Pârâu, LG, Kingma, SA, Weigl, SE et al. (3 more authors) (2017) Dynamics in numbers of group-roosting individuals in relation to pair-sleeping occurrence and onset of egg-laying in European Bee-eaters Merops apiaster. Journal of Ornithology, 158 (4). pp. 1119-1122. ISSN 0021-8375
Abstract
Sleeping in the nest at the beginning of the breeding season is common for birds nesting in cavities. Here, we report evidence that European Bee-eaters Merops apiaster sleep in pairs in the nesting burrow. In 3.2 % of the nest checks we found two individuals sleeping together. This behaviour ceased once hatching started. A decrease in the number of birds at a communal roost coincided with the incidences of pair-sleeping and initiation of egg-laying. Thus, checking the burrows of European Bee-eaters at beginning of the breeding season increases the chance of observing pair-sleeping.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Dt. Ornithologen-Gesellschaft e.V. 2017. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Journal of Ornithology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-017-1468-1. |
Keywords: | roost; sleeping behaviour; burrow; pair; European Bee-eater; Merops apiaster |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Biological Sciences (Leeds) > School of Biology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 29 Jun 2017 14:18 |
Last Modified: | 28 Jun 2018 00:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s10336-017-1468-1 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:118402 |