A recipe for postfledging survival in great tits Parus major: be large and be early (but not too much)

TY - JOUR

T1 - A recipe for postfledging survival in great tits Parus major: be large and be early (but not too much)

AU - Rodríguez, Samuel

AU - van Noordwijk, Arie J.

AU - Álvarez, Elena

AU - Barba, Emilio

N1 - 6110, AnE; Data Archiving: no data (data in Valencia)

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - Survival of juveniles during the postfledging period can be markedly low, which may have major consequences on avian population dynamics. Knowing which factors operating during the nesting phase affect postfledging survival is crucial to understand avian breeding strategies. We aimed to obtain a robust set of predictors of postfledging local survival using the great tit (Parus major) as a model species. We used mark–recapture models to analyze the effect of hatching date, temperatures experienced during the nestling period, fledging size and body mass on first-year postfledging survival probability of great tit juveniles. We used data from 5192 nestlings of first clutches ringed between 1993 and 2010. Mean first-year postfledging survival probability was 15.2%, and it was lower for smaller individuals, as well as for those born in either very early or late broods. Our results stress the importance of choosing an optimum hatching period, and raising large chicks to increase first-year local survival probability in the studied population.

AB - Survival of juveniles during the postfledging period can be markedly low, which may have major consequences on avian population dynamics. Knowing which factors operating during the nesting phase affect postfledging survival is crucial to understand avian breeding strategies. We aimed to obtain a robust set of predictors of postfledging local survival using the great tit (Parus major) as a model species. We used mark–recapture models to analyze the effect of hatching date, temperatures experienced during the nestling period, fledging size and body mass on first-year postfledging survival probability of great tit juveniles. We used data from 5192 nestlings of first clutches ringed between 1993 and 2010. Mean first-year postfledging survival probability was 15.2%, and it was lower for smaller individuals, as well as for those born in either very early or late broods. Our results stress the importance of choosing an optimum hatching period, and raising large chicks to increase first-year local survival probability in the studied population.

KW - Breeding success

KW - Cormack–Jolly–Seber models

KW - fledging condition

KW - hyperthermia

KW - long-term study

KW - international

U2 - 10.1002/ece3.2192

DO - 10.1002/ece3.2192

M3 - Article

SN - 2045-7758

VL - 6

SP - 4458

EP - 4467

JO - Ecology and Evolution

JF - Ecology and Evolution

IS - 13

ER -