Breeding territory fidelity in a partial migrant, the American dipper Cinclus mexicanus

Middleton, Holly A.; Morrissey, Christy A.; Green, David J.

doi:10.1111/j.2006.0908-8857.03514.x

Cited by 16 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Our conclusions are based on the assumption that permanent emigration of residents and migrants is equal and survival estimates are therefore unbiased. We believe this assumption to be true because residents and migrants are highly philopatric to both breeding and wintering territories , Middleton et al 2006). In addition, we monitor eight wintering sites spread over ;40 km, and no individuals of either strategy have permanently moved between sites, suggesting that emigration rates of both migrants and residents are low.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…However, the failure to observe changes in individual behavior does not preclude migration from being a condition-dependent trait. For example, individuals would not be expected to switch strategies if their competitive ability does not change over time or the benefits of breeding site philopatry outweigh the potential gains obtained by switching strategy (Kaitala et al 1993, Middleton et al 2006.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individual migrants are nevertheless observed to defend parts of their wintering territory (I. Whitehorne, unpublished data). Residents and migrants are both known to exhibit high levels of fidelity to both breeding and wintering territories , Middleton et al 2006.…”

Section: Study Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Life History Correlates of Alternative Migratory Strategies in American Dippers

Gillis

Green

Middleton

et al. 2008

Ecology

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119

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Partial migration is thought to be a critical step in the evolution of avian migration, but data on the life history correlates of alternative migratory strategies are extremely limited. We have studied a partially migratory population of American Dippers since 1999. This population is composed of sedentary individuals (residents) that maintain the same territory year round and altitudinal migrants that share winter grounds with residents, but move to higher elevations to breed. We used seven years of data on individually marked birds to (1) determine if individuals consistently use the same migratory strategy, (2) determine if offspring have the same strategy as their parents, and (3) estimate reproductive and survival rates of the two migratory strategies. We evaluate hypotheses for the persistence of partial migration and discuss their implication for the evolution of migration in sedentary populations. Individual American Dippers rarely switched migratory strategy (4/169 monitored more than one year). An individual's strategy, however, was not always that of its parents, indicating that, while migratory behavior may have a genetic component, environmental or social conditions probably influence the migratory strategy that an individual adopts. Sedentary dippers consistently had higher annual productivity (approximately 1.4 more fledglings/year) than migratory dippers, but mark-recapture models suggested that migratory dippers may have slightly higher survival than residents (approximately 3.4%). Migrants were estimated to have lower lifetime reproductive success than residents because their higher survival was insufficient to offset their lower productivity. Our data suggest that alternative migratory strategies in American Dippers are unlikely to be a fixed genetic dimorphism that persists because the two strategies have equal fitness, or because the relative fitness of the two strategies fluctuates over time. Migratory strategies in American Dippers are more likely to be condition dependent, and the two strategies persist because migrants "make the best of a bad job" by moving to higher elevations to breed. Because migrants obtained no fitness benefits by moving to seasonal breeding territories, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that migration could evolve in sedentary populations if competition for limited resources forces some individuals to seek breeding opportunities outside their initial range.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Life History Correlates of Alternative Migratory Strategies in American Dippers

Gillis

Green

Middleton

et al. 2008

Ecology

Self Cite

119

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“…mexicanus found that annual reproductive success affects pair-bond duration and rate of female return to the same territory in successive years (Middleton et al 2006). Pair-bond duration in turn affects survival (Culina et al 2015) and reproductive success in the following year (Van De Pol et al 2006, S anchez-Macouzet et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male feeding contribution facilitates multiple brooding in a biparental songbird

Nomi

Yuta

Koizumi

2017

Ibis

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Despite the cost of lost mating opportunities, biparental care is routinely observed across different groups of animals. Theory predicts that paternal care will increase reproductive success, yet many empirical studies have failed to find a direct link. Most studies have focused on the effect of paternal care on current breeding attempts, but male contributions may benefit future reproduction. Species producing clutches or litters more than once per season (i.e. multiple breeding attempts per season) are suitable for investigating whether paternal care contributes to current or future reproductive success, or both. We investigated the importance of the male's feeding contribution to multiple brooding in Japanese Tits Parus minor in northern Japan, where approximately 50% of pairs were known to reproduce multiple times within a breeding season. Male feeding contribution (proportion of provisioning delivered by the male) was positively correlated with the probability of the female multiple brooding and with nestling body mass. However, it was not correlated with fledging success in the current breeding attempt. Our results demonstrate the importance of male parental care for annual reproductive success in this multi‐brooded species and provide insights into the evolution of biparental care.

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“…High site fidelity is typical of many territorial species, especially for males defending breeding territories (Greenwood & Harvey 1982). While females may switch territories to increase access to resources or in response to failed breeding attempts (Wauters et al 1995), males are often less likely than females to relocate following reproductive failure (Howlett & Stutchbury 2003;Sedgwick 2004;Middleton et al 2006;Linkhart & Reynolds 2007). Site fidelity, especially between-year fidelity to a specific territory location (i.e.…”

Section: Ethologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now: Late Establishment and Low Site Fidelity as Alternative Territorial Behaviors

Hughes

Hyman

2011

Ethology

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In species in which males defend territories for breeding, males may differ in territorial behavior; alternative behaviors among territorial males are not well understood. In our long‐term study of partially‐migratory song sparrows, we have observed that most territorial males establish territories before females begin nesting and remain site‐faithful both within and between breeding seasons; however, some males establish territories later in the season (late establishers) and/or change territory locations either within or between seasons (movers). Whether late establishment or moving are equally successful strategies for territory defense, or best‐of‐bad‐job options, is not known. Here, we compare the frequencies of these behaviors to demographic variables over a 9‐yr period and compare lifetime tenure and early season nesting success for males who differ in site fidelity and timing of territory establishment. Across years, late establishing was negatively correlated with the return rate of previously territorial males; moving was positively correlated with the number of occupied territories at the start of the breeding season (territory density). While moving was independent of number of years on territory, late territory establishment only occurred in a male’s first year as a territory holder. Of 88 males, 25% established their first territory late, primarily in undefended space; 31% moved. Late and early establishers did not differ in lifetime tenure; movers, however, had longer lifetime tenure than site‐faithful males. Among early establishers, movers and non‐movers did not differ in the number of successful early nests/year or number of young fledged/year; among late establishers, however, movers had significantly higher early nesting success by both measures. Late establishers who moved had higher early season nesting success and higher early season nesting success/year than site‐faithful early establishers. Thus, individual variation in the timing of territory establishment and site fidelity may be facultative alternative territorial strategies.

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Breeding territory fidelity in a partial migrant, the American dipper Cinclus mexicanus

Cited by 16 publications

References 33 publications

Life History Correlates of Alternative Migratory Strategies in American Dippers

Life History Correlates of Alternative Migratory Strategies in American Dippers

Male feeding contribution facilitates multiple brooding in a biparental songbird

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now: Late Establishment and Low Site Fidelity as Alternative Territorial Behaviors

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