume and egg breadth, as wellas length, egg length and egg shape index, egg length and egg breadth; whereas a statistically sig-nificant negative correlation was observed between egg breadth and egg shape index. The layingorder did not affect egg dimensions (length, breadth, volume, shape index, all p>0.05). The %D-va-lue is 2.31.Key words: barn swallow, Hirundo rustica, position of nest, egg characteristics, laying order,NW CroatiaDolenec, Z.: Obilje`ja gnije`|enja lastavice (Hirundo rustica) na podru~ju sjeverozapadneHrvatske. Nat. Croat., Vol. 11, No. 4., 439–445, 2002, Zagreb.Istra`ivanja su obavljena na podru~ju sela Mokrice (46°00'N, 15°55'E) na sjeverozapadnom dije-lu Hrvatske u razdoblju od 1998. do 1999. godine. Prosje~na duljina jaja lastavice iznosi 19.16 mm,{irina 13.72 mm, volumen 1840.8 mm3, indeks oblika jaja 1.40 te masa jaja 1.81 g (u obje godine is-tra`ivanja). Gnijezda su smje{tena na visini 1.5 do 4.5 m (prosjek 2.5 m). U gnijezdima prvog polo-ga nalazi se 2 do 7 jaja (prosjek 4.56 po gnijezdu). Statisti~ki su zna~ajne pozitivne korelacije izme-|u volumena i {irine jaja, volumena i du`ine jaja, du`ine jaja i indeksa oblika jaja, du`ine i {irinekao i negativna korelacija izme|u {irine i indeksa oblika jaja. Nije bilo statisti~ki zna~ajne korelacijeizme|u redoslijeda nesenja jaja i dimenzija jaja (du`ina, {irina, volumen, indeks oblika jaja). Vrijed-nost %D iznosi 2.31.Klju~ne rije~i: lastavica, Hirundo rustica, polo`aj gnijezda, obilje`ja jaja, redoslijed nesenja jaja,sjeverozapadna HrvatskaNAT. CROAT. VOL. 11 No 4 439¿445 ZAGREB December 31, 2002Croatian Natural History Museum, Demetrova 1, Zagreb, CroatiaINTRODUCTIONThe size, length, breadth and shape of eggs are important life-history variablesin birds as hatching mass is highly correlated with egg size for a large number ofbird species (e.g. COULSON, 1969; PARSONS, 1970; HOWE, 1976; WILLIAMS & BURGER,1979; HEGYI, 1996). In birds, clutch size and egg size vary with laying date (e.g.HILL, 1984), female age (e.g. DESROCHERS & MAGRATH, 1993), year (e.g. PERRINS,1969), seasonal variations (e.g. COULSON, 1963), laying order (e.g. MURPHY, 1994),food availability (e.g. BOEKELHEIDE & AINLEY, 1989), female condition (e.g. HORAK etal., 1995), heritage (e.g. NOORDWIJK et al., 1980), and other factors.This study has several tasks. First, to present the breeding characteristics of barnswallows (these are the first data from Croatia) and to compare them with datafrom other countries. Second, to investigate the influence of laying order on eggvolume. For example, egg size increases with the laying order in some birds (e.g.HAFTORN, 1986; ENEMAR & ARHEMER, 1999), but it decreases in others (e.g. BAN-CROFT, 1984; ROFSTAD & SANDVIK, 1985), whereas in some species the laying orderhas no influence at all on egg volume (e.g. GREIG-SMITH et al., 1988).According to SLAGSVOLD et al. (1984), the last egg in the clutch is of special im-portance. Birds that lay a relatively big final egg adopt the brood – survival strat-egy whereas birds that lay a relatively small final egg apply the brood – reductionstrategy. In many species of altricial birds, eggs hatch asynchronously and the lastnestling to hatch may starve to death or be killed by its older and larger siblings.Parents could enhance size hierarchies by laying a smaller egg as the last one in theclutch, or reduce size hierarchies by laying a large last egg, so it has been suggestedthat intraclutch variation in egg mass influences the establishment of hatching hier-archies (MAGRATH, 1992).MATERIALS AND METHODSThe research was carried out in the village (250 houses and more than 400 otherbuildings) of Mokrice (46°00'N; 15°55'E), a part of the Hrvatsko Zagorje area (NWCroatia). 