Egg size in birds of southern Bohemia: an analysis of Rudolf Prázný s collection. Velikost vajec u ptáků jižních Čech: analýza sbírky Rudolfa Prázného

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1 Egg size in birds of southern Bohemia: an analysis of Rudolf Prázný s collection Velikost vajec u ptáků jižních Čech: analýza sbírky Rudolfa Prázného Jiří Mlíkovský Department of Zoology, National Museum, Václavské nám. 68, CZ Praha1; jiri_mlikovsky@nm.cz Mlíkovský J. 2006: Egg size in birds of southern Bohemia: an analysis of Rudolf Prázný s collection. Sylvia 42: Rudolf Prázný ( ) collected avian eggs in southern Bohemia in In this paper, summary statistics are presented on length, width and eggshell mass of 4408 eggs belong ing to 155 species of birds. Rudolf Prázný ( ) sbíral vejce ptáků v jižních Čechách v letech V této práci jsou předloženy souhrnné statistické údaje pro délku, šířku a hmotnost skořápky 4409 vajec patřících 155 druhům ptáků. Keywords: birds, egg size, southern Bohemia, Rudolf Prázný Egg size is an important character in avian biology. Although most current research focuses on intraclutch or intraspecific egg size variation, the knowledge of egg size of birds from a defined area and time period is still of considerable interest (cf. Limbert 2003). In this paper I present data on the egg size and egg size variability in birds from southern Bohemia, Czech Republic. The eggs were collected and measured by Rudolf Prázný ( ), odontologist and amateur ornithologist from České Budějovice (see Hudec 1999), in His collection was purchased on October 25, 1977 by the Národní muzeum (National Museum) in Praha, where it is deposited under the acquisition number 127/77 and catalogue numbers P6V The collec tion consists of 4408 eggs belonging to 155 species of birds. Egg length and width were measured to the nearest 0.1 mm, exceptionally to the nearest 0.05 mm or 0.01 mm (which has no bearing on the statistical ana lysis presented here). Eggshell mass was measured to the nearest g. For each variable, arithmetic mean, standard devia tion, and range are given. Other statistics were not calculated because whole clutches were collected in most cases, hence eggs in each sample were not statistically independent of each other, which would considerably bias the results. The results are given in Table 1. The nomenclature and sequence of species follow Hudec et al. (1995) and Mlíkovský (2003). 112

2 SYLVIA 42 / 2006 Table 1. Egg size [mm] and eggshell mass [g] of southern Bohemian birds. Tab. 1. Velikost vajec [mm] a hmotnost skořápky [g] jihočeských ptáků. Tachybaptus ruficollis Podiceps cristatus Podiceps grisegena Podiceps nigricollis Ixobrychus minutus Nycticorax nycticorax Ardea cinerea Ardea purpurea Ciconia nigra Ciconia ciconia Cygnus olor Anser anser Anas strepera Anas crecca Anas platyrhynchos Anas querquedula Anas clypeata Netta rufina , Aythya ferina Aythya fuligula Bucephala clangula Pernis apivorus Circus aeruginosus Circus cyaneus Circus pygargus Accipiter gentilis Accipiter nisus Buteo buteo Falco tinnunculus Bonasa bonasia Tetrao tetrix Tetrao urogallus Perdix perdix Coturnix coturnix Phasianus colchicus Rallus aquaticus Porzana parva Crex crex Gallinula chloropus Fulica atra Charadrius dubius Charadrius hiaticula Vanellus vanellus Gallinago gallinago Scolopax rusticola Limosa limosa Numenius arquata Tringa totanus Larus ridibundus Sterna hirundo

