Latitudinal variation in parental energy expenditure during brood rearing in the great tit

Sanz, Juan José; Tinbergen, Joost M.; Moreno, Juan; Orell, Markku; Verhulst, Simon

doi:10.1007/pl00008842

Cited by 34 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Given that environmental conditions vary considerably over such broad latitudinal gradients then it is unsurprising that various life history and reproductive parameters of blue and great tits vary with latitude (e.g., Sanz et al, 2000;Møller et al, 2014a,b) although only one study has examined latitudinal variation in their nest characteristics . As spring temperatures increased with decreasing latitude across seven study sites spread over 5 • of latitude in the United Kingdom, the mass of the nests' moss base material did not vary in either species, but the mass of the nests' cup lining material and nest insulation properties decreased in both species.…”

Section: Environmental Adjustmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Causes and Consequences of Intraspecific Variation in Nesting Behaviors: Insights from Blue Tits and Great Tits

Mainwaring

2017

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Nest building is an important and yet under-studied stage of the reproductive cycle in many taxa, including birds, and whilst we have a decent understanding of interspecific variation in avian nesting behaviors, our understanding of intraspecific variation in nesting behaviors is much less developed. This is largely because an insufficient number of studies have been performed on any one species to draw robust conclusions. Fortunately, though, the amount of research on the nesting behaviors of nestbox-breeding blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) and great tits (Parus major) has increased dramatically in recent years and their nesting behaviors are now sufficiently well-studied to offer useful insights into intraspecific variation in avian nesting behaviors. Studies show that individuals of both species select nest sites based on the presence and/or absence of conspecifics and heterospecifics and whilst neighbors were assumed to adversely affect focal individuals by competing for resources, they are now considered beneficial as they provide information about habitat quality and contribute to anti-predator defenses. Nest-building females accurately gauge local weather conditions and respond to predictable variation in environmental conditions by building nests with variable amounts of cup lining material to create suitable nest microclimates for nestlings. Meanwhile, both species vary the amount of aromatic plant materials in their nests in relation to the abundance of nest-dwelling parasites and pathogens and as aromatic plant materials also play a role in sexual selection then nest materials can have multiple functions. The height of nests is negatively correlated with the local risk of predation but whilst predator avoidance favors lower nests, sexual selection favors taller nests. In fact, higher quality females build taller nests that contain more green plant material which in turn influences the amount of care provided by males. This suggests there is considerable intraspecific variation in nesting behaviors in blue and great tits, and in birds generally, and highlights that birds are adept at adaptively varying their nesting behaviors in response to multiple factors. There is, however, a paucity of evidence directly linking such variation in nest building behaviors to reproductive success or fitness more broadly and so further studies could usefully examine such links because trade-offs between competing selection pressures may constrain adaptive nesting behaviors.

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Section: Environmental Adjustmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Causes and Consequences of Intraspecific Variation in Nesting Behaviors: Insights from Blue Tits and Great Tits

Mainwaring

2017

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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“…We analyzed whether both members of the pair initiate/finish their feeding activity at the same time or if the sexes' working hours differ, calculating the time from the first visit to the nest to the last. We also analyzed how the amount of time devoted to feeding the offspring varies through the season, taking into account the number of daylight hours available for feeding (i.e., the length of the photoperiod, see Sanz et al 2000). We calculated times of sunset and sunrise for each date with the program Suncycle (http:// users.telenet.be/suncycle).…”

Section: Data Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental and Within-Nest Factors Influencing Nestling-Feeding Patterns of Mediterranean Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus)