118 clutches (538 eggs) were studied in 1998 and 137 clutches (626 eggs) in1999, total 255 clutches (1164 eggs). All eggs were measured to the nearest 0.01 mmwith sliding calipers. Using a precise Tehnica scale the masses of 100 random se-lected, fresh eggs were determined to the nearest 0.01 g.30 nests were visited daily in order to determine laying order and all the eggslaid were marked with a felt pen. 16 nests with the same number of eggs (5 eggs)were used in order to determine the influence of laying order on egg size. In thesenests, the laying started on the same day (April 29th 1999). This method was takenfrom BANBURA & ZIELINSKI (1995). The advantage of this method is that it decreasesthe number of unwanted internal and external factors in the egg laying period.To calculate egg volume, I used the formula of HOYT’S (1979): V = 0.51 x L x B2.Egg shape index (ES) was calculated using the formula ES = LENGTH / BREADTH(SCHÖNWETTER, 1967–1979). The value of %D can be obtained by calculating the440 Dolenec, Z.: Breeding characteristics of the barn swallow in NW Croatiapercentage of final egg volume in relationship to the mean egg volume of the wholeclutch. The value of %D was calculated following the instructions by SLAGSVOLD etal. (1984) as used by other authors (e.g. MURPHY et al., 1994; DOLENEC, 2001).According to VAURIE (1959) the birds of my study area belong to the subspeciesHirundo rustica rustica.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe nests were situated at a height of 1.5–4.5 m above ground (mean = 2.5m).McGINN & CLARK (1978) found the majority of nests (41%) at 3–4.5 m above theground. The position of the nests depended on the height of the buildings in thefarms where swallows built their nests. I found 2–7 eggs in a nest, 2 eggs werefound in 2 (0.8%) nests, 3 in 15 (5.8%), 4 in 94 (36.8%), 5 in 127 (49.8%), 6 in 16(6.4%) and 7 eggs in 1 (0.4%) nest. Similar clutch sizes were found in other parts ofEurope. SNOW & PERRINS (1998) mention clutch sizes of 4–5 (2–7) eggs, PERRINS(1987) 4–6, and NIETHAMMER (1937) 4–5 eggs. The average clutch size was 4.56.BESSER (1974) states a clutch size of 4.43 (first and second clutch) and BANBURA &ZIELINSKI (2000) 4.66 (first and second clutch). There is a considerable similarity be-tween the mean values of the clutch size in this study (4.56 eggs) and the data byLÖHRL & GUTSCHER (1978) given for Germany, 4.57. In this study, the modal clutchsize was 5 eggs (49.8%). ADAMS (1957) gives similar data for Great Britain, where5-egg clutches were represented in 43% of cases.Nat. Croat. Vol. 11(4), 2002 441Tab. 1. Egg dimensions of the barn swallow in Mokrice village in 1998–1999. SD = stan-dard deviation, CV = coefficient of variation, n = number of eggs (first, second and tosomewhat less extent third clutch)Mean Range SD CV nLength, mm 19.16 16.92–22.04 0.72 3.75 1164Breadth, mm 13.72 12.11–14.71 0.46 3.35 1164Volume, mm3 1840.8 1385.6–2202.3 168.27 8.05 1164Egg shape index 1.40 1.28–1.51 0.05 3.57 1164Weight, g 1.81 1.39–2.45 0.14 7.73 100Tab. 2. Pearson’s correlation coefficients (2-tailed) between egg dimensions of the barnswallow in Mokrice village in 1999. Only first clutches included. 5-egg clutches (n = 80individual eggs). Statistical significance: ***p<0.001Variable Egg breadth Egg volume Egg shape indexEgg length 0.50*** 0.70*** 0.51***Egg breadth – 0.94*** –0.42***Egg volume – – –0.10Egg length averaged 19.16 mm (SD = 0.72), egg breadth 13.72 mm (SD = 0.46),egg volume 1840.8 mm3 (SD = 168.27) egg weight 1.81 g and egg shape index 1.40(SD = 0.05) (Tab. 1). The results of this study agree with those of many others,which (HORAK et al., 1995) have shown that egg length is more variable than breadth.CRAMP et al. (1988) gives an egg length of 19.7 mm and egg breadth 13.6 mm,VERHEYEN (1967) 20.2  13.7 mm and NIETHAMMER (1937) 19.5  13.3 mm. If we testcorrelations of different egg dimensions (Tab. 2), we can see that the strongest posi-442 Dolenec, Z.: Breeding characteristics of the barn swallow in NW CroatiaFig. 1. Pearson’s correlation coefficients for various egg dimensions in relation to thelaying order of the barn swallow in Mokrice village in 1999. Only first clutches in-cluded. 