Habitat-specific demography of breeding black-throated blue warblers (Dendroica caerulescens) : implications for populations dynamics

The distribution of individuals among habitats and their relative success in those habitats can have important consequences for population dynamics. To examine these processes for a long-distance migratory bird species, we studied the population structure, age-specific reproductive output, and local survival of black-throated blue warblers (Dendroica caerulescens, Gmelin) in two breeding habitats differing in shrub density within northern hardwoods forests in New Hampshire, USA. On forest plots with dense shrubs, warblers occurred at higher densities, and fledged significantly more young per capita per season than those occupying areas with lower shrub density. This differential productivity was due to higher reproductive output, mainly through double-brooding, of older (≥ 2 years of age) individuals, which were disproportionately more abundant in high shrub density sites. Clutch initiation dates, clutch sizes, and predation rates at individual nests did not differ significantly between habitats. Mean body mass of nestlings on day 6 following hatching were higher on average on plots with high shrub density, but differences were not significant. Annual return rates, as indices of local survival, did not differ between habitats for older males or for females. Yearling males, however, returned in subsequent years at a significantly lower rate to low shrub density plots, a result of either lower survival or, more likely, dispersal to more suitable habitat in their second year of breeding. Parental age and habitat suitability interact in that older individuals, through their experience and/or dominance, acquire sites of higher quality, which results in higher reproductive output and probably higher survival. These differences between habitats in density, reproductive performance and local survival are consistent with an ideal-despotic/preemptive distribution of individuals, and suggest that this population could be regulated by the availability, distribution, and extent of high and low quality breeding habitats.

[1]  R. Holmes,et al.  Bird community dynamics and energetics in a northern hardwoods ecosystem , 1975 .

[2]  James D. Nichols,et al.  THE MAYFIELD METHOD OF ESTIMATING NESTING SUCCESS: A MODEL, ESTIMATORS AND SIMULATION RESULTS , 1981 .

[3]  R. Holmes,et al.  Results of Experimental and Natural Food Reductions for Breeding Black‐Throated Blue Warblers , 1992 .

[4]  J. Lemel.  Habitat distribution in the Great Tit Parus major in relation to reproductive success, dominance, and biometry , 1989 .

[5]  J. Rappole,et al.  Cause and effect in population declines of migratory birds , 1994 .

[6]  C. F. Thompson,et al.  Site Fidelity and Habitat Quality as Determinants of Settlement Pattern in Male Painted Buntings , 1986 .

[7]  Benjamin B. Steele,et al.  Habitat selection by breeding Black-throated Blue Warblers at two spatial scales , 1992 .

[8]  C. Ralph,et al.  Correlation of Age, Size of Territory, Plumage, and Breeding Success in White-Crowned Sparrows , 1971 .

[9]  J. Krebs.  Territory and breeding density in the Great Tit , 1971 .

[10]  V. Nolan.  The ecology and behavior of the Prairie warbler, Dendroica discolor , 1978 .

[11]  H. Pulliam,et al.  Sources, Sinks, and Population Regulation , 1988, The American Naturalist.

[12]  M. Brittingham,et al.  Have Cowbirds Caused Forest Songbirds to Decline , 1983 .

[13]  T. Alerstam,et al.  Bird migration and reproduction in relation to habitats for survival and breeding , 1982 .

[14]  R. Holmes,et al.  Bird Community Dynamics in a Temperate Deciduous Forest: Long‐Term Trends at Hubbard Brook , 1986 .

[15]  A. Järvinen.  Spatial and temporal variation in reproductive traits of adjacent northern Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca populations , 1993 .

[16]  H. Pulliam,et al.  Sources, Sinks, and Habitat Selection: A Landscape Perspective on Population Dynamics , 1991, The American Naturalist.

[17]  Jerram L. Brown.  TERRITORIAL BEHAVIOR AND POPULATION REGULATION IN BIRDS , 1969 .

[18]  D. Lack.  Bird migration and natural selection , 1968 .

