Taking A Break: The Relationship Between Ambient Temperature and Nest Attendance Patterns of Incubating Carolina Chickadees (<i>Poecile carolinensis</i>)

Walters, Lindsey A.; Webber, Jaclyn A.; Jones, Brittany A.; Volker, Cassandra L.

doi:10.1676/15-115.1

Cited by 12 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…A likely mechanism for higher temperatures increasing the duration of the incubation period is adjustment of incubation behavior under different ambient temperatures. For example, incubating females may leave the nest for shorter periods in cold conditions (Voss et al, 2006;Amininasab et al, 2016;Walters et al, 2016), so eggs remain within the optimal incubation temperature range for a greater proportion of the day. However, other studies have reported greater nest attendance when ambient temperatures are higher (Morton and Pereyra, 1985;Ardia et al, 2010;MacDonald et al, 2013;Simmonds et al, 2017), perhaps because lower costs of heating eggs and/or foraging allow females to incubate for longer before they need to forage again.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incubation in a Temperate Passerine: Do Environmental Conditions Affect Incubation Period Duration and Hatching Success?

2020

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The timing of breeding often has a profound influence on the reproductive success of birds living in seasonal environments with rapidly changing nestling food availability. Timing is typically investigated with reference to lay dates, but it is the time of hatching that determines the ambient conditions and food availability that nestlings experience. Thus, in addition to lay date, phenological studies may also have to take account of variation in the length of the incubation period, which is likely to depend on both environmental conditions and parental traits. The primary aim of this study was to use a 24-year dataset to investigate the abiotic and biotic factors influencing variation in incubation duration in long-tailed tits (Aegithalos caudatus), a species in which incubation duration varies substantially (range: 12-26 days). We found support for our predictions that drier conditions, later breeding attempts and larger clutches were associated with shorter incubation periods. Larger clutches were also more resilient to increases in incubation duration associated with wet conditions. Surprisingly, warmer ambient conditions were associated with longer incubation periods. Secondly, we assessed the consequences of variation in the length of incubation periods for the risk of nest predation and the hatching success of surviving clutches. We show that longer incubation periods are likely to be costly due to increased exposure to nest predators. In contrast, we found only marginal effects of environmental conditions or incubation duration on hatching success, implying that wet conditions cause slower embryo growth and hence longer incubation periods, rather than causing embryo fatality. We suggest that long-tailed tits' nests and parental behavior protect eggs from mortality arising directly from adverse weather conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incubation in a Temperate Passerine: Do Environmental Conditions Affect Incubation Period Duration and Hatching Success?

2020

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“…While ambient temperature has been shown by several studies to drive nest attendance in several bird species (Conway & Martin , Walters et al . ), our study demonstrated a stronger influence of predation risk on nest attendance behaviour, a factor that could be controlled if needed through actions such as predator removal in order to increase reproductive output of birds, particularly those of conservation concern.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

“…Such a control allows for greater precision in calculating on‐ and off‐bouts, as in Walters et al . (). However, our results still demonstrate the efficacy of temperature data loggers for monitoring parental activity at nests, and illustrate how such data can be used to investigate changes in nest attendance behaviour in response to various threats to the nest.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Using this number, we then identified an off‐bout as any incidence of a drop of at least 1.5 °C until the temperature increased again by at least 1.5 °C, similar to methods used by Walters et al . (). We counted the number of off‐bouts during four periods of the day: morning (05:00–10:00), day (10:00–16:00), evening (16:00–21:00) and night (21:00–05:00).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Predator density influences nest attendance of Yellow‐headed BlackbirdsXanthocephalus xanthocephalus

Behrens

Ruff

Harms

et al. 2019

Ibis

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Nest attendance behaviour in birds is a function of the careful balance between the risk of nest predation and the needs of the parents and nestlings. This attendance must be carefully regulated, as increased parental activity at the nest increases nest predation risk. We tested the long-standing hypothesis that nest predation risk influences parental behaviour by evaluating the influence of local Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris density on the off-bout frequency of Yellow-headed Blackbirds Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. Marsh Wren density was negatively correlated with Yellow-headed Blackbird off-bout frequency during the morning (05:00-10:00 h) and evening (16:00-21:00 h), suggesting that Yellow-headed Blackbirds alter their nest attendance behaviour in response to a perceived increased risk of nest predation. We suggest that Yellow-headed Blackbirds are sensitive to nest predation risk and alter their behaviour accordingly to increase overall fitness, although future research is needed to evaluate the influence of Marsh Wren nest predation on the reproductive success of Yellow-headed Blackbirds.

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“…As several studies have demonstrated the importance of ambient temperature on avian incubation behaviour (e.g. Conway and Martin 2000 ; McClintock et al 2014 ; Walters et al 2016 ), we also used measurements from the nearest weather station (Kalmar) of the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, from 2014 (downloaded at https://opendata-download-metobs.smhi.se/explore/ #) as a covariate in our models (see below). Based on the hourly temperature measurements, we calculated the average temperature between 4 am to 9 pm (i.e.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in incubation behaviour and niche separation of two competing flycatcher species

Koski

Sirkiä

McFarlane

et al. 2020

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Food availability sets the stage for incubation behaviour of a female bird and thereby indirectly determines the nest temperature, which in turn affects development and metabolism of avian embryos. Changes in development and metabolism in turn are known to influence offspring's ability to adjust to environmental changes later in life. However, few studies have investigated the role of interspecific differences in incubation behaviour in relation to niche separation between competing sibling species. We studied the effects of habitat quality (in terms of caterpillar availability) on incubation behaviour of two ecologically similar and closely related species, collared and pied flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis and F. hypoleuca), in their hybrid zone on the island of Öland, Sweden. Even though both species prefer caterpillar-rich deciduous forests as nesting sites, collared flycatchers, whose nestlings have higher energetic demands, are able to nest only in deciduous forests, whereas pied flycatchers have more flexible habitat requirements. Overall, higher food availability was associated with increased nest attendance, higher incubation temperature and a lower number of foraging trips across species. In addition, collared flycatchers had more frequent and shorter foraging trips across habitat types, allocated more heat to eggs and therefore maintained higher nest temperatures compared to pied flycatchers. We argue that the higher heat allocation or the need to maintain a higher nest temperature for embryo development may constrain collared flycatchers to focus on relatively more profitable prey. Our results highlight the importance of considering incubation behaviour in the context of understanding species differences in niche use. Significance statement Niche separation plays an important role in mitigating effects of competition between closely related species. Whether species differences in incubation behaviour relate to differences in niche use remains unknown. We compared incubation behaviour of two sympatric flycatcher species that differ in sensitivity to food availability. The competitively more dominant and larger species, the collared flycatcher, whose nestlings are more sensitive to food shortages, made more frequent foraging trips but allocated more heat to eggs, leading to higher nest temperature despite lower nest attendance, compared to pied flycatchers. These interspecific differences may be a result of differences in embryo sensitivity or female physiology and contribute to the niche separation between the species, which in turn can facilitate coexistence.

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Taking A Break: The Relationship Between Ambient Temperature and Nest Attendance Patterns of Incubating Carolina Chickadees (Poecile carolinensis)

Cited by 12 publications

References 43 publications

Incubation in a Temperate Passerine: Do Environmental Conditions Affect Incubation Period Duration and Hatching Success?

Incubation in a Temperate Passerine: Do Environmental Conditions Affect Incubation Period Duration and Hatching Success?

Predator density influences nest attendance of Yellow‐headed BlackbirdsXanthocephalus xanthocephalus

Differences in incubation behaviour and niche separation of two competing flycatcher species

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