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Fargallo JA, López-Rull I. Settlement Phenotypes: Social Selection and Immigration in a Common Kestrel Population. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.810516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Dispersal decisions are affected by the internal state of the individual and the external environment. Immigrants entering a new population are phenotypically different from residents due to selection that mitigate costs of dispersal and facilitate settlement. Sexual and status signaling traits may influence individual’s ability to settle in a population, either by showing a subordinate phenotype thus reducing aggressive interactions, or by signaling a more competitive phenotype, thus gaining local breeding resources, including mates. By comparing immigrants vs. residents in a common kestrel population across 17 years, we evaluated the influence of dispersal on fitness components (laying date, clutch size and number of fledglings) and investigated if sex, age and phenotypic traits (body size, body condition and plumage coloration) involved in movement and social interactions affected settlement. We found that population characteristics affected sexes and age classes differently, as the admission of females and young males into our population had fewer obstacles than the admission of males. In females, immigrant young were larger, had longer wings and tails, showed better body condition, had less gray tails, started breeding earlier, and laid larger clutches than residents. Adult female immigrants also showed better body condition and less gray tails. In males, immigrants had longer tails and higher number of black spots than residents. Summarizing, immigrants are good-quality individuals and, as deduced from their breeding performance, they benefited by signaling subordination, thus reducing the probability of aggressive encounters and facilitating settlement. Our study highlights the role of phenotypic traits related to signaling to study dispersal.
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Morinay J, De Pascalis F, Dominoni DM, Morganti M, Pezzo F, Pirrello S, Visceglia M, De Capua EL, Cecere JG, Rubolini D. Combining social information use and comfort seeking for nest site selection in a cavity-nesting raptor. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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Wemer L, Hegemann A, Isaksson C, Nebel C, Kleindorfer S, Gamauf A, Adrion M, Sumasgutner P. Reduced ectoparasite load, body mass and blood haemolysis in Eurasian kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) along an urban-rural gradient. Naturwissenschaften 2021; 108:42. [PMID: 34491450 PMCID: PMC8423637 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-021-01745-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Urbanisation is proceeding at an alarming rate which forces wildlife to either retreat from urban areas or cope with novel stressors linked to human presence and activities. For example, urban stressors like anthropogenic noise, artificial light at night and chemical pollution can have severe impacts on the physiology of wildlife (and humans), in particular the immune system and antioxidant defences. These physiological systems are important to combat and reduce the severity of parasitic infections, which are common among wild animals. One question that then arises is whether urban-dwelling animals, whose immune and antioxidant system are already challenged by the urban stressors, are more susceptible to parasitic infections. To assess this, we studied nestlings of Eurasian kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) in Vienna, Austria, during 2015 and 2017. We measured biomarkers of innate immune function, oxidative stress and body mass index and ectoparasite infection intensity in 143 nestlings (from 56 nests) along an urban gradient. Nestlings in more urbanised areas had overall fewer ectoparasites, lower haemolysis (complement activity) and lower body mass index compared to nestlings in less urbanised areas. None of the other immune or oxidative stress markers were associated with the urban gradient. Despite some non-significant results, our data still suggest that kestrel nestlings experience some level of reduced physiological health, perhaps as a consequence of exposure to more urban stressors or altered prey availability in inner-city districts even though they had an overall lower ectoparasite burden in these heavily urbanised areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Wemer
- Department of Integrative Zoology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Arne Hegemann
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | | | - Carina Nebel
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.,Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Sonia Kleindorfer
- Konrad Lorenz Research Centre, Core Facility for Behaviour and Cognition, Department of Behavioral & Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA, 5001, Australia
| | | | - Marius Adrion
- Department of Integrative Zoology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,NABU E.V, Head office, Berlin, Germany
| | - Petra Sumasgutner
- Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria. .,FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. .,Konrad Lorenz Research Centre, Core Facility for Behaviour and Cognition, Department of Behavioral & Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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Huchler K, Schulze CH, Gamauf A, Sumasgutner P. Shifting Breeding Phenology in Eurasian Kestrels Falco tinnunculus: Effects of Weather and Urbanization. Front Ecol Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
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Tolvanen J, Morosinotto C, Forsman JT, Thomson RL. Information collected during the post-breeding season guides future breeding decisions in a migratory bird. Oecologia 2020; 192:965-977. [PMID: 32162073 PMCID: PMC7165145 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-020-04629-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2018] [Accepted: 03/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
Breeding habitat choice and investment decisions are key contributors to fitness in animals. Density of individuals is a well-known cue of habitat quality used for future breeding decisions, but accuracy of density cues decreases as individuals disperse from breeding sites. Used nests remain an available information source also after breeding season, but whether such information is used for breeding decisions is less well known. We experimentally investigated whether migratory, cavity-nesting pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) prospect potential breeding sites after breeding season and use old nests as a cue for future breeding decisions. In late summer 2013, forest sites were assigned to four treatments: (1) sites including nest boxes with old nests of heterospecifics (tits), (2) sites including suitable but empty nest boxes, (3) sites with unsuitable nest boxes, or (4) sites without any nest boxes. In the following year, we investigated pied flycatcher habitat choice and reproductive investment according to these "past" cues while also controlling for additional information sources present during settlement. Flycatchers preferred sites where tits had been perceived to breed in the previous year, but only if great tits were also currently breeding in the site and had a relatively high number of eggs. Old flycatchers avoided sites previously treated with suitable but empty cavities, whereas young flycatchers preferred sites where tits had apparently bred in the previous year. Also egg mass, but not clutch size or clutch mass, was affected by the combination of past treatment information and current tit abundance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jere Tolvanen
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, 90014, Oulu, Finland. .,National Resources Institute Finland, University of Oulu, 90014, Oulu, Finland.
