Juvenile survival of little owls decreases with snow cover

Abstract

Global environmental changes are associated with warmer average temperatures and more extreme weather events, potentially affecting wildlife population dynamics by altering demographic processes. Extreme weather events can reduce food resources and survival in all seasons of the year. Estimates of season‐specific survival probabilities are therefore crucial to understand the moderating effect of extreme events on annual mortality. Here, we analysed survival probabilities of 307 radio‐tracked juvenile little owls (Athene noctua) over two‐week periods from fledging to their first breeding attempt in the following spring to assess the contribution of extreme weather events. Survival probabilities were typically lowest during the first weeks after fledging in summer but were moderated by seasonal extremes in winter. The duration of snow cover in winter had a strong negative effect on survival probability, while being food supplemented during the nestling stage increased survival during the first weeks after fledging in summer and ultimately led to a larger proportion of birds surviving the first year. Overall annual survival probability over the first year varied by 34.3% between 0.117 (95% credible interval 0.052–0.223) and 0.178 (0.097–0.293) depending on the severity of the winter, and was as high as 0.233 (0.127–0.373) for food‐supplemented fledglings. In years with mild winters, the season with the lowest survival was the summer post‐fledging period (0.508; 0.428–0.594), but in years with extensive snow cover the winter was the season with the lowest survival (0.481; 0.337–0.626). We therefore show that extreme weather events occurring in a particular season reduced the proportion of first‐year survivors. Increasing extreme weather events can moderate seasonal survival probability through altering food supply of juvenile little owls either during the nestling period or in winter, with similarly large effects on annual survival and the viability of populations.