Diurnal patterns of ambient temperature but not precipitation influence incubation behavior in Great Tits

Abstract

Environmental conditions affect incubation behavior, but whilst the effect of ambient temperature is studied and still controversially discussed, the role of precipitation is unknown. Here, we analyzed the effect of local ambient temperature and precipitation on incubation behavior of female Great Tits (Parus major) and accounted for diurnal patterns of weather conditions. We monitored the incubation behavior of females using temperature data loggers, thus identifying periods of staying inside nest boxes incubating, and leaving nest boxes (off-bout). In total, 685 single off-bouts were analyzed between the first 8 days of incubation directly after clutches were completed. Our study showed that whilst precipitation had no effect on incubation behavior, number and duration of off-bouts were negatively related to ambient temperature, which varied throughout the day. We showed that females took longer off-bouts during low-temperature early mornings, which may result from the need to forage after fasting during the night. Thus, foraging in the early morning seemed to outcompete energy requirements during these cold temperature periods. In addition, females spent less time off the nest as incubation progressed. Our results emphasize that patterns of incubation behavior cannot be understood without taking into account varying temperature conditions throughout the day. Keywords Data logger • Environmental conditions • Female behavior • Nest boxes • Off-bout • Parus major Zusammenfassung Tagesschwankungen der Umgebungstemperatur, nicht aber des Niederschlages, beeinflussen das Inkubationsverhalten von Kohlmeisen Umweltbedingungen beeinflussen das Inkubationsverhalten. Während der Einfluss der Umgebungstemperatur untersucht, aber noch immer kontrovers diskutiert wird, ist die Rolle des Niederschlags unbekannt. In dieser Studie analysierten wir den Einfluss von lokalen Temperatur-und Niederschlagsbedingungen auf das Inkubationsverhalten weiblicher Kohlmeisen (Parus major) und berücksichtigten dabei tageszeitliche Rhythmen der Wetterbedingungen. Wir untersuchten das Inkubationsverhalten von Weibchen mithilfe von Temperaturdatenloggern und identifizierten so Zeiträume, in denen sie sich im Nistkasten aufhielten oder ihn verließen (Off-Bout). Insgesamt wurden 685 einzelne Off-Bouts innerhalb der ersten acht Tage der Inkubation analysiert. Unsere Studie zeigt, dass Niederschläge zwar keinen Einfluss auf das Inkubationsverhalten hatten, aber die Anzahl und Dauer der Off-Bouts in einem negativen Zusammenhang mit der Umgebungstemperatur stand, welche im Laufe des Tages variierte. Die Weibchen unternahmen während der frühen Morgenstunden bei niedrigen Communicated by S. Bouwhuis.

Color of Artificial Light at Night Affects Incubation Behavior in the Great Tit, Parus major

“…When we compare the two monitored breeding seasons, the season of 2017 started earlier and the weather conditions during the incubation period were much colder compared to 2016. Cold weather conditions are thought to increase the energy demands of incubating females (Schöll et al, 2020), which perhaps aggravated the subtle effects of white ALAN, causing females in the white treatment group to have suboptimal incubation in this year. However, we will need more than 2 years of data to test if this is really the case.…”

“…Parents in poor condition are expected to be less effective incubators, as they need to leave the nest more often for self-maintenance (DuRant et al, 2013). For example, lower ambient temperatures result in parents taking longer off-bouts, presumably due to higher energetic demands (Schöll et al, 2020). This can have important implications for developing embryos, as leaving the nest can result in considerable reductions in nest temperature (Greeney, 2009).…”

Markers for Global Climate Change and Its Impact on Social, Biological and Ecological Systems: A Review

“…It generates slow adaptations according to climate change but larger variations in temperature remains intolerable because these severely affect body physiology in animals (Both et al, 2006;Brommer, 2004). Local variations in weather conditions influence incubation behavior in passerine birds (Coe et al, 2015) and in great tits (Schöll et al, 2019;Seebacher & Post, 2015). Thus climate induced changes are rectified during migration stay period and animals acquire new advancements in feeding, reproductive and ecological behavior year after year and passed on this genetic adaptation in to new populations through breeding (Børre et al, 2016;Todd et al, 2011).…”

Deconstructing incubation behaviour in response to ambient temperature over different timescales

“…In this study, we investigated whether behavioural responses to ambient temperature could be generalized across populations and timescales by using a unified methodology and coherent variable effects. For this, we collected incubation data during three years in three different breeding populations of a monogamous, female only‐incubator passerine, the great tit, for which a variety of incubation behaviours have been reported (Álvarez and Barba 2014, Bueno‐Enciso et al 2017, Schöll et al 2019). We explored 1) how on‐ and off‐bout duration was associated with ambient temperature, time of day and day of incubation; and 2) the influence of the timescale (full incubation, daily and hourly periods) on the interpretation of nest attentiveness.…”

“…1a). On the other hand, if it is measured on a daily basis, only the non-linear effect of temperature (Bambini et al 2019; but see Simmonds et al 2017, Schöll et al 2019 for a linear effect) and the linear effect of day of incubation would affect it (Fig. 1b).…”