10.5061/DRYAD.5TB2RBP1M
Tolvanen, Jere
0000-0002-0250-3176
University of Oulu
Morosinotto, Chiara
Novia University of Applied Sciences
Forsman, Jukka
Natural Resources Institute Finland
Thomson, Robert
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
Information collected during the post-breeding season guides future
breeding decisions in a migratory bird
Dryad
dataset
2020
habitat choice
reproductive investment
social information
Between-individual variation
Academy of Finland
https://ror.org/05k73zm37
138049
Academy of Finland
https://ror.org/05k73zm37
12265
Academy of Finland
https://ror.org/05k73zm37
125720
Kone Foundation
https://ror.org/05jwty529
1
Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica
https://ror.org/05n6zma86
1
University of Turku Collegium for Science and Medicine
1
2020-03-12T00:00:00Z
2020-03-12T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020-04629-5
477130 bytes
3
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
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.
Data set from an experiment in natural environment manipulating the
availability of social information and breeding sites for a passerine
bird, the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca. Experimental manipulation
was conducted during the post-breeding season (period from chick fledging
to autumn migration) in 2013 and the responses were observed during the
next breeding season in 2014. The uploaded files include data for nest
site (nest box) occupation analysis (edited for Cox regression) and data
for timing of breeding (laying date of the first egg), reproductive
investment (clutch size, mean egg mass, clutch mass) and success (brood
size, fledgling number). For further details, please contact the authors.