5-egg clutches (n=80 individual eggs). The lines are fitted linear regressions;none are significant (p>0.05).tive correlation exists between egg breadth and egg volume. All other correlationsare also statistically significant, except the correlation between egg volume and eggshape index. A strong but negative correlation between egg breadth and egg shapeindex was also registered.Fig. 1 gives the correlation between egg dimensions and egg laying order. Therewas no significant correlation between any egg dimension and laying order, whichapplies to all nests. However, it is important to stress that the correlation betweenegg length and the laying order is very close to significance. If we analyse the lay-ing order and egg dimensions for each nest separately, we can observe non-homo-geneity. In some nests the dimensions increase, in others they decrease (rarely sta-tistically significant). There were 3 negative correlations and 13 positive correlationsrecorded between egg length and the laying order (only one was significant). Foregg breadth there were 6 negative and 10 positive correlations (only one was signif-icant). For egg volume there were 4 negative and 12 positive correlations (therewere 4 statistically significant correlations, 1 negative and 3 positive). There were 6negative and 10 positive correlations for egg shape index and laying order (not onewas significant). Generally (all clutches), laying order did not affect egg dimensions(Fig. 1).In some bird species, there was a significant correlation between egg dimensionsand the laying order within a particular nest. Egg length, breadth and volume allincrease significantly with the laying order in the species goldcrest (Regulus regulus)(HAFTORN, 1986). The data presented in this study do not allow for the making ofany general conclusion that the barn swallow adopts either the brood-survival stra-tegy or the brood reduction strategy. However, the amount of the value of %D (%D= 2.31), and SLAGSVOLD’s (1984) opinion lead to the opinion that swallows do applythe survival strategy. According to SLAGSVOLD et al. (1984), a large size of the finalegg compared to the clutch mean gives the last hatchling better chances for sur-vival.Received December 18, 2001REFERENCESADAMS, L. E., 1957: Nest records of the Swallow. Bird Study 4, 28–33.BANCROFT, G. T., 1984: Patterns of variation in size of Boat-teiled Grackle Quiscalus major eggs.Ibis 126, 496–510.BANBURA, J. & ZIELINSKI, P., 1995: The Influence of laying sequence and Ambient Temperatureon Egg size Variation in the Swallow Hirundo rustica. J. Orn. 136, 453–460.BANBURA, J. & ZIELINSKI, P., 2000: Repeatability of reproductive traits in female Barn SwallowsHirundo rustica. Ardea 88 (1), 75–80.BESER, H.-J., 1974: Zur Brutbiologie der Rauchschwalbe in zwei Ortschaften des Niederrheins.Charadrius 10, 81–90.BOEKELHEIDE, R. J. & AINLEY, D. G., 1989: Age, resource, availability, and breeding effort inBrand’s Cormorant. Auk 106, 389–401.COULSON, J. C., 1963: Egg size and shape in the Kittiwake and their use in estimating agecomposition of populations. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 140, 211–227.Nat. Croat. Vol. 11(4), 2002 443COULSON, J. C., POTTS, G. R. & HOROBIN, J., 1969: Variation in the eggs of the Shang (Phala-crocorax aristotelis). Auk 86, 222–245.CRAMP, S., (Ed.) 1988: The birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. Vol V. OxfordUniversity Press.DESROCHERS, A. & McGRATH, R. D., 1993: Age-specific fecundity in European Blackbirds (Turdusmerula): individual and population trends. Auk 110, 255–263.DOLENEC, Z., 2001: Correlations between egg characteristics and laying order in the starling(Sturnus vulgaris) in NW Croatia. Natura Croatica 10 (1), 11–17.ENEMAR, A. & ARHEIMER, O., 1999: Egg sizes of nine passerine bird species in a subalpinehirch forest, Swedish Lapland. Ornis Svecica 9, 1–10.GREIG-SMITH, P. W., FEARE, C. J., FREEMAN, E. M. & SPENCER, P. L., 