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Cold weather increases winter site fidelity in a group-living passerine

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Abstract

Site fidelity during the non-breeding season is beneficial if habitat quality and environmental predictability are high. In group-living species, the costs and benefits of site fidelity may be linked to the non-social (weather) and social (dominance hierarchy) environments, but little is known about factors influencing movements during the non-breeding season. We studied both within- and between-winter site fidelity of the great tit (Parus major), a partial migrant in northern Finland. We collected mark-resight data on wintering great tits across two winters at multiple sites, and tested for the effects of age, sex, season, temperature and day length on site fidelity. Within-winter movement was lower during mid-winter and decreased during cold periods. This pattern is probably linked to energy saving and predator escaping strategies during these demanding periods when energy expenditure is high and birds have limited daylight hours to forage. Site fidelity was lower for juveniles than adults within a winter, but it was unaffected by sex. These results agree with an age related dominance structure and site-specific dominance found in great tits, but they can also be related to prior experience as young individuals still collect information during their first winter. In contrast, between-winter site fidelity was not affected by age or sex, suggesting equal benefits from site fidelity. Juveniles probably gather information on resource abundance and distribution in their first winter, and thereby gain the same benefits as adults from returning the next winter.

Zusammenfassung

Kaltes wetter im winter erhöht die standorttreue sozial lebender sperlingsvögel

Standorttreue außerhalb der Brutperiode ist dann von Nutzen, wenn die Habitatqualität hoch und die Umgebungsbedingungen stabil sind. Bei in Gruppen lebenden Arten hängen Kosten und Nutzen von Standorttreue möglicherweise auch mit nicht-sozialen Faktoren (Wetter) und mit sozialen Umgebungsbedingungen (Dominanz-Hierarchien) zusammen. Man weiß aber nur wenig über Faktoren, die die Ortsveränderungen der Vögel außerhalb der Brutsaison beeinflussen. Wir untersuchten die Standorttreue der Kohlmeise (Parus major), einem Teilzieher in Nord-Finnland, sowohl während des Winters als auch zwischen Wintern. Hierfür sammelten wir an unterschiedlichen Standorten Wiederfang-Daten von Kohlmeisen und untersuchten diese auf mögliche Auswirkungen von Geschlecht, Alter, Saison, Temperatur und Tageslänge auf die Standorttreue. Die Ortsveränderungen waren während des Mittwinters geringer und nahmen während Kälteperioden ab. Dieses Verhaltensmuster steht wahrscheinlich in Zusammenhang mit Strategien zum Sparen von Energie und Vermeiden von Räubern während dieser schwierigen Jahreszeit, wenn der Energieverbrauch hoch ist und den Vögeln nur wenig Tageslicht zum Futtersammeln bleibt. Während des Winters zeigten Jungtiere weniger Standorttreue als ältere Tiere, ein Zusammenhang mit dem Geschlecht konnte jedoch nicht nachgewiesen werden. Diese Ergebnisse passen gut zu einer von Kohlmeisen bekannten altersabhängigen Dominanz-Struktur sowie Standort-spezifischen Dominanz. Sie können aber auch zu früheren Erfahrungen der Vögel in Beziehung gesetzt werden, da Jungtiere während ihres ersten Winters noch Informationen sammeln. Im Gegensatz dazu gab es in der Zeit zwischen Wintern keinerlei Einfluss vom Alter und Geschlecht der Vögel auf die Standorttreue. Jungtiere sammeln wahrscheinlich in ihrem ersten Winter Informationen zum Vorhandensein und der Verbreitung von Nahrungsquellen, was ihnen vermutlich die gleichen Vorteile schafft wie älteren Tieren, die im nächsten Winter wiederkehren.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all the volunteers that helped during ringing and resighting, especially Ari-Pekka Auvinen, Toni Eskelin, Juhani Hopkins, Juha Kiiski, Reetta Kivioja, Satu Lampila, Laura-Lotta Muurinen, Petri Niemelä, Suvi Ponnikas and Elina Seppänen. We thank the local bird club (PPLY) and Jukka Piispanen for collaboration at the Hyry feeding site. We thank Esa Hohtola for valuable discussions, and Indrikis Krams and two anonymous referees for constructive comments on the manuscript. The study was funded by the Academy of Finland, Research Council for Biosciences and Environment (278759 to VMP, 258638, 128193 and 106811 to MO), the Finnish Cultural Foundation (VMP) and the Thule Institute (JK). Data collection in this study was done under licence from the Finnish Museum of Natural History and complies with the current national law.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, PO Box 3000, 90014, Oulu, Finland

    Veli-Matti Pakanen, Juhani Karvonen, Jaana Mäkelä, Jukka-Pekka Hietaniemi, Tuomo Jaakkonen, Elina Kaisanlahti, Miila Kauppinen, Kari Koivula, Aappo Luukkonen, Seppo Rytkönen, Jere Tolvanen, Emma Vatka & Markku Orell

  2. Kasarmintie 20 B 12 K, 90130, Oulu, Finland

    Sami Timonen

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  1. Veli-Matti Pakanen
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  2. Juhani Karvonen
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  3. Jaana Mäkelä
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Correspondence to Veli-Matti Pakanen.

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Funding

This study was funded by Academy of Finland (Grant numbers 278759, 258638, 128193 and 106811), the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Thule Institute.

Ethical approval

All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Data availability

The datasets during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Communicated by N. Chernetsov.

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Pakanen, VM., Karvonen, J., Mäkelä, J. et al. Cold weather increases winter site fidelity in a group-living passerine. J Ornithol 159, 211–219 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-017-1505-0

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