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Heating the preoptic region of the house sparrow caused the bird to decrease its metabolism and to decrease its body temperature, whereas cooling that region caused an increase in metabolism and an increase in body temperature. These responses indicate that the preoptic region of birds, like that of other vertebrates, is an important center for thermoregulation.
Endogenous daily rhythmicity is involved in the short-day photoperiodic response of breaking the refractory period in both white-crowned and golden-crowned sparrows. Under a modified "coincidence model," short-day photoperiodic induction occurs when light is noncoincident with a specific phase of an internal rhythm.
Daily 20-hour encephalic photophases (DEPP), transmitted (hours 0 to 20) via chronically implanted light-conducting fibers to selected sites in the basal hypothalamus of male white-crowned sparrows, were superimposed on daily 8-hour (hours 0 to 8) external ambient photophases (DAPP). Initially the birds displayed motor activity only during the 8-hour DAPP. After a delay of at least 2 weeks, some of the birds became intensively active during hours 8 to 20. We postulate that this period of "nocturnal" activity is equivalent to the nocturnal Zugunruhe shown by caged individuals of many nocturnally migratory species subjected to long days; such activity is generally regarded as the expression of migratory behavior.
The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of the Sparrow Pecking (SP) technique with that of the In-Situ (IS) technique of acupuncture on vibration-induced finger flexion reflex (VFR). Subjects were 30 healthy adults. VFR, flexion movement of the vibrated finger, was induced by vibrating the volar side of the middle finger tip. The acupuncture point was the right Hoku point. Both techniques of acupuncture inhibited VFR in the ipsilateral and contralateral sides, but inhibition with SP was significantly greater than that with IS (percentage control force of VFR, mean +/- SD: with SP right, 62.1 +/- 24.6%, left, 60.6 +/- 27.9%, with IS right, 74.9 +/- 26.6%, left, 78.1 +/- 29.5%, P < 0.0005). The results suggest that SP suppresses facilitation of VFR in the reflex arcs more than IS does.
Circadian responses to photoperiod were studied in house sparrows (Passer domesticus) by subjecting them to 4-h light pulses and measuring the subsequent phases of their circadian rhythms. The direction and magnitude of phase shifts in response to 4-h light pulses following pretreatment with light-dark cycles (LD) 16:8 or LD 8:16 varied with time of day; advances (3.4 h) occurred when pulses were imposed in the late subjective night on both groups of birds; delays (-2.1 h) occurred when the pulses were imposed in the early subjective night on the LD 8:16 birds. The time profiles for responses to light pulses that scanned 24 h (phase-response curves) were modified by long and short photoperiod. Short photoperiod 1) increased amplitude (1.7 h), 2) increased time from the prior lights-out to the peak of advances (6 h), and 3) decreased the mean phase shift (0.9 h).
We acclimated house sparrows (Passer domesticus; 26 g) to high-starch (HS), high-protein (HP), and high-lipid (HL) diets and tested the predictions that uptake of D-glucose and amino acids will be increased with increased levels of dietary carbohydrate and protein, respectively. HS birds had lower mediated D-glucose uptake rate than HP birds. Total uptake of L-leucine at low concentration (0.01 mM), but not of L-proline at 50mM, was increased by dietary protein. Measures of D-glucose maximal mediated uptake (1.2 +/- 0.2 nmol.min-1.mg-1) and intestinal mass (1 g) indicated that the intestine's mediated uptake capacity was only approximately 10% of the D-glucose absorbed at the whole animal level. This implied that nonmediated glucose absorption predominated. We applied a pharmacokinetic technique to measure in vivo absorption of L-glucose, the stereoisomer that does not interact with the Na(+)-glucose cotransporter. At least 75% of L-glucose that was ingested was apparently absorbed. This adds to the increasing evidence that substantial passive glucose absorption occurs in birds and may explain why mediated D-glucose uptake does not increase on high-carbohydrate diets.
Reproduction results from a complex interplay among multiple factors including social stimuli, hormones, the brain, and an individual's physical characteristics. Male house sparrows (Passer domesticus) possess a bib of black feathers, or badge, that is associated with behaviors important for reproduction including courtship behaviors, copulation, and aggression. Such behaviors are controlled by testosterone activity within the central nervous system and are strongly influenced by social status and female behavior. To understand how multiple factors interact to coordinate reproductive activity we explored relationships among social status, badge size, gonad volume, and the volumes of brain regions involved in male courtship and dominance (HVC, robust nucleus of the archistriatum, and the medial preoptic nucleus). A trend toward a U-shaped relationship was observed between dominance status and badge size, with the most dominant and most subordinate males possessing the largest badges. Male vocal expression, copulation, and aggression were positively related to dominance status, but not badge size. In contrast, the volumes of HVC, the medial preoptic nucleus and the gonads related positively to badge size, but not dominance. Females preferentially approached large-badged males regardless of dominance status, but this interest translated into copulation for dominant rather than subordinate males, a finding possibly related to the observation that dominant males vocalized at higher rates than subordinates. Subordinate males that had large badges, attracted female interest, and possessed the neuroendocrine potential to perform courtship behaviors might have been prevented from doing so through social interactions with dominant males within the flock.