| | - Chiara Morosinotto
- Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland.,Bioeconomy Research Team, Novia University of Applied Sciences, Raseborgsvägen 9, 10600, Ekenäs, Finland
| | - Jukka T Forsman
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, 90014, Oulu, Finland.,National Resources Institute Finland, University of Oulu, 90014, Oulu, Finland
| | - Robert L Thomson
- Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland.,FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
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Sumasgutner P, Terraube J, Coulon A, Villers A, Chakarov N, Kruckenhauser L, Korpimäki E. Landscape homogenization due to agricultural intensification disrupts the relationship between reproductive success and main prey abundance in an avian predator. Front Zool 2019; 16:31. [PMID: 31406493 PMCID: PMC6683578 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-019-0331-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2019] [Accepted: 07/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Selecting high-quality habitat and the optimal time to reproduce can increase individual fitness and is a strong evolutionary factor shaping animal populations. However, few studies have investigated the interplay between land cover heterogeneity, limitation in food resources, individual quality and spatial variation in fitness parameters. Here, we explore how individuals of different quality respond to possible mismatches between a cue for prey availability (land cover heterogeneity) and the actual fluctuating prey abundance. RESULTS We analyse timing of breeding and reproductive success in a migratory population of Eurasian kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) breeding in nest-boxes, over a full three-year abundance cycle of main prey (voles), and consider several components of individual quality, including body condition, blood parasite infection, and genetic diversity (n = 448 adults) that act on different time scales. Older individuals, and kestrel parents in higher body condition started egg-laying earlier than younger birds and those in lower body condition. Additionally, egg-laying was initiated earlier during the increase and decrease phases (2011 and 2012) than during the low phase of the vole cycle (2013). Nestling survival (ratio of eggs that fledged successfully) was higher in early nests and in heterogeneous landscapes (i.e., mosaic of different habitat types), which was evident during the increase and decrease phases of the vole cycle, but not during the low vole year. CONCLUSIONS We found a strong positive effect of landscape heterogeneity on nestling survival, but only when voles were relatively abundant, whereas a difference in the timing of breeding related to territory landscape heterogeneity was not evident. Therefore, landscape heterogeneity appeared as the main driver of high reproductive performance under favourable food conditions. Our results show that landscape homogenization linked to agricultural intensification disrupts the expected positive effect of vole abundance on reproductive success of kestrels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petra Sumasgutner
- Department of Biology, Section of Ecology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Department of Integrative Zoology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Julien Terraube
- Department of Biology, Section of Ecology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Global Change and Conservation Lab. Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Aurélie Coulon
- CEFE, CNRS, Univ Montpellier, Univ Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France
- Centre d’Ecologie et des Sciences de la Conservation (CESCO), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Alexandre Villers
- ONCFS, Unité Avifaune Migratrice, Station de Chizé, 405 route de Prissé-la-Charrière, 79360 Villiers-en-Bois, France
| | - Nayden Chakarov
- Department of Biology, Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Luise Kruckenhauser
- Museum of Natural History Vienna, Central Research Laboratories, Vienna, Austria
| | - Erkki Korpimäki
- Department of Biology, Section of Ecology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
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Sumasgutner P, Adrion M, Gamauf A. Carotenoid coloration and health status of urban Eurasian kestrels (Falco tinnunculus). PLoS One 2018; 13:e0191956. [PMID: 29420544 PMCID: PMC5805255 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2017] [Accepted: 01/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
As the world experiences rapid urban expansion, natural landscapes are being transformed into cities at an alarming rate. Consequently, urbanization is identified as one of the biggest environmental challenges of our time, yet we lack a clear understanding of how urbanization affects free-living organisms. Urbanization leads to habitat fragmentation and increased impervious surfaces affecting for example availability and quality of food. Urbanization is also associated with increased pollution levels that can affect organisms directly, via ecophysiological constraints and indirectly by disrupting trophic interactions in multi-species networks. Birds are highly mobile, while an individual is not necessarily exposed to urban stressors around the clock, but nestlings of altricial birds are. Such a city-dwelling species with a long nestling phase is the Eurasian kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) in Vienna, Austria, which forage on a diverse diet differing in composition from rural habitats. Furthermore, prey items vary in nutritional value and contents of micronutrients like carotenoids, which might impact the nestlings' health. Carotenoids are pigments that are incorporated into integument tissues but also have antioxidant and immunostimulatory capacity, resulting in a trade-off between these functions. In nestlings these pigments function in parent-offspring communication or sibling competition by advertising an individual's physical or physiological condition. Anthropogenic disturbance and pollutants could have disruptive effects on the coloration of these traits. In this study, we measured carotenoid based coloration and other indicators of individual health (body condition and susceptibility to the ectoparasite Carnus hemapterus) of 154 nestling kestrels (n = 91 nests) along an urban gradient from 2010 to 2015. We found skin yellowness of nestlings from nest-sites in the city-center to be least pronounced. This result might indicate that inner-city nestlings are strongly affected by urban stressors and depleted their stores of dietary carotenoids for health-related functions rather than coloration. In addition, skin yellowness intensified with age and was stronger pronounced in earlier nests. Since the immune system of nestlings is still developing, younger chicks might need more antioxidants to combat environmental stress. Additionally, parasite infection intensity was highest in nestlings with less intense skin yellowness (paler or less yellow pigmented integuments) and in earlier nests of the season. In combination with results from previous studies, our findings provide further support for the low quality of the inner-city habitat, both in terms of productivity and individual health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petra Sumasgutner
