Reproductive behavior of Helmeted Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris): Mating system and parental care

Elbin, Susan B.; Crowe, Timothy M.; Graves, H.B.

doi:10.1016/0168-1591(86)90110-3

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Unlike free ranging Domestic Guineafowl, where the family is the primary reproductive and brooding unit (Elbin, 1979), this study shows that wild Helmeted Guineafowl base their survival on co-operation in a flock with a number of adult Helmeted Guineafowl. Some adults did not pair off to breed, whereas breeding appears to be the prerogative of the highest ranking male, followed by the second highest ranking male.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There was no evidence of sequential mate selection. Flirting by paired males was recorded by Elbin et al (1986) elsewhere.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Monogamous pairs form and males protect their females and chicks (Crowe and Elbin, 1987). According to Elbin (1979) the prime reproductive system is the family unit (mother, father and offspring) as revealed by studies conducted on free-ranging Domestic Guineafowl in Pennsylvania (USA). In short, behavioral studies have concentrated on seasonal events and the reproductive system of Helmeted Guineafowl (Skead, 1962;Elbin, 1979), while this paper focuses on the behavioral patterns of individuals and how they contribute to the maintenance of the flock.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Elbin (1979) the prime reproductive system is the family unit (mother, father and offspring) as revealed by studies conducted on free-ranging Domestic Guineafowl in Pennsylvania (USA). In short, behavioral studies have concentrated on seasonal events and the reproductive system of Helmeted Guineafowl (Skead, 1962;Elbin, 1979), while this paper focuses on the behavioral patterns of individuals and how they contribute to the maintenance of the flock. More specifically the purposes of this paper are: 1) to describe the cyclic re-grouping of members within the flock to maintain cohesion and flock stability and 2) to describe patterns of co-operation within the flock that have not been the focus of previous studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social organization of a flock of Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) at the Krugersdorp Game Reserve, South Africa

Niekerk¹

2010

Chinese Birds

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The social organization of marked Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) was studied in the Krugersdorp Game Reserve (Gauteng Province, South Africa) during March 1982 to February 1984. Flock members (7-10 guineafowl) did not associate randomly. Helmeted Guineafowl must live in a sociable flock to survive in the wild. The highest ranking male (male A) formed the pivot of the daily activities of the flock, such as determining foraging direction. High ranking males (males A and B) associated closely to repulse conspecific intruders. Breeding females associated more often with the high ranking males during the breeding season. Although a pecking order was established among males, the frequency of agonistic actions within the flock was very low, which suggests that agonistic interactions are limited to maintain cohesion. Adult females remained between the dominant male and the juveniles to minimize victimization. The second highest ranking male (B) took center stage while the dominant male and his female left temporarily to breed and then the rest of the flock clustered around him to maintain the cohesive nature of the flock. Most adults assisted with the brooding of the chicks of the highest ranking male. Flocking is, among other functions, a predator surveillance strategy that enables the Helmeted Guineafowl to forage under conditions with very limited ground cover and to maximize food finding during winter.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There was no evidence of sequential mate selection. Flirting by paired males was recorded by Elbin et al (1986) elsewhere.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Social organization of a flock of Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) at the Krugersdorp Game Reserve, South Africa

Niekerk¹

2010

Chinese Birds

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“…This could be due to low incidences of mating in SC birds, which, in turn, could indicate that the facilities provided to the SC group were inadequate for the guinea fowl to mate as freely they would in the wild. The semi-confined helmeted guinea fowl appeared to try to adjust the sex ratios towards the one male: four females described by Njiforti & Kortekaas (1998), Nwagu & Alawa (1995) as well as Elbin et al 1986). We suggest that confinement induces stress in the birds and this affects the mating patterns.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

Confinement Lowers Fertility Rate of Helmeted Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris) Eggs

2014

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Guinea fowl is a common game bird in Africa and there have been efforts to domesticate it for use as a source of human food. An important obstacle in successful domestication of guinea fowl is their low fertility rate. We studied the effects of semi-confinement on the fertility rates of helmeted guinea fowl by comparing egg fertility, hatch rate and keet survival rates in a wild (WL) and a semi-confined (SC) group. We undertook the study in Eastern Kenya for a period of 16 months that represented three breeding cycles. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in egg fertility rates between egg laying cycles in the SC group. However, the egg fertility rate of the WL group was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of the SC group. There were no significant differences in the hatch rate of eggs (P > 0.05) or the keet survival rates between the WL and SC groups. These results clearly show that low egg fertility rate is a key limiting factor in the reproductive success of helmeted guinea fowl kept in semi-confined spaces

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Gastrointestinal nematodes in two galliform birds from South Africa: patterns associated with host sex and age

et al. 2021

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Parasite ecology has recently focused on elucidating patterns and processes that shape helminth communities in avian hosts. However, helminths parasitizing gamebirds are still poorly understood. Here we describe the gastrointestinal nematode fauna of Swainson's spurfowl, Pternistis swainsonii (Phasianidae) and helmeted guineafowl, Numida meleagris (Numididae), collected at three and four localities, respectively, in South Africa and analyze the prevalence, mean abundance and diversity of their helminth communities. Eleven nematode species were collected from spurfowl, which had a mean number of nematode species per host of 3.01 ± 0.18, whereas guineafowl harboured 15 nematode species, with a mean number of nematode species per host of 3.93 ± 0.12. Focusing on the most prevalent species, we also asked if host sex and/or age were associated with infracommunity structure with regard to nematode counts and species richness, as well as the species and taxonomic composition of infracommunities. While pooling data of nematode species masked the influence of host characteristics on helminth communities, analysis of individual nematode species revealed a number of patterns. In particular, adult female bias was seen in Tetrameres swainsonii in spurfowl and in Allodapa dentigera and Gongylonema congolense in guineafowl; Acuaria gruveli reached higher numbers in adult spurfowl than in juveniles, and helminth infracommunities in juvenile male guineafowl were more species rich than those in adult males. Combined, our results suggest that helminth communities of spurfowl and guineafowl are associated with a complex interplay of numerous factors, including host characteristics, parasite traits and environmental conditions.

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Reproductive behavior of Helmeted Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris): Mating system and parental care

Cited by 8 publications

References 14 publications

Social organization of a flock of Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) at the Krugersdorp Game Reserve, South Africa

Social organization of a flock of Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) at the Krugersdorp Game Reserve, South Africa

Confinement Lowers Fertility Rate of Helmeted Guinea Fowl (Numida meleagris) Eggs

Gastrointestinal nematodes in two galliform birds from South Africa: patterns associated with host sex and age

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