García‐Navas

Sanz

2012

The Condor

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Abstract. The rate at which parent birds deliver food to their young may depend on several factors, both intrinsic (e.g., brood demand) and extrinsic (e.g., time of day). Using PIT tags, we determined patterns of nestling provisioning in the Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and the proximate factors affecting them. Over 3 years, we monitored the rates of provisioning by Blue Tits in two types of forest (evergreen and deciduous) in Cabañeros National Park (Spain). Pairs breeding in the deciduous forest visited the nest at rates higher than did those in the evergreen forest. Contrary to expectation, males fed their offspring more than females did, and the rates of feeding were positively related to those of the social partner. Sex roles in provisioning were consistent through the day, suggesting that parents did not work in concert. Provisioning rates also tended to decline through the day and were negatively correlated with ambient temperature. In females, but not in males, the adult's body condition was negatively related to provisioning effort. There was no relationship between nestlings' condition and parental provisioning rates. We found a strong correlation between hourly feeding rates and the total number of feedings registered over a 24-hr period, which indicates that short-term samples are representative of what occurs over a longer time. Overall, our study represents a significant contribution to the understanding of proximate factors influencing parental provisioning strategies in altricial birds with biparental care.Key words: diurnal variation, feeding rates, nestling provisioning, parental care, RFID, transponder. Factores Ambientales y Sociales que Influyen en los Patrones de Aprovisionamiento de las Crías de Cyanistes caeruleusResumen. La frecuencia con la cual las aves proporcionan alimento a sus crías puede depender de varios factores, tanto intrínsecos (e.g., demanda de la nidada) como extrínsecos (e.g., hora del día). Aquí, nosotros determinamos los patrones de aprovisionamiento de Cyanistes caeruleus y los factores próximos que los determinan mediante el uso de microchips. Durante un período de estudio de 3 años, seguimos las tasas de aprovisionamiento de C. caeruleus en dos tipos de bosque (un hábitat esclerófilo y otro deciduo) dentro del Parque Nacional de Cabañeros (España central). Las parejas que crían en el bosque deciduo visitaron el nido a tasas más elevadas que aquellas que lo hicieron en el bosque esclerófilo. En contra de lo esperado, los machos alimentaron a su descendencia con mayor frecuencia que las hembras y sus tasas de alimentación se relacionaron positivamente con las de su pareja. El papel de los sexos en el aprovisionamiento de los polluelos fue consistente durante el transcurso del día, sugiriendo que los padres no realizan dicha labor de forma coordinada. Las tasas de aprovisionamiento tendieron a disminuir con el progreso de la jornada y se relacionaron de forma negativa con la temperatura ambiente. En las hembras, pero no así en los machos, la condición corporal de los ...

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“…Third, if working day length, as a proportion of the total day length, decreases with latitude (e.g. Sanz et al 2000), the number of off-bouts recorded at high-latitude sites will be smaller than would be expected, based on day length alone (Fig. 1c).…”

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confidence: 95%

“…In addition, parents may simply be physiologically incapable of remaining active throughout the daylight period (Sanz et al 2000). As a result, day length variation could have a further, non-linear effect on nest attentiveness, if it is moderated by variation in working day length.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Latitudinal variation in day length and working day length has a confounding effect when comparing nest attentiveness in tropical and temperate species

Shaw

Cresswell

2014

J Ornithol

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During incubation tropical passerines have been shown to have lower levels of nest attentiveness than their counterparts at north temperate latitudes, spending a higher percentage of daylight time off the nest. This difference has been interpreted as evidence of parental restraint; tropical birds allocate more time to daily self-maintenance, perhaps preserving their higher annual survival rates and future breeding potential. But such comparisons are susceptible to the confounding effects of day length variation, because a given amount of time spent off the nest will account for a greater percentage of daylight time near to the equator than at high latitudes during spring and summer. Based on a pattern of increasing day length between 0° and 70°N we show that the impact of this bias is likely to be small where sites are separated by less than 30-40° of latitude, but should increase substantially both with latitudinal span and distance from the equator. To illustrate this effect we compared nest attentiveness in two congeners, breeding at 1°S and 52°N. During incubation, Stripe-breasted Tits Parus fasciiventer in Uganda had a shorter working day (time from emerging to retiring) than north temperate Great Tits P. major, and spent a higher percentage of daylight time off the nest (32%) than Great Tits in the UK (24%). However this difference was almost wholly explained by the latitudinal difference in day length; the amount of time spent off the nest differed by just 10 min d -1 (<1% of the 24-hr cycle). We show that this effect may be moderated by the change in working day length, which increased less rapidly (in relation to latitude) than day length. Although these effects can thus confound latitudinal comparisons of nest attentiveness, accentuating a pattern predicted by life history theory, they are avoidable if attentiveness is expressed simply as the percentage of time or the number of minutes spent incubating per 24 hours.

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Latitudinal variation in parental energy expenditure during brood rearing in the great tit

Cited by 34 publications

References 32 publications

Causes and Consequences of Intraspecific Variation in Nesting Behaviors: Insights from Blue Tits and Great Tits

Causes and Consequences of Intraspecific Variation in Nesting Behaviors: Insights from Blue Tits and Great Tits

Environmental and Within-Nest Factors Influencing Nestling-Feeding Patterns of Mediterranean Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus)

Latitudinal variation in day length and working day length has a confounding effect when comparing nest attentiveness in tropical and temperate species

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