House sparrows (Passer domesticus) whose circadian rhythms of locomotor activity and feeding had been abolished by pinealectomy were held in constant dim light and periodically exposed to melatonin in the drinking water. By alternating 8 h of melatonin water with variable phases of tap water, rhythms with periods (T) ranging from 21 to 27 h were produced. When melatonin was administered in rhythms with periods of 23, 24, and 25 h, feeding and locomotion behavior of most birds were rhythmic and synchronized with the exogenous melatonin rhythm. The rest phase coincided approximately with the phase of melatonin availability. Under melatonin cycles < 23 h and > 25 h, fewer birds had synchronized rhythms. Nonsynchronized birds were either arrhythmic or they expressed free-running rhythms. Under melatonin rhythms with periods between 23 and 26 h, the phase-angle difference between defined phases of the behavioral rhythms and the melatonin rhythm became more positive with increasing T. These data are consistent with the hypothesis (a) that periodic exogenous melatonin can substitute, at least to a certain degree, for the endogenous plasma melatonin rhythm normally resulting from the periodic melatonin secretion by the pineal gland, and (b) that this melatonin rhythm acts on another oscillator, possibly the SCN, as part of the overall circadian pacemaking system.
Groups of the photosensitive female yellow-throated sparrow were placed under various light-dark cycles, in which a fixed ultrashort photophase of 3 h was combined with dark phases of varying duration, resulting in cycles of 18-30 h. Simultaneously, two groups of birds, one in short days (8L/16D) and the other in long days (15L/9D), were kept as controls. Significant ovarian growth, observed at 30 and 60 days, was induced by 3 h ultrashort photophase only if it was introduced in the cycles of 18 h (3L/15D), 20 h (3L/17D), 26 h (3L/23D), 28 h (3L/25D) and 30 h (3L/27D) as well as under long days (15L/9D), whereas there was no response to the ultrashort photophase in cycles of 22 h (3L/19D) and 24 h (3L/21D) and in short days (8L/16D). It seems that there is an ovarian response to the ultrashort day cycles when a phase advance or delay of photosensitivity of the response system repeatedly produces coincidence of the external photophase (3 h) with the photosensitive phase of an endogenous circadian rhythm. The results are thus consistent with the Bünning hypothesis, which suggests the involvement of an endogenous circadian rhythm in photoperiodic time measurement.
The orientation system of the Savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) is typical of nocturnal migrant passerine birds. It is based on a system of interacting compass senses: magnetic, star, polarized light and, perhaps, sun compasses. The magnetic compass capability develops in birds that have never seen the sky, but the preferred direction of magnetic orientation may be calibrated by celestial rotation (stars at night and polarized skylight patterns during the day). This ability to recalibrate magnetic orientation persists throughout life and enables the bird to compensate for variability in magnetic declination that may be encountered as it migrates. The polarized light compass may be manipulated by exposing young birds to altered patterns of skylight polarization. There is some evidence that the magnetic field may be involved in calibration of the polarized light compass. In short-term orientation decision-making during migration, visual information at sunset overrides both stars and magnetic cues, and polarized skylight is the relevant stimulus in dusk orientation. The star pattern compass seems to be of little importance. This extremely flexible orientation system enables the birds to respond to spatial and temporal variability in the quality and availability of orientation information.
The energy budgets of small endotherms are profoundly affected by characteristics of the physical environment such as wind speed, air temperature and solar radiation. Among these, solar radiation represents a potentially very large heat load to small animals and may have an important influence on their thermoregulatory metabolism and heat balance. In this investigation, we examined the interactive effects of wind speed and irradiance on body temperature, thermoregulatory metabolism and heat balance in the white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii). We measured changes in metabolic heat production by exposing birds to different wind speeds (0.25, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 m s(-1)) and irradiance combinations (<3 W m(-2) and 936+/-11 W m(-2); mean +/- s.d.) at an air temperature of 10 degrees C. Body temperature was not affected by wind speed, but was significantly higher in animals not exposed to simulated solar radiation compared with those exposed at most wind speeds. In the absence of solar radiation, metabolic heat production was strongly affected by wind speed and increased by 30 % from 122 to 159 W m(-2) as wind speed increased from 0.25 to 2.0 m s(-1). Metabolic heat production was even more strongly influenced by wind speed in the presence of simulated solar radiation and increased by 51% from 94 to 142 W m(-2) as wind speed increased from 0.25 to 2. 0 m s(-1). Solar heat gain was negatively correlated with wind speed and declined from 28 to 12 W m(-2) as wind speed increased from 0.25 to 2.0 m s(-1) and, at its maximum, equaled 11% of the radiation intercepted by the animal. The overall thermal impact of the various wind speed and irradiance combinations on the animal's heat balance was examined for each treatment. Under cold conditions, with no solar radiation present, an increase in wind speed from 0.25 to 2.0 m s(-1) was equivalent to a decrease in chamber air temperature of 12.7 degrees C. With simulated solar radiation present, a similar increase in wind speed was equivalent to a decrease in chamber air temperature of 16 degrees C. Overall, shifting environmental conditions from a wind speed of 0.25 m s(-1) and irradiance of 936 W m(-2) to a wind speed of 2.0 m s(-1) with no short-wave radiation present was equivalent to decreasing chamber air temperature by approximately 20 degrees C. The sensitivity to changes in the convective environment, combined with the complex effects of changes in irradiance levels revealed by re-analyzing data published previously, significantly complicates the task of estimating the heat balance of animals in nature.
