Abstract Cities represent a new environment where organisms are exposed to different environmental conditions than the original natural habitats. This is essentially a noise and light pollution. The growing number of studies show that these factors can have a significant impact on voice activity of birds.Light pollution may alter the timing of vocalization.Urban noise can overlay the acoustic signals of birds, change the melody, volume, and the timing of singing. The main objective of this thesis was to investigate the influence of noise and light pollution to voice activity Blackbird (Turdus merula). In 2015 it was recorded vocalizations to 4 types of sites: a) on the site only with noise pollution (unlit busy road), b) on the site only with light pollution (Parks), c) on location with noise and light pollution (busy roads in cities), d) on the site without the noise and light pollution (forests). Recording was done with the help of voice recorders from early March until the end of May when the weather was good (no strong winds and storms) every week to thoroughly map the seasonal voice activity of the birds. Quiet location and localities with noise pollution have been in the woods near the town of Beroun near the D5 highway. Locations with light and noisy pollution is found in Hradec Kralove and Prague. In each locality they were searched individuals Blackbird and placed recorder into their territory. The recordings were taken 180 minutes before sunset, throughout the night and morning was the end of the recording 180 minutes after sunrise. The results showed the influence of the sites primarily on the morning vocalization when in the localities affected by light and noise vocalized significantly earlier than the quiet and noisy areas. In the evening times was vocalization without significant differences. The greatest intensity of vocalizations Blackbird was light-noisy areas, opposite to others. The evening was the greatest intensity of the sound recorded in quiet locations. Finally, the night vocalization has been demonstrated only in localities light-noisy.

Paul M. Walker points out the importance of three seventeenth-century manuscripts which, according to him, reflect the origins of the late Baroque monothematic fugue. The documents present a new "model" with specific criteria to write monothematic fugues. Walker suggests that the criteria presented in these manuscripts are first found in seventeenth-century Italian violin ensemble fugues. This thesis traces the development of seventeenth-century monothematic fugues and how they compare with the criteria presented in the manuscripts, with a particular emphasis on Italian violin ensemble fugues. The manuscripts indeed present a new "model" to write monothematic fugues as compared to earlier models. Generally speaking, the criteria included in the manuscripts are more present in monothematic fugues found in seventeenth-century violin ensemble music than in keyboard music of the same period. However, many of these imitative pieces present characteristics of fugato (rather than "true" fugues) and cannot be compared with the manuscripts' criteria. Therefore, the documents are important from a theoretical standpoint but their practical application in seventeenth-century violin music is not as clear or systematic as Walker implies.

Si les parasites sont étudiés depuis très longtemps, la plupart des connaissances concernent des parasites présentant un intérêt médical ou vétérinaire. Ainsi, malgré leur omniprésence au sein du monde vivant, le rôle des infections parasitaires sur les populations naturelles est encore très mal maîtrisé. <br />Un objectif de ce travail était d'étudier la pathogénicité de deux groupes de parasites (tiques et Haemosporidae) au sein de populations de Merles noirs. Ces deux groupes de parasites se sont révélés associés aux indices de condition corporelle et de réponse immunitaire des individus. Cependant, l'étude d'une population urbaine ne nous a pas permis de confirmer un effet des Haemosporidae sur la survie et la dynamique de la population de Merles.<br />L'incidence du milieu de vie (structuration spatiale) sur le fonctionnement de la relation hôte-parasite a été également abordée. En effet, le Merle est une espèce ubiquiste. Nous avons montré que les populations de milieu urbanisé présentent des infections parasitaires plus faibles que celles vivant en milieu forestier. Ce résultat pourrait expliquer en partie les fortes densités de Merles en zones urbaines, même si d'autres interprétations restent bien sûr envisageables.<br />Enfin, divers travaux récents suggèrent le rôle des caroténoïdes comme lien entre l'immunité des mâles et l'intensité de leur signaux colorés. Cependant, ces études utilisent des mesures de l'immunité par challenge immunitaire pour « mimer » les infections parasitaires. Cette démarche a été récemment discutée car les challenges pourraient ne pas toujours refléter la résistance parasitaire. Nos résultats vont dans ce sens. De plus, nos travaux semblent montrer que le contexte social module la relation entre immunité et signaux colorés. Ceci pourrait remettre partiellement en cause l'idée selon laquelle les caroténoïdes constituent un mécanisme universel garant de l'honnêteté des signaux.

