Abstract
Avian nests function to provide a safe environment for parents, eggs and nestlings. Positive associations between nest size and other components of breeding performance are expected in two conditions. First, larger nests protect nest occupants better against environmental fluctuations (e.g., weather) than smaller nests. This implies that nest size is a determinant of survival in nest occupants. Second, if reproduction is physically costly, “stronger” parents are expected to be able to build both larger nests and rear more offspring. Here we present the findings of a 17-year correlative nest box study in Corsican Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus ogliastrae) that examined the associations between nest size and different aspects of breeding success. We found that females with larger nests produced more fledglings, but did not produce more hatchlings or heavier nestlings than females with smaller nests. The analyses involving nest size controlled for other female characteristics (first-egg date, clutch size, female age) and environmental factors (oak habitat type, weather during the nestling stage) which we assumed could influence aspects of breeding success. Our findings concerning associations between the size of the nest and breeding success differ from those reported in previous studies in other geographic regions, perhaps because the costs that are associated with reproduction or the local environmental conditions that influence breeding performance are population specific. Our correlative study illustrates that avian studies of niche construction may benefit from long-term multi-factor investigations.
Zusammenfassung
Bei korsischen Blaumeisen ( Cyanistes caeruleus ) in einem eichendominierten Inselhabitatmosaik korreliert die Nestgröße positiv mit dem Ausfliegeerfolg Vogelnester fungieren als sicheres Umfeld für Elternvögel, Eier und Nestlinge. Positive Beziehungen zwischen Nestgröße und anderen Komponenten der Reproduktionsleistung sind unter zwei Voraussetzungen zu erwarten. Erstens bieten größere Nester ihren Bewohnern besseren Schutz vor schwankenden Umweltbedingungen (zum Beispiel dem Wetter) als kleinere Nester. Dies würde bedeuten, dass die Nestgröße für das Überleben der Nestinsassen einen entscheidenden Faktor darstellt. Zweitens wäre, sofern die Fortpflanzung physische Kosten mit sich bringt, zu erwarten, dass „kräftigere“Elternvögel sowohl größere Nester bauen als auch mehr Junge großziehen können. Hier stellen wir die Ergebnisse einer 17-jährigen korrelativen Nistkastenstudie an korsischen Iberienblaumeisen (Cyanistes caeruleus ogliastrae) vor, bei der die Beziehungen zwischen Nestgröße und verschiedenen Aspekten des Bruterfolgs untersucht wurden. Wir stellten fest, dass Weibchen mit größeren Nestern mehr flügge Jungvögel aber nicht mehr Schlüpflinge oder schwerere Nestlinge hervorbrachten als Weibchen mit kleineren Nestern. Für die Auswertungen nach Nestgröße wählten wir andere Weibcheneigenschaften (Erstlegedatum, Gelegegröße, Alter des Weibchens) und Umweltfaktoren (Eichenwaldtyp, Wetter während der Nestlingsperiode), von denen wir annahmen, dass sie ebenfalls Einfluss auf Aspekte des Bruterfolges haben könnten, als Kontrollgrößen. Unsere Befunde bezüglich der Beziehungen zwischen Nestgröße und Bruterfolg unterscheiden sich von denen früherer Studien aus anderen geografischen Regionen, möglicherweise da die Kosten im Rahmen der Fortpflanzung oder die lokalen Umweltbedingungen, welche den Bruterfolg beeinflussen, populationsspezifisch sind. Unsere korrelative Studie verdeutlicht, dass ornithologische Untersuchungen zur Nischenbildung von langfristigen multifaktoriellen Forschungsarbeiten profitieren können.
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Acknowledgments
We thank all the people that helped with the long-term maintenance of the study sites and in particular Philippe Perret and Anne Charmantier. Samuel Caro provided constructive comments on a previous version of the manuscript. This long-term study was financially supported by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and the Observatoire de Recherche Méditerranéen de l'Environnement, and several national or international organizations in the past (European Commission, European METABIRD project, French Agence Nationale de la Recherche). Communities and land owners in Corsica kindly gave permission for us to visit the different woodland areas for the study of Blue Tits.
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Lambrechts, M.M., Blondel, J., de Franceschi, C. et al. Nest size is positively correlated with fledging success in Corsican Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) in an insular oak-dominated habitat mosaic. J Ornithol 158, 125–132 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-016-1377-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-016-1377-8