Condition-dependent clutch desertion in Great Tit (Parus major) females subjected to human disturbance

Dubiec, Anna

doi:10.1007/s10336-011-0647-8

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…Throughout the breeding season, we checked the nest boxes twice a week and recorded the number of eggs and/or nestlings at each visit. To avoid inducing nest desertion, we never removed incubating females from their nests during nest checks (Dubiec, ). When the nestlings were 5–9 days old (day 1 being the day when the first nestling hatched), we captured one parent with a string‐operated trap door on their nest (described in detail in Seress et al, ); this trapping method does not harm the parents and has no significant effect on the survival and body condition of nestlings (Seress et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Great tits take greater risk toward humans and sparrowhawks in urban habitats than in forests

et al. 2019

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Urban animals often take more risk toward humans than their non‐urban conspecifics do, but it is unclear how urbanization affects behavior toward non‐human predators. Responses to humans and non‐human predators may covary due to common mechanisms enforcing a phenotypic correlation. However, while increased tolerance toward humans may be advantageous for urban animals, reduced vigilance toward non‐human predators that can pose actual threat may be costly. Therefore, urban animals may benefit from showing specific responses to different threat levels, such as humans versus non‐human predators, or hostile versus non‐hostile humans. To test these alternatives, we compared responses (latencies to return to nest) of urban and forest‐breeding great tits (Parus major) to familiar hostile and unfamiliar humans as well as one of their common predators, the sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus). We found that urban birds were more risk‐taking toward both humans and sparrowhawk than forest birds. However, responses to sparrowhawk did not correlate with responses to humans either within or across habitats. This suggests that higher risk‐taking of urban compared to forest‐dwelling great tits toward sparrowhawk may be threat‐specific response to lower predation risk rather than a spillover effect of increased tolerance to humans. Furthermore, birds responded similarly to unfamiliar and familiar (potentially dangerous) humans in both habitats, suggesting that great tits may not adjust their risk‐taking to the threat represented by individual humans. These findings indicate that urban birds may flexibly adjust their risk‐taking to certain, but not all, types of threat.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Great tits take greater risk toward humans and sparrowhawks in urban habitats than in forests

et al. 2019

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“…When studying breeding birds, for instance, catching and marking specific individuals, e.g., parents of a certain brood, are often necessary. However, capturing individuals may have negative impacts, including injuries and increased mortality (Fair and Jones 2010), nest desertion (Kania 1996, Dubiec 2011, Cole et al 2012, and stress-related responses such as hormonal, physiological, and behavioral changes (Duarte 2013) that could influence breeding success (Uher-Koch et al 2015, Ledwo n et al 2016). Some of these detrimental effects have received considerable attention.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, Kania (1996) compiled examples of nest desertion by birds captured on nests for more than 80 species, and other investigators have found higher baseline (Love et al 2004) or stress-induced (Ouyang et al 2012) levels of corticosterone in birds that abandoned nests after being captured on nests. Few investigators, however, have examined how trapping birds on their nests might affect nest success (Uher-Koch et al 2015, Ledwo n et al 2016 and behaviors other than nest desertion (Hill and Talent 1990, Burger et al 1995, Gregory et al 2002, Ellenberg et al 2009, Angelier et al 2011, Dubiec 2011). In addition, most such previous studies were designed with other objectives so did not include experiments specifically designed to examine the possible effects of being captured on bird behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of capture and video-recording on the behavior and breeding success of Great Tits in urban and forest habitats

et al. 2017

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Behavioral research often involves capturing and video‐recording birds, but these procedures may have undesired effects on the behavior of birds that have rarely been quantified. In addition, birds in urban and more natural areas may differ in their sensitivity to disturbance. We examined the possible effects of both capturing, weighing and measuring, and taking a blood sample, and the presence of video‐cameras on the behavior of male and female Great Tits (Parus major) breeding in urban and forest habitats. Using a 2 × 2 block design, we compared the behavior and breeding success of parents that either were or were not captured on their nests a few days before behavioral observations, and of parents that either were or were not habituated to the presence of a concealed video‐recorder mounted on nest boxes. We found no significant effects of habituation to the camera on bird behavior, but males captured in their nest boxes were more vigilant and hesitated longer before entering nest boxes, and also had slightly lower provisioning rates than males that had not been captured. Captured females also tended to be more vigilant than females that had not been captured, but their provisioning rates were not affected. Capturing males also influenced the behavior of their non‐captured mates, but capturing females had no effect on the behavior of their non‐captured mates. We found no difference in the effects of capture on Great Tits in urban and forest habitats, and our treatments also had no effect on the mass, size, and survival of nestlings until fledging. Our results suggest that, for Great Tits, being captured results in sex‐dependent behavioral effects that can last for at least several days. As such, we suggest that the possibility of similar effects in other species of birds should be considered in behavioral studies where birds must be captured, and recommend either that behavioral data be collected before capturing birds or that all birds in a study should be captured and handled in a standardized way.

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“…Kilgas et al (2007) reported desertion rates of 37% for female Great Tits captured in nest-boxes and blood sampled during incubation. Dubiec (2011) found that desertion rates of female Great Tits captured by hand off their nests during incubation were as high as 41.2% (handled and blood sampled) and 25.6% (handled only). Thus, injecting birds in our study likely exacerbated the stress of capture; if so, desertion rates in our study may have been lower if females had only been captured with a box-net.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

A new method for catching cavity-nesting birds during egg laying and incubation

Marvelde¹,

Webber²,

Burg³

et al. 2011

Journal of Field Ornithology

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The physiological condition of female birds during the egg‐laying and incubation periods is of considerable interest and yet is relatively understudied in wild birds, primarily due to the difficulty of catching birds during this period without causing nest desertion. We therefore developed a box‐net to capture cavity‐nesting birds using sections of a mist‐net placed around a metal cubic frame. We captured female Great Tits (Parus major) as they left nest boxes during the egg‐laying and incubation periods and measured desertion rates. Using box‐nets, we captured 108 of 119 (90%) females during egg laying and 10 of 12 (83%) during incubation. Our recapture rate over two consecutive days during incubation was 50% (5 of 10). Females not captured left nest boxes before we attempted to capture them, escaped through a hole in the mist‐net, or remained in nest boxes for more than 2 h, after which we ended capture attempts. Overall, 22% of egg‐laying females deserted, with desertion rates highest early in the egg‐laying period. Desertion rates of females captured using box‐nets did not differ from those of undisturbed females. One of 10 females captured in a box‐net deserted during the incubation period. Box‐nets are portable, can be set up and taken down quickly and easily, and could potentially be used with nest boxes or natural cavities at any height. Box‐nets are easy to construct and adaptable for use with an array of cavity‐nesting birds, and can be an important tool for studying female physiology during egg laying and incubation.

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Condition-dependent clutch desertion in Great Tit (Parus major) females subjected to human disturbance

Cited by 12 publications

References 31 publications

Great tits take greater risk toward humans and sparrowhawks in urban habitats than in forests

Great tits take greater risk toward humans and sparrowhawks in urban habitats than in forests

Effects of capture and video-recording on the behavior and breeding success of Great Tits in urban and forest habitats

A new method for catching cavity-nesting birds during egg laying and incubation

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