Groups of photorefractory female subtropical house sparrows, Passer domesticus, when treated with 6 weeks of a short photocycle (8L:16D) showed significant ovarian growth on their return to a long photocycle (15L:9D). A 6-hr photophase coupled with scotophase of varying durations does not terminate the refractory period under photoperiod cycles of 12 (6L:6D), 36 (6L:30D) and 60 (6L:54D) hr but the refractory period is terminated by light-dark cycles of 24 (6L:18D), 48 (6L:42D) and 72 (6L:66D) hr. These results are consistent with the Bünning hypothesis of coincidence between endogenous photosensitive rhythmicity and environmental photoperiod timing that an endogenous circadian rhythm is involved in the maintenance and termination of photorefractoriness.
A histochemical study has been made of seasonal fluctuations in the follicular atresia and interstitial gland tissue with the ovarian cycles of the house sparrow (Passer domesticus). The atresia of primordial oocytes forms the predominant feature of the quiescent-winter ovary. The building up of interstitial gland tissue of thecal origin. which precedes the breeding activity, is closely related to the atresia of previtellogenic follicles of variable sizes. Interstitial gland cells which accumulate lipid droplets consisting of cholesterol, and/or its esters, triglycerides and some phospholipids, are the steroid secretors. The possible functional significance of different-sized follicular atresia in relation to follicular growth and breeding activity is discussed.
A survey of blood parasites was conducted in February 1995 on white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) wintering in two environmentally different localities of Baja California Sur (Mexico). Blood parasite prevalence was higher in La Purísima (49%) than in San José del Cabo (8%), but there were no differences between ages or sexes within each locality. All haematozoa infections were by Haemoproteus coatneyi, except one bird in each site that were positive for Trypanosoma sp. We found no evidence for the predicted negative relationship between host body condition and intensity of parasitism. The relatively high prevalence in one site suggests that an increase of hematozoa transmission may occur in that area.
Sparrow Schools offer a lifeline for disadvantaged children in South Africa--many of whom have lost parents to HIV/AIDS. The schools are supported by a charitable foundation in the U.K. and were the RCN president's chosen charity at this year's congress.
The morphology of the post-ovulatory follicle (or corpus luteum) in the sparrow (Passer domesticus) ovary has been investigated with special reference to the origin of luteal cells which finally fill the fillicular activity. The development and degeneration of luteal cell mass has been described in three phases. The luteal cell mass consists of hypertrophied granulosa luteal cells during the first phase and of both granulosa and thecal luteal cells during the second phase. During the second phase owing to their different staining reactions, both types of luteal cells can be differentiated. In the advanced stages of regression, i.e. during the third phase, the whole luteal cell mass consists of thecal luteal cells and connective tissue elements as the granulosa luteal cells had degenerated and disappeared by this stage.
Groups of adult female house sparrows (Passer domesticus) were placed under short days (8L/16D) and continuous darkness (DD) after photostimulation by long days (15L/16D) for either 25 or 40 days and another two groups of photostimulated birds were continued on long day (15L/9D) photoperiod. Two groups of photosensitive birds were subjected to 8L/16D or DD and they treated as controls. The rate of ovarian regression was nearly the same under transfer to 8L/16D or DD. Birds placed under long days maintained ovarian growth and this exclude the possibility of refractoriness. However, the photosensitive birds placed under 8L/16D or DD did not show any ovarian growth. The results of these experiments seem to support Bünning - Pittendrigh external coincidence model.
The experiments aim to investigate the mechanism of photoperiodic time measurement during photoperiodic ovarian response of subtropical yellow-throated sparrow. Groups of the photosensitive female birds were exposed to various night-interruption cycles for a period of 35 days. These light-dark cycles consisted of a basic photophase of 6h and 1h photointerruption of the 18h dark phase in 24h cycle at different points. A control group was also placed under 7L/17D. Ovarian response was observed in the night-interruption cycles in which the photointerruption of dark phase was made 12h after the onset of basic photophase. The results are consistent with the Bünning hypothesis and indicate that an endogenous circadian rhythm is involved in photoperiodic time measurement during initiation of ovarian growth in this species.