Migratory and resident blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus differ in their reaction to a novel object

Individuals differ consistently in their behavioural reactions towards novel objects and new situations. Reaction to novelty is one part of a suit of individually consistent behaviours called coping strategies or personalities and is often summarised as bold or shy behaviour. Coping strategies could be particularly important for migrating birds exposed to novel environments on their journeys. We compared the average approach latencies to a novel object among migrants and residents in partially migratory blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus. In this test, we found migrating blue tits to have shorter approach latencies than had resident ones. Behavioural reactions to novelty can affect the readiness to migrate and short approach latency may have an adaptive value during migration. Individual behaviour towards novelty might be incorporated among the factors associated with migratory or resident behaviour in a partially migratory population.     

‘Ecomálaga’: an ecosystem analysis of the Mediterranean coast around Málaga, Spain

In October 1992, the Oceanographic Centre of Málaga of the Spanish Oceanographical Institute (IEO) started a monitoring project,Ecomálaga, which collects physical, chemical, biological and sedimentological data from the Alborán Sea shelf. The project is coordinated with similar projects in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Centres of IEO. The ultimate objective is to, understand the long-term changes of the essential marine-environmental parameters. So far, nine quarterly surveys have been carried out—from October 1992 to December 1994. The following variables were registered:abiotic: location weather, water temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicate,biotic: zooplankton biomass and species composition, and ichthyoplankton. The granulometric composition and organic matter content of sediments are also included. Data are stored in a computerized data base named Ecomálaga Data Base, with contributions from geology, physics, plankton biology and marine chemistry. The data base not only contains separate files for each research topic, but also allows for interchange between these files, resulting in a synoptic data output. It offers the users an output in the form of synthetic records of each station sampled. The analysis of the data indicates seasonal influences and ainshore-offshore gradient, as well as an Atlantic influence on the stations located in the transect closest to the Strait of Gibraltar.     

Communal nursing in wild house mice is not a by-product of group living: Females choose

Communal nursing, the provision of milk to non-offspring, has been argued to be a non-adaptive by-product of group living. We used 2 years of field data from a wild house mouse population to investigate this question. Communal nursing never occurred among females that previously lacked overlap in nest box use. Females nursed communally in only 33 % of cases in which there was a communal nursing partner available from the same social group. Solitarily nursing females were not socially isolated in their group; nevertheless, high spatial associations prior to reproduction predict which potential female partner was chosen for communal nursing. An increase in partner availability increased the probability of communal nursing, but population density itself had a negative effect, which may reflect increased female reproductive competition during summer. These results argue that females are selective in their choice of nursing partners and provide further support that communal nursing with the right partner is adaptive.