The Energetic Costs of Nest Building in Birds

Mainwaring, Mark C.; Hartley, Ian R.

doi:10.3184/175815512x13528994072997

Cited by 149 publications

(144 citation statements)

References 57 publications

(85 reference statements)

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“…Understanding of the role of nests has increased considerably in recent years, but the nest-building phase of breeding success is relatively understudied (Deeming and Reynolds 2015). Nests represent a major energy investment (Mainwaring and Hartley 2013) and understanding their role, particularly in the light of urbanisation, may help us to understand changes in productivity across habitat gradients and their conservation implications. In addition to finding a broad decline in reproductive output associated with urbanisation, as found elsewhere (Chace and Walsh 2006;Chamberlain et al 2009), we also similarly found heavier nests to be linked with higher reproductive output.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of anthropogenic material affects bird nest arthropod community structure: influence of urbanisation, and consequences for ectoparasites and fledging success

et al. 2017

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Nests are a critically important factor in determining the breeding success of many species of birds. Nevertheless, we have surprisingly little understanding of how the local environment helps determine the materials used in nest construction, how this differs among related species using similar nest sites, or if materials used directly or indirectly influence the numbers of offspring successfully reared. We also have little understanding of any potential links between nest construction and the assemblage of invertebrates which inhabit nests, in particular, ectoparasites. We addressed these questions by monitoring the success rates of Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus and Great Tits Parus major, using nest boxes in rural, urban greenspace and urban garden settings. We collected used nests, identified the arthropods present, and measured the proportions of highly processed anthropogenic materials used in nest construction. Twenty-five percent of Great Tit nest materials were of anthropogenic origin and this was consistent across habitats, while Blue Tits used little (1-2%) anthropogenic material except in gardens (*16%), suggesting that Great Tits preferentially sought out these materials. In fledged nests, an increasing use of anthropogenic material was associated with a lower general arthropod diversity and ectoparasite predator abundance (Blue Tits only), but higher levels of Siphonaptera (fleas).Higher arthropod diversity was associated with lower flea numbers, suggesting that increased diversity played a role in limiting flea numbers. No direct link was found between breeding success and either anthropogenic material usage or arthropod diversity and abundance. However, breeding success declined with increasing urbanisation in both species and increased with nest weight in Blue Tits. The interplay between urbanisation and bird ecology is complex; our work shows that subtle anthropogenic influences may have indirect and unexpected consequences for urban birds.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of anthropogenic material affects bird nest arthropod community structure: influence of urbanisation, and consequences for ectoparasites and fledging success

et al. 2017

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“…For nest building behaviors to be extended phenotypic signals of the building individuals' quality, they must reliably indicate the quality of the builder by being associated with energetic costs (Nager and van Noordwijk, 1992;Maynard Smith and Harper, 2003;Moreno, 2012). There is now evidence that constructing a nest is energetically expensive for birds and that whilst those costs are less substantial than provisioning nestlings or incubating eggs, they are nevertheless far more substantial than they were generally considered to be just a couple of decades ago (e.g., Withers, 1977;Hansell and Ruxton, 2002;Soler et al, 2007;Moreno et al, 2008Moreno et al, , 2010; reviewed by Mainwaring and Hartley, 2013). Thus, nest building behaviors and the design of completed nests may act as sexual signals and there is widespread evidence that they play a role in sexual selection in species where nests are built by males alone (Lens et al, 1994;Evans and Burn, 1996;Gwinner, 1997;Evans, 1997a,b;Soler et al, 2001;de Neve and Soler, 2002;Brouwer and Komdeur, 2004;Polo et al, 2004Polo et al, , 2010Veiga and Polo, 2005;Veiga et al, 2006), by females alone (Moreno et al, 2008(Moreno et al, , 2010 and by both parents (Soler et al, 1998;Sergio et al, 2011).…”

Section: Sexual Selectionmentioning

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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“…Open cup-shaped nests are the most common design [5], having the advantage of relatively simple construction but the disadvantage of potentially exposing eggs, nestlings, and parents to predators and climatic elements [10,11]. A smaller proportion of species build domed nests with roofs, which can take longer to construct but provide greater concealment and insulation [3,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Open cup nests evolved from roofed nests in the early passerines

Price

Griffith

2017

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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The architectural diversity of nests in the passerine birds (order Passeriformes) is thought to have played an important role in the adaptive radiation of this group, which now comprises more than half of avian species and occupies nearly all terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we present an extensive survey and ancestral state reconstruction of nest design across the passerines, focusing on early Australian lineages and including members of nearly all passerine families worldwide. Most passerines build open cup-shaped nests, whereas a minority build more elaborate domed structures with roofs. We provide strong evidence that, despite their relative rarity today, domed nests were constructed by the common ancestor of all modern passerines. Open cup nests evolved from enclosed domes at least four times independently during early passerine evolution, at least three of which occurred on the Australian continent, yielding several primarily cup-nesting clades that are now widespread and numerically dominant among passerines. Our results show that the ubiquitous and relatively simple cup-shaped nests of many birds today evolved multiple times convergently, suggesting adaptive benefits over earlier roofed designs.

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The Energetic Costs of Nest Building in Birds

Cited by 149 publications

References 57 publications

Use of anthropogenic material affects bird nest arthropod community structure: influence of urbanisation, and consequences for ectoparasites and fledging success

Use of anthropogenic material affects bird nest arthropod community structure: influence of urbanisation, and consequences for ectoparasites and fledging success

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

Open cup nests evolved from roofed nests in the early passerines

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