Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus)

Brush, Timothy; Fitzpatrick, John W.

doi:10.2173/bna.622

“…We estimated the adult survival rate as 0.65 using mark–recapture data derived from the Bermudan population (see below). We estimated age at maturity as 1 year, as there is no reason to suspect delayed breeding in this species (Brush & Fitzpatrick, 2002). These estimates yielded a generation time, T , of 2.88 years.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The great kiskadee is a passerine bird from the New World flycatcher family (Tyrannidae), with a native range spanning from southern Texas to central Argentina and including the island of Trinidad. Its average mass ranges from 55 to 74 g over its large native range (Brush & Fitzpatrick, 2002). The kiskadee is a very catholic forager, and because of its habit of eating lizards was introduced to Bermuda in 1957.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid evolution of great kiskadees on Bermuda: an assessment of the ability of the island rule to predict the direction of contemporary evolution in exotic vertebrates

Mathys¹,

Lockwood

²

2009

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim To determine whether an exotic bird species, the great kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus), has diverged in morphology from its native source population, and, if so, has done so in a manner predicted by the island rule. The island rule predicts that insular vertebrates will tend towards dwarfism or gigantism when isolated on islands, depending on their body size. For birds, the island rule predicts that species with body sizes below 70-120 g should increase in size. The great kiskadee has a mean mass of c. 60 g in its native range, therefore we predicted that it would increase in size within the exotic, and more insular, Bermudan range.Location The islands of Bermuda (exotic population) and Trinidad (native source population).Methods We took eight morphological measurements on 84 individuals captured in the exotic (Bermudan) population and 62 individuals captured in the native source (Trinidadian) population. We compared morphological metrics between populations using univariate and principal components analyses. We assessed whether the effects of genetic drift could explain observed differences in morphology. We calculated divergence rates in haldanes and darwins for comparison with published examples of contemporary evolution. Finally, we used mark-recapture analysis to determine the effects of the measured morphological characters on survivorship within the exotic Bermudan population.Results Individuals in the exotic Bermudan population have larger morphological dimensions than individuals in the native source population on Trinidad. The degree of divergence in body mass (g) and bill width (mm) is probably not due to genetic drift. This rate of divergence is nearly equal to that observed amongst well-documented examples of contemporary bird evolution, and is within the mid-range of rates reported across taxa. There is no clear effect of body size on survivorship as only one character (bill width) was found to have an influence on individual survivorship.Main conclusions Exotic species provide useful systems for examining evolutionary predictions over contemporary time-scales. We found that divergence between the exotic and native populations of this bird species occurred over c. 17 generations, and was in the direction predicted by the island rule, a principle based on the study of native species.

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“…Great kiskadees Pitangus sulphuratus, brown-headed cowbirds Molothrus ater and house sparrows Passer domesticus were reported to produce vocalizations that ''resemble'' duets, and which I treated as duets in this analysis (Lowther and Cink 1992, Lowther 1993, Brush and Fitzpatrick 2002. Some authors reported ''apparent'' duets, or merely that previous researchers had termed specific vocal behaviors ''duets''.…”

Section: Duet Descriptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence and life history correlates of vocal duetting in North American passerines

Benedict¹

2008

Journal of Avian Biology

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Vocal duetting, where two birds produce temporally coordinated vocalizations, has been reported in a taxonomically and geographically diverse set of avian species. Researchers have suggested a number of potential correlates of duetting, including long term monogamy, year-round territory defense and sexual plumage monomorphism. Because the majority of duetting species are tropical, they have been the focus of the most comprehensive studies to date. There is, therefore, a real need for data regarding avian duets in temperate species. I used the recently completed Birds of North America species reports to examine the frequency, evolutionary origins and potential life history correlates of duetting behavior in North American passerines. ''Duetting'' behavior was reported in 7% of species from 12 avian families, likely representing 17 separate evolutionary origins. Duetting species showed apparent long term monogamy and year-round territoriality at frequencies more than double those of non-duetting passerines: 65% of duetting species were long term monogamous, compared to 27% of non-duetting species, and 50% of duetting species defended the same territory throughout the year, compared with only 11% of non-duetting species. Duetting and non-duetting species showed statistically indistinguishable frequencies of sexual plumage monomorphism. Comparative analyses of duetting species and their sister taxa revealed that the shift to duetting is accompanied by a gain of long term monogamy and year-round territoriality more often than it is associated with a loss of those traits. This study provides intriguing summary evidence that selective factors promoting duetting may be associated with a sedentary, monogamous lifestyle, and may operate similarly across taxonomic groups. Furthermore, vocal duetting may be considerably more common among temperatezone species than previously recognized.

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“…Reports of duetting behavior varied widely. Great kiskadees Pitangus sulphuratus, brown-headed cowbirds Molothrus ater and house sparrows Passer domesticus were reported to produce vocalizations that ''resemble'' duets, and which I treated as duets in this analysis (Lowther and Cink 1992, Lowther 1993, Brush and Fitzpatrick 2002. Some authors reported ''apparent'' duets, or merely that previous researchers had termed specific vocal behaviors ''duets''.…”

Section: Duet Descriptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence and life history correlates of vocal duetting in North American passerines

Benedict¹

2007

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Vocal duetting, where two birds produce temporally coordinated vocalizations, has been reported in a taxonomically and geographically diverse set of avian species. Researchers have suggested a number of potential correlates of duetting, including long term monogamy, year-round territory defense and sexual plumage monomorphism. Because the majority of duetting species are tropical, they have been the focus of the most comprehensive studies to date. There is, therefore, a real need for data regarding avian duets in temperate species. I used the recently completed Birds of North America species reports to examine the frequency, evolutionary origins and potential life history correlates of duetting behavior in North American passerines. ''Duetting'' behavior was reported in 7% of species from 12 avian families, likely representing 17 separate evolutionary origins. Duetting species showed apparent long term monogamy and year-round territoriality at frequencies more than double those of non-duetting passerines: 65% of duetting species were long term monogamous, compared to 27% of non-duetting species, and 50% of duetting species defended the same territory throughout the year, compared with only 11% of non-duetting species. Duetting and non-duetting species showed statistically indistinguishable frequencies of sexual plumage monomorphism. Comparative analyses of duetting species and their sister taxa revealed that the shift to duetting is accompanied by a gain of long term monogamy and year-round territoriality more often than it is associated with a loss of those traits. This study provides intriguing summary evidence that selective factors promoting duetting may be associated with a sedentary, monogamous lifestyle, and may operate similarly across taxonomic groups. Furthermore, vocal duetting may be considerably more common among temperatezone species than previously recognized.

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Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus)

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Rapid evolution of great kiskadees on Bermuda: an assessment of the ability of the island rule to predict the direction of contemporary evolution in exotic vertebrates

Rapid evolution of great kiskadees on Bermuda: an assessment of the ability of the island rule to predict the direction of contemporary evolution in exotic vertebrates

Occurrence and life history correlates of vocal duetting in North American passerines

Occurrence and life history correlates of vocal duetting in North American passerines

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