1988: Causes and conse-quences of egg size variation in the European Starling Sturnus vulgaris. Ibis 130, 1–10.HAFTORN, S., 1986: Clutch size, intraclutch egg size variation, and breeding strategy in theGoldcrest Regulus regulus. J. Orn. 127, 291–301.HEGYI, Z., 1996: Laying date, egg volumes and chick survival in Lapwing (Vanellus vanellusL.), Redshank (Tringa totanus L.), and Black-teiled Godwit (Limosa limosa L.). Ornis Hunga-rica 6, 1–7.HILL, D. A., 1984: Laying date, clutch size and egg size of the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)and Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula). Ibis 126, 484–495.HORAK, P., MÄND, R., OTS, I. & LEIVITS, A., 1995: Egg size in the Great Tit Parus major: individ-ual, habitat and geographic differences. Ornis Fennica 72, 97–114.HOWE, H. F., 1976: Egg size hatching asynchrony, sex, and brood reduction in the CommonGrackle. Ecology 57, 1195–1207.HOYT, O. F., 1979: Practical methods of estimating volume and fresh weight of bird eggs. Auk96, 73–77.LÖHRL, H. & GUTSCHER, H., 1978: Zur Brutökologie der Rauchschwalbe (Hirundo rustica) ineinem südwestdeutschen Dorf. J. Orn. 114, 399–416.MAGRATH, R. D., 1992: Roles of egg and incubation pattern in establishment of hatching hier-archies in the Blackbird (Turdus merula). Auk 109, 474–487.MURPHY, T. M., 1994: Breeding patterns of Eastern Phoebes in Kansas: Adaptive strategies orphsyiological constraint? Auk 111 (3), 617–633.McGINN, D. B. & CLARK, H., 1978: Some measurements of Swallow breeding biology in low-land Scotland. Bird Study 25, 109–118.NIETHAMMER, G., 1937: Handbuch der deutschen Vogelkunde. Passers, I. Akademie Verlags-geseltschaft, Leipzig.NOORDWIJK, A. J. VAN, BALEN, J. H. VAN & SCHARLOV, W., 1980: Heritability of ecologically im-portant traits in the Great Tit, Parus major. Ardea 68, 193–203.PARSONS, J., 1970: Relationship between egg size and post-hatching chick mortality in theHerring Gull (Larus argentatus). Nature 228, 1221–1222.PERRINS, C. M., 1969: The timing of birds’ breeding seasons. Ibis 112, 242–255.PERRINS, C., 1987: Vögel. Verlag Paul Parey, Hamburg und Berlin.ROFSTAD, G. & SANDVIK, J., 1985: Variation in egg size of the Hooded Crow Corvus coronecornix. Ornis Scand. 16, 38–44.SCHÖNWETTER, M., 1967–1979: Handbuch der Oologie. Academie-Verlag, Berlin.SLAGSVOLD, T., SANDVIK, J., ROFSTAD, G., LORENSTEN, Ö. & HUSKY, M., 1984: On the adaptivevalue of intraclutch egg-size variation in birds. Auk 101, 685–697.SNOW, D. W. & PERRINS, C. M., 1998: The birds of the Western Palearctic, Concise Edition Vol-ume 2. Passerines, Oxford University Press.444 Dolenec, Z.: Breeding characteristics of the barn swallow in NW CroatiaVAURIE, C., 1959. The Birds of Palearctic Fauna. Passeriformes. Witherby Ltd., London.VERHEYEN, R., 1967: Oologica Belgica. Inst. Royal Sci. Belgique, Brüssel.WILLIAMS, A. J. & BURGER, A. E., 1979: Aspects of the breeding biology of the Imberial Cormo-rant, Phalacrocorax atriceps, at Marion Island. Gerfaut 69, 407–423.S A @ E TA KObilje`ja gnije`|enja lastavice (Hirundo rustica)na podru~ju sjeverozapadne HrvatskeZ. DolenecNa podru~ju sela Mokrice (Hrvatsko zagorje) istra`ivana su neka obilje`ja gnije`-|enja populacije vrste lastavica. Lastavice gnijezde na tramovima (nosa~ima) stropau nastambama za dr`anje doma}ih `ivotinja. Rezultati ovih istra`ivanja nisu potvr-dili niti jednu od poznatih strategija u ptica tijekom razmno`avanja (pogledati pri-mjerice HOWE, 1976), a odnose se na povezanost izme|u veli~ine jaja (masa ili vo-lumen) i redoslijeda nesenja jaja. Prema %D-vrijednosti (pogledati SLAGSVOLD et al.,1984), lastavica na podru~ju sjeverozapadne Hrvatske vjerojatno primjenjuje stra-tegiju »pre`ivljavanja« legla.Nat. Croat. Vol. 11(4), 2002 445

Obilježja gniježđenja lastavice (Hirundo rustica) na području sjeverozapadne Hrvatske

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Hrčak - Portal of scientific journals of Croatia