Widespread anthropogenic invasions have prompted concerns that naturalized organisms could threaten biodiversity. In particular, invasive weeds can negatively affect native biota through a variety of means, including disrupting mutualisms. This thesis was designed to observe and test dispersal mutualisms in a native forest during autumn when the majority of plant species are fruiting. In this thesis I examined whether the invasive plant barberry (Berberis glaucocarpa) was influencing the behaviour of a native frugivore bellbird (Anthornis melanura) and a range of dispersal related services in a native forest, Kowhai Bush near Kaikoura. To test these 18 banded bellbirds were followed through autumn 2011. These observe bellbirds were split between control and test bird. Barberry fruit was removed from the test bird territories. I recorded whether bellbirds changed their territory sizes, foraging and daily behaviours. During 52 hours of observations, bellbirds were never observed feeding on barberry fruit. No significant changes to bellbird behaviour or territories were observed after the removal of barberry fruit. Bellbird diet overall was dominated by invertebrates (83% of foraging observations), with smaller contributions from fruit (16%, nearly all on Coprosma robusta), nectar and honeydew. Since bellbirds did not eat barberry fruit, removal of this weed is unlikely to negatively affect bellbirds during autumn. Which other bird species were dispersing barberry was recorded. I recorded 242 hours of videotape footage on 24 fruiting plants. A total of 101 foraging events were recorded of 4 different bird species: silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis) 42 visits, blackbirds (Turdus merula) 27 visits, song thrush (Turdus philomelos) 29, and starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) 3 visits. The species differed in the mean length of time they spent in plants, so the overall contribution to barberry fruit removal was 32.6% silvereyes, 24.3% blackbirds, 42.9% song thrush and 0.1% starlings. To find out the relative contribution of exotic and native birds to dispersal of fruits in Kowhai Bush, I mist-netted 221 birds of 10 species and identified any seeds in the 183 faeces they deposited. A total of 21 plant species were observed fruiting in Kowhai Bush during this time. A total of 11 different plant species were identified from 1092 seeds. Birds were further observed feeding on 3 other plant species which were not observed in faecal samples. This left 7 plants with unobserved dispersal vectors. There were likely four main dispersers, bellbirds, silvereyes, song thrush and blackbirds and five minor, brown creeper (Mohoua novaeseelandiae), tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae), fantails (Rhipidura fuliginosa), dunnock (Prunella modularis) and starlings. However there was considerable variability between these bird species dispersal abilities. Introduced birds’ song thrush and blackbirds were observed dispersing naturalized plant seeds at higher than expected rates in comparison to native frugivores bellbirds and silvereyes. I also measured the gape sizes on mist netted birds and on samples of fruit from Kowhai Bush. Both silvereyes and bellbirds were found to be eating fruit larger than their gape, but despite this two native (Hedycarya arborea and Ripogonum scandens) and three exotic plants (Vitis vinifera, Taxus baccata and Crataegus monogyna) had large fruit that were probably mainly dispersed by song thrush and blackbirds. Hence, introduced birds were important seed dispersers for large fleshy fruited seeds in Kowhai Bush. Demonstrating that interactions among native and exotic flesh fruited plants and frugivores is important within forest communities.

Birds are a major pest in vineyards both in New Zealand and overseas. There is a need for new behavioural research on birds' foraging habits and feeding preferences in vineyards, as much of the literature to date is anecdotal. Research on cues to birds' feeding will provide a basis on which new deterrent and control strategies can be devised. Spatial-and temporal bird damage in a small vineyard block was mapped to find if damage was correlated with grape maturity and environmental factors. Vineyard and field observations of bird behaviour using video technology combined with preference experiments aimed to establish the relative roles of grape sugar concentration and colour in avian selection. Proximity of vineyards to bird roosts affects damage levels, regardless of differing maturity between locations. The rate of damage tends to increase exponentially once grape maturity has passed a threshold of 13 °Brix. Bunches positioned closest to the ground receive more damage if blackbirds or song thrushes are the predominant pests. Both sugar concentration and grape colour were found to affect birds' feeding preference, but the importance of the two factors varied between years. Black and green grape varieties were differentially preferred by blackbirds (Turdus merula) and song thrushes (Turdus philomelos) while silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis) appeared to have no strong colour preference. It was apparent that there were other, not assessed, grape factors that also affect selection. In small unprotected vineyards that are adjacent to bird roosts the entire grape crop can be taken by bird pests. Besides removing the roosts, which can be beneficial shelterbelts in regions exposed to high winds, growers currently may have no alternative other than to use exclusion netting to keep crops intact. The differential preferences between bird species for variety characteristics suggest that any new deterrents and other strategies to deflect birds from grape crops may need to be species-specific.