Indeterminate laying and flexible clutch size in a capital breeder, the common eider

Waldeck, Peter; Hanssen, Sveinn Are; Andersson, Malte

doi:10.1007/s00442-010-1762-6

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The mean host clutch reduction of about 0.3 eggs was calculated across all parasitised nests in our meta‐analysis, regardless of timing and number of parasitic eggs. Hosts are most likely to alter their egg production if CBP or egg predation occurs early in the laying sequence (Andersson and Eriksson 1982), in eiders particularly at the 1‐ or 2‐ egg stage (Waldeck et al 2011, also see Erikstad and Bustnes 1994). Early egg predation was often followed by increased egg laying in females that did not desert the nest (Waldeck et al 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Together with other evidence these results also show that eiders (and probably other ducks) are not determinate egg‐layers. They, like other ducks, can modify their egg production in response to parasitism, predation or other changes to the number of eggs in their nest early in the laying sequence (Andersson and Eriksson 1982, Erikstad and Bustnes 1994, Arnold et al 2002, Jaatinen et al 2009b, Waldeck et al 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Brood parasitism, female condition and clutch reduction in the common eider Somateria mollisima

Waldeck¹,

Hagen²,

Hanssen³

et al. 2011

Journal of Avian Biology

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Conspecific brood parasitism (CBP) is an alternative reproductive tactic found in many animals with parental care. Parasitizing females lay eggs in the nests of other females (hosts) of the same species, which incubate and raise both their own and the foreign offspring. The causes and consequences of CBP are debated. Using albumen fingerprinting of eggs for accurately detecting parasitism, we here analyse its relation to female condition and clutch size in High Arctic common eiders Somateria mollissima borealis. Among 166 clutches in a Svalbard colony, 31 (19%) contained eggs from more than one female, and 40 of 670 eggs (6%) were parasitic. In 6 cases an active nest with egg(s) was taken over by another female. Many suitable nest sites were unoccupied, indicating that CBP and nest takeover are reproductive tactics, not only consequences of nest site shortage. Similarity in body mass between female categories suggests that condition does not determine whether a nesting female becomes parasitised. There was no evidence of low condition in parasites: egg size was similar in hosts and parasites, and parasitism was equally frequent early and late in the laying season. Metaanalysis of this and 3 other eider studies shows that there is a cost of being parasitised in this precocial species: host females laid on average 7% fewer eggs than other females.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brood parasitism, female condition and clutch reduction in the common eider Somateria mollisima

Waldeck¹,

Hagen²,

Hanssen³

et al. 2011

Journal of Avian Biology

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“…Female eider body condition prior to breeding is widely acknowledged as a major determinant of clutch size [23,50,51]. However, clutch size is also affected by female age and timing of…”

Section: Clutch Size Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Condition dependent strategies of egg size variation in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima

Christensen

Balsby

2020

PLoS ONE

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We analysed intraclutch egg-size variation over the laying sequence in relation to clutch size, and the relation between clutch size and female body condition, in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima during an 8-year period. The aim was to assess if eiders adjusted egg size within the laying sequence depending on clutch sizes in response to body condition, as such an adjustment could have adaptive implications on reproductive success through a size advantage for the hatchlings. The analyses were performed on a population level; and then at the individual level using data from recaptured females that changed clutch size between years. Based on 1,099 clutches from 812 individual females, population clutch size averaged 4.13 eggs (range: 1-6), with 4-and 5-egg clutchesconstituting c.70% of all clutches, taking turns in being the most represented clutch size. Clutch size was positively related to female pre-laying body condition at both the population and individual levels. Egg size varied significantly within and between clutch sizes and changes were significantly related to the laying sequence. First eggs were significantly larger in 4-egg clutches and second eggs marginally smaller than in 5-egg clutches, a pattern also found among individual females changing clutch size between years. The relationship between female pre-laying body condition and clutch size, and the intraclutch egg-size pattern indicate that both clutch size and egg size are actively adapted to the pre-breeding body condition of the female. As egg size potentially optimise reproductive success through a size advantage in hatchlings, the observed pattern of intraclutch egg-size variation suggests that female eiders possesses a finely tuned conditional dependent mechanism that may optimize reproductive output in years were females are in suboptimal body condition for breeding.

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“…Eiders may switch between islands at Rif after unsuccessful early nest initiation attempts in the previous years. We suspect that at Rif, parasitic egg laying (Waldeck et al 2011) can occur if the first eggs are predated (see Hanssen and Erikstad 2013), employed as a salvage strategy favored over a second nesting attempt.…”

Section: Which Individuals Are the First Nesters?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, the Rif colony has some females that partially share nest attendance and over 20 % of the nests have parasitic egg laying (Kristjánsson and Jónsson 2015), i.e. individuals that lay their eggs in other females nests (Waldeck et al 2011). …”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

The early birds and the rest: do first nesters represent the entire colony?

Jónsson

Lúðvíksson²,

Kaller

2016

Polar Biol

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Climate change studies have detected earlier spring arrival of breeding birds. However, first nest dates (date first nests were found), which commonly provide the metric for earlier arrival, can be biased by population size or sampling effort. Our aims were to determine if: 1) first nest dates and median nest date (date when at least 50 % of all females have nested) were equivalent predictors for the spring arrival and 2) first nest date or median nest date were related to nest numbers. We recorded first and median nest dates and nest numbers at the common eider (Somateria mollissima) colony at Rif, Iceland, during 1992-2013. First nest date was advanced by 11 days during the study, but median nest date was advanced by only 4 days. First nest date and median nest date were correlated, but this relationship was only a small improvement over the null model (Nagelkerke R 2 = 30 %). We found a relationship with nest count for both first and median nest dates once the analysis had accounted for inter-annual variability. First nest date may not represent the colony as a whole but rather the physically fittest or the most determined individuals, which may be more prone to nest early than the general population. Nesting birds must decide how much to advance breeding based on nest numbers and other nontemporal cues which necessitate earlier breeding. We argue that nest numbers affect the birds in a biological sense and that the advancement was not explained solely by increased nest numbers.

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Indeterminate laying and flexible clutch size in a capital breeder, the common eider

Cited by 8 publications

References 40 publications

Brood parasitism, female condition and clutch reduction in the common eider Somateria mollisima

Brood parasitism, female condition and clutch reduction in the common eider Somateria mollisima

Condition dependent strategies of egg size variation in the Common Eider Somateria mollissima

The early birds and the rest: do first nesters represent the entire colony?

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