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Research Programmes & InitiativesProf. Morné du Plessisserves as a member of theInternational OrnithologicalCongress Committee, the AdvisoryBoard to the Institute for PlantConservation, the Council ofBirdLife South Africa, the SteeringCommittee of SAFRING and theAdvisory Committee of the MammalResearch Institute at the Universityof Pretoria. He served as Chairmanof both WWF-SA’s ConservationAdvisory Committee and its ProjectsApproval Group, and as Vice-President of the Board of Governorsof the Africa Section of the Societyfor Conservation Biology. He is amember of the UCT EnvironmentalTask Team, and served on thepanel of Round V of the InnovationFund. He served on the editorialboards of the Journal of AvianBiology and the Southern AfricanJournal of Wildlife Research.During the review period, Mornéco-convened the Zoology Honourscourse and co-presented a moduleof this course and lectured part of ajoint third year Behavioural Ecologycourse. He supervised two ZoologyHonours students, two MScstudents, two PhD students andworked with one post-doctoralresearcher. He also co-supervisedthree MSc Conservation Biologystudents, provided project supportto two further MSc CB students,and co-supervised four studentsregistered at other universities. Hehas continued writing monthlycolumns on bird behaviour andconservation for major Afrikaansnewspapers, participated regularlyin nature programmes on both radioand television and gave fivepresentations to membership-basedsocieties. He reviewed numerousNRF proposals, and reviewed 12applications for research grants and15 manuscripts submitted toscientific journals.Prof. Morné du Plessistogether with Assoc. Prof. PhilHockey leads the Life-history,Rarity & Conservation ofSouthern African Birds ResearchProgramme.Cooperative Breeding & Sociality in BirdsProgramme leaderProf. Morné du PlessisResearch teamMark Anderson (Northern Cape Nature Conservation)Prof. Ben Burger (Chemistry Department, University of Stellenbosch)Dr Rob Simmons (Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism)Extreme sexual dimorphism in bill length in Green Woodhoopoes is apparently maintained byecological separation to reduce foraging competition. Photo: Morné du PlessisOverviewCooperative breeding is a reproductive system in which more than a pair of individualsshows parent-like behaviour towards young of a single nest or brood. Numerousvariations have been identified including helping-at-the-nest by non-breeding offspringthat have delayed dispersal and remained with their parents on their natal territory,and various forms of cooperative polygamy or plural breeding in which more than asingle male or female share breeding status within the same social unit. Aid generallyconsists of feeding nestlings or fledglings, but can also include incubation anddefence of the nest or territory, and the aid-givers or co-breeders are often related tothe focal breeding pair. The evolution of cooperative breeding can usually be brokendown into two complementary processes: the decision to stay in the natal unit and thedecision to help.The objectives of this programme are broadly (1) to conduct a broad,phylogenetically-controlled analyses of the ecological and life-history strategies ofAfrican birds that might predispose them to cooperative breeding; (2) to uncover thefactors underlying the divergent evolutionary pathways that may lead to regular versusopportunistic cooperative breeding; (3) to perform a series of controlled experimentsthat will investigate the effects of factors identified in (2) on the tendency for birds tobreed cooperatively (i.e. among opportunistic cooperative breeders); (4) to testdevelop and test dispersal models in two widely different cooperative breedingsystems, viz. singular and colonial breeding systems; and (5) to experimentallyinvestigate the ecological factors underlying reproductive sharing and the degree ofhelp provided by non-breeders in cooperatively-breeding societiesThe Sociable Weaver project at Benfontein Game Farm, Kimberley, remains ahighly productive research study after Dr Rita Covas-Monteiro’s completion of herCooperative Breeding & Sociality in Birds 7
doctoral research there. To this end, Eric Herrmann has beenappointed as a research manager at this field site and hecontinues to maintain the general capture and ringingmaintenance of the study. Claire Spottiswoode has continuedthe detailed work on this species (registered at Cambridge withProf Nick Davies). Further, at the same site Eric Herrmann hasbeen hard at work catching and ringing a pilot group of AnteatingChats in order to allow deeper study into their socialbehaviour. This species is not only facultatively cooperative intheir breeding, but the males display white wing patches inwhat appear to be energetically expensive display flights. Thepotential exists for productive future research opportunities ofthis species.In collaboration with Prof Ben Burger of StellenboschUniversity, we are collecting and analysing the chemicalcomposition of the uropygial gland secretions of Scimitarbills.To this end, we have set up a small number of nest boxessuitable for this species to breed and roost in so as to facilitatetheir study and capture.Field work continues on the Green Wood-Hoopoe project.Andy Radford has recently completed his fulltime work andgraduated with a PhD from Cambridge University, and anumber of manuscripts are currently in press. The study nowenters its 23 rd year and this large dataset has enabled us toanalyse data on the life-time reproductive success of 122woodhoopoes for which we have full breeding histories(Amanda Hawn’s MSc study).Highlights• The publication of a paper concluding that the extremesexual dimorphism in Green Wood-hoopoe bill length ismaintained by ecological separation to reduce foragingcompetition (Radford & du Plessis 2003).• The publication of a paper showing that there is strongstabilizing selection on adult Sociable Weaver body mass.This verifies the prediction that body mass is a trade-offbetween the risks of starvation at low mass and predationat high mass (Covas et al. 2002).• The publication of a paper that suggests that amongSociable Weavers, adult survival in larger groups may beincreased by thermal advantages of a large nest duringcold winter weather. The fidelity of weavers to a particularcolony-size class between years may reflect phenotypicspecialization for certain group sizes (Brown et al 2003).StudentsAndrew Radford (PhD, Cambridge, graduated in June 2003);Foraging and vocal communication in the sexually dimorphicRed-billed WoodhoopoeClaire Spottiswoode (PhD, Cambridge); Behavioural ecologyand tropical life-histories in African birdsChristian Boix-Hinzen (MSc); Developing management tools forthe Conservation of Hornbills in a developing countryCollecting data in the field. Photo: Claire SpottiswoodeAmanda Hawn (MSc); The effect of territory quality on dispersaldecisions in a model population of Red-billed WoodhoopoeNimmi Seoraj (MSc, University of Durban-Westville) Warningvocalisations and predator information transfer in social birdsSamantha Stoffberg (BSc Hons) worked on the fitnessconsequences of gender differences in helping behaviour ofgreen wood-hoopoesLecturesProf. du Plessis taught part of a seven-week module to UCTHonours students on ‘Birds as models of ecological theory’. Healso taught on the 3 rd year Behavioural Ecology Field Course atDe Hoop, and was responsible for a two-week lecture block on‘Conservation Biology’ to 2 nd year Zoology students.VisitorsProf. Tom Martin (University of Montana, USA), Dr RichardPettifor (Institute of Zoology, London, UK), Dr AndrewMcKechnie (University of Natal, PMB, SA).AcknowledgementsDe Beers Consolidated Mines Limited (particularly MessrsGraham Main and Peter Gibbs), National ResearchFoundation, European Union, University ResearchCommittee (URC), Sean Cockin, Frank Cockin, JohanBreetzke, Willem Fourie, Trevor Brown, Mike Putzier, CarlVernon, and Kei Mouth Municipality.8 Percy FitzPatrick Institute Annual Report: July 2002 - June 2003
Page 3 and 4: ContentsIntroduction 1Personnel 3Bo
Page 5 and 6: The success of the Conservation Bio
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Page 19 and 20: StudentsM.Tech. student Helen Prins
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Page 41 and 42: New Books: A policy of purchasing o
Page 43 and 44: Mexico 1 (0), Morocco 1(0), Namibia
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