- Department of Integrative Zoology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Museum of Natural History Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- * E-mail:
| | - Marius Adrion
- Department of Integrative Zoology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Museum of Natural History Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Anita Gamauf
- Department of Integrative Zoology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Museum of Natural History Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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White DJ, Davies HB, Agyapong S, Seegmiller N. Nest prospecting brown-headed cowbirds 'parasitize' social information when the value of personal information is lacking. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2017.1083. [PMID: 28835558 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2017] [Accepted: 07/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Brood parasites face considerable cognitive challenges in locating and selecting host nests for their young. Here, we test whether female brown-headed cowbirds, Molothrus ater, could use information acquired from observing the nest prospecting patterns of conspecifics to influence their own patterns of nest selection. In laboratory-based experiments, we created a disparity in the amount of personal information females had about the quality of nests. Females with less personal information about the quality of two nests spent more time investigating the nest that more knowledgeable females investigated. Furthermore, there was a strong negative relationship between individual's ability to track nest quality using personal information and their tendency to copy others. These two contrasting strategies for selecting nests are equally effective, but lead to different patterns of parasitism.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J White
- Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2 L 3C5
| | - Hayden B Davies
- Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2 L 3C5
| | - Samuel Agyapong
- Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2 L 3C5
| | - Nora Seegmiller
- Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2 L 3C5
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Podofillini S, Cecere JG, Griggio M, Curcio A, De Capua EL, Fulco E, Pirrello S, Saino N, Serra L, Visceglia M, Rubolini D. Home, dirty home: effect of old nest material on nest-site selection and breeding performance in a cavity-nesting raptor. Curr Zool 2018; 64:693-702. [PMID: 30538728 PMCID: PMC6280097 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoy012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2017] [Accepted: 01/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The quality of a breeding site may have major fitness consequences. A fundamental step to understanding the process of nest-site selection is the identification of the information individuals use to choose high-quality nest sites. For secondary cavity-nesting bird species that do not add nest lining material, organic remains (faeces, pellets) accumulated inside nest cavities during previous breeding events may be a cue for high-quality nest-sites, as they contain information about past successful breeding and may improve thermal insulation of eggs during incubation. However, cavities in which breeding was successful might also contain more nest-dwelling ectoparasites than unoccupied cavities, offering an incentive for prospective parents to avoid them. We exposed breeding cavity-nesting lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni) to nestbox dyads consisting of a dirty (with a thick layer of organic substrate) and a clean nestbox (without organic material). Dirty nestboxes were strongly preferred, being occupied earlier and more frequently than clean ones. Hatching success in dirty nestboxes was significantly higher than in clean ones, suggesting a positive effect of organic nest material on incubation efficiency, while nestbox dirtiness did not significantly affect clutch and brood size. Nestlings from dirty nestboxes had significantly higher ectoparasite load than those from clean nestboxes soon after egg hatching, but this difference was not evident a few days later. Nest substrate did not significantly affect nestling growth. We concluded that nest substrate is a key driver of nest-site choice in lesser kestrels, although the adaptive value of such a strong preference appears elusive and may be context-dependent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Podofillini
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 26, Milano, Italy
| | - Jacopo G Cecere
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Ozzano Emilia (BO), Italy
| | - Matteo Griggio
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy
| | - Andrea Curcio
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 26, Milano, Italy
| | | | - Egidio Fulco
- Studio Naturalistico Milvus, Pignola (PZ), Italy
| | - Simone Pirrello
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Ozzano Emilia (BO), Italy
| | - Nicola Saino
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 26, Milano, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Serra
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Ozzano Emilia (BO), Italy
| | | | - Diego Rubolini
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 26, Milano, Italy
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Soltész Z, Seres N, Kovács-Hostyánszki A. Dipteran assemblages in Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus) nest boxes. ACTA ZOOL ACAD SCI H 2018. [DOI: 10.17109/azh.64.1.91.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
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