3 Chlidonias niger Columba oenas Columba palumbus Streptopelia decaocto Streptopelia turtur Cuculus canorus Tyto alba Bubo bubo Glaucidium passerinum Athene noctua Strix aluco Asio otus Asio flammeus Caprimulgus europaeus Apus apus Alcedo atthis Upupa epops Jynx torquilla Picus viridis Picus canus Dryocopus martius Dendrocopos major Dendrocopos medius Dendrocopos minor Picoides tridactylus Galerida cristata Lullula arborea Alauda arvensis Riparia riparia Hirundo rustica Delichon urbica Anthus trivialis Anthus pratensis Motacilla flava Motacilla cinerea Motacilla alba Cinclus cinclus Troglodytes troglodytes Prunella modularis Erithacus rubecula Luscinia megarhynchos Phoenicurus ochruros Phoenicurus phoenicurus Saxicola rubetra Oenanthe oenanthe Turdus torquatus Turdus merula Turdus pilaris Turdus philomelos Turdus viscivorus Locustella naevia Locustella fluvaitilis Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

4 SYLVIA 42 / 2006 Acrocephalus palustris Acrocephalus scirpaceus Acrocephalus arundinaceus Hippolais icterina Sylvia nisoria Sylvia curruca Sylvia communis Sylvia borin Sylvia atricapilla Phylloscopus sibilatrix Phylloscopus collybita Phylloscopus trochilus Regulus regulus Regulus ignicapillus Muscicapa striata Ficedula albicollis Ficedula hypoleuca Aegithalos caudatus Parus palustris Parus montanus Parus cristatus Parus ater Parus caeruleus Parus major Sitta europaea Certhia familiaris Certhia brachydactyla Remiz pendulinus Oriolus oriolus Lanius collurio Lanius excubitor Garrulus glandarius Pica pica Nucifraga caryocatactes Corvus monedula Corvus frugilegus Corvus corone Sturnus vulgaris Passer domesticus Passer montanus Fringilla coelebs Serinus serinus Carduelis chloris Carduelis carduelis Carduelis spinus Carduelis cannabina Carduelis flammea Loxia curvirostra Pyrrhula pyrrhula Coccothraustes coccothraustes Emberiza citrinella Emberiza schoeniclus

5 Prázný published only two brief reports on his research (Prázný 1958, 1974), but the typewritten catalogue of his oological collection (Prázný 1977) contains numerous, as yet unexploited data on the breeding biology of southern Bohemian birds. Egg size is insufficiently known for local populations of many bird species breeding in the Czech Republic (see Hudec 1983, 1994, Hudec & Šťastný 2005). Biometrical data obtained by Rudolf Prázný and analyzed here by JM are intended to supplement these data. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was financially supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (grants RK01P03OMG006, MK0CEZ99F0201, MK and MK 194). Hudec K. & Šťastný K. (eds) 2005: Fauna ČR a SR. Ptáci Aves 2. Academia, Praha. Hudec K. 1999: Ornitologové České republiky. Muzeum Komenského, Přerov. Hudec K., Chytil J., Šťastný K. & Bejček V. 1995: Ptáci České republiky. Sylvia 31: Limbert M. 2003: The Uses and Curation of Birds Egg Collections: An Examination and Bibliography. Peregrine Books, Leeds. Mlíkovský J. 2003: Ornitologické tabulky. ČSOP, Vlašim. Prázný R. 1958: Hnízdění volavky popelavé (Ardea cinerea) v jižních Čechách. Sylvia 15: Prázný R. 1974: Příspěvek k biologii kulíška nejmenšího (Glaucidium passerinum L.) a sýce rousného (Aegolius funereus L.) ze Šumavy. Sb. Jihočeského muzea přír. vědy 14, Suppl. 2: Prázný R. 1977: [Untitled catalogue of Prázný s oological collection.]. Ms., Department of Zoology, National Museum, Praha. [In Czech.] LITERATURE Hudec K. (ed.) 1983: Fauna ČSSR. Ptáci Aves 3. Academia, Praha. Hudec K. (ed.) 1994: Fauna ČR a SR. Ptáci Aves 1. Academia, Praha. Došlo 14. září 2006, přijato 6. října Received September 14, 2006; accepted October 6,