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Condition-dependent clutch desertion in Great Tit (Parus major) females subjected to human disturbance

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Abstract

Nest desertion behaviour in relation to body condition and timing of breeding was studied in Great Tit (Parus major) females during two breeding seasons. Desertion, most likely unintentionally provoked by catching females during the incubation period, occurred at a very high rate with 41.2 and 25.6% of deserted first clutches in the two study years. The association between desertion probability, body condition (index calculated as residuals from the regression of body mass on tarsus length) and timing of breeding differed between the seasons with the highest probability of desertion among females in low condition laying early in the season in one year and females in low condition laying late in the season in the other year. Desertion probability was best predicted by body condition with females in low condition deserting at much higher rate than females in good condition. These results suggest that nest desertion by females subjected to disturbance during the early stage of the nesting cycle may be associated with the level of their body reserves, and that patterns of desertion in relation to body condition and timing of breeding may differ between years.

Zusammenfassung

Während zweier Brutperioden wurde bei weiblichen Kohlmeisen das Verlassen der Gelege im Zusammenhang mit ihrer körperlichen Verfassung und dem Zeitpunkt des Brütens untersucht. Das Verlassen, höchstwahrscheinlich unabsichtlich vom Fang der Weibchen während des Brütens ausgelöst, trat in den beiden Untersuchungsjahren mit hoher Rate auf: 41,2 und 25,6% Erstgelege wurden verlassen. Der Zusammenhang zwischen Verlassens-Wahrscheinlichkeit, körperlicher Verfassung (Index berechnet als Residuen einer Regression von Körpermasse und Tarsus-Länge) und Zeitpunkt des Brütens variierte zwischen den Jahreszeiten; die höchste Verlassens-Wahrscheinlichkeit gab es bei Weibchen in weniger guter Verfassung und früher Brutzeit in dem einen Jahr und Weibchen in nicht guter Verfassung und später Brutzeit in dem anderen Jahr. Die körperliche Verfassung als Prädiktor der Verlassens-Wahrscheinlichkeit stimmte am besten für Weibchen in nicht guter Verfassung, bei denen die Verlassens-Rate viel höher lag als bei Weibchen in gutem physischen Zustand. Diese Ergebnisse legen die Annahme nahe, dass das Verlassen der Gelege von im frühen Niststadium gestörten Weibchen mit dem Stand ihrer Körperreserven zusammenhängt und das Verlassen in Abhängigkeit von der körperlichen Verfassung und der Zeit des Brütens von Jahr zu Jahr unterschiedlich sein könnte.

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Acknowledgments

I thank Magdalena Witek, Magdalena Stoczko and other students for help in the field. Geir A. Sonerud, Raivo Mänd and Tomasz Mazgajski provided valuable comments on previous drafts of the manuscript. The study was financially supported by grants from the State Committee for Scientific Research of Poland (No. 6 P04C 079 19) and Jagiellonian University (No. BW/V/INoS/7/99). The study complies with the current laws of the Republic of Poland.

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  1. Anna Dubiec

    Present address: Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wilcza 64, 00-679, Warszawa, Poland

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  1. Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387, Kraków, Poland

    Anna Dubiec

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  1. Anna Dubiec
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Correspondence to Anna Dubiec.

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Communicated by T. Friedl.

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Dubiec, A. Condition-dependent clutch desertion in Great Tit (Parus major) females subjected to human disturbance. J Ornithol 152, 743–749 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-011-0647-8

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