[19]  B. Kempenaers,et al.  Density-dependent clutch size caused by habitat heterogeneity , 1992 .

[20]  R. B. Payne,et al.  Breeding dispersal in indigo buntings: circumstances and consequences for breeding success and population structure , 1993 .

[21]  T. E. Martin.  Interaction of Nest Predation and Food Limitation in Reproductive Strategies , 1992 .

[22]  J. V. Balen,et al.  A Comparative Sudy of the Breeding Ecology of the Great Tit Parus major in Different Habitats , 2015 .

[23]  Goran Hogstedt.  EFFECT OF ADDITIONAL FOOD ON REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS IN THE MAGPIE (PICA PICA) , 1981 .

[24]  J. Probst,et al.  Pairing success of Kirtland's warblers in marginal vs. suitable habitat , 1987 .

[25]  J. Gibbs,et al.  Estimating the Viability of Ovenbird and Kentucky Warbler Populations in Forest Fragments , 1990 .

[26]  J. M. Winterbottom,et al.  BIRD POPULATION STUDIES: B. The Population of Twenty-one Acres near Fort Jameson , 1933 .

[27]  Therese M. Donovan,et al.  Regional Forest Fragmentation and the Nesting Success of Migratory Birds , 1995, Science.

[28]  R. Holmes,et al.  Winter Habitat Quality, Population Limitation, and Conservation of Neotropical‐Nearctic Migrant Birds , 1996 .

[29]  R. B. Payne.  NATAL DISPERSAL AND POPULATION STRUCTURE IN A MIGRATORY SONGBIRD, THE INDIGO BUNTING , 1991, Evolution; international journal of organic evolution.

[30]  T. E. Martin.  Food as a limit on breeding birds: a life-history perspective , 1987 .

[31]  J. Loman.  Breeding success in relation to parent size and experience in a population of the Hooded Crow , 1984 .

[32]  R. Holmes,et al.  Population Structure, Territoriality and Overwinter Survival of Two Migrant Warbler Species in Jamaica , 1989 .

[33]  A. Lundberg,et al.  Biometry, habitat distribution and breeding success in the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca , 1981 .

[34]  V. Nolan.  The ecology and behavior of the prairie warbler, Dendroica discolor. Ornithological monographs ; no. 26. , 1978 .

[35]  H. Andrén,et al.  DESPOTIC DISTRIBUTION, UNEQUAL REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS, AND POPULATION REGULATION IN THE JAY GARRULUS GLANDARIUS L.' , 1990 .

[36]  C. Herrera.  ON THE BREEDING DISTRIBUTION PATTERN OF EUROPEAN MIGRANT BIRDS: MACARTHUR'S THEME REEXAMINED , 1978 .

[37]  T. E. Martin,et al.  Food limitation of avian reproduction : an experiment with the Cactus Wren , 1990 .

[38]  S. Fretwell.  Populations in a seasonal environment. , 1973, Monographs in population biology.

[39]  P. J. Jones,et al.  The Ecology and Conservation of Palaearctic-African Migrants , 1993 .

[40]  Ian Newton,et al.  EXPERIMENTS ON THE LIMITATION OF BIRD NUMBERS BY TERRITORIAL BEHAVIOUR , 1992 .

[41]  G. Hardin,et al.  Natural Regulation of Animal Populations , 2006 .

[42]  V. Nolan,et al.  Polygyny in Indigo Buntings: A Hypothesis Tested , 1975, Science.

[43]  J. Bednarz,et al.  Reproductive Performance of Territorial Ovenbirds Occupying Forest Fragments and a Contiguous Forest in Pennsylvania , 1993 .

[44]  S. Fretwell,et al.  On territorial behavior and other factors influencing habitat distribution in birds , 1969 .

[45]  C. Francis,et al.  Differential Timing of Spring Migration in Wood Warblers (Parulinae) , 1986 .

[46]  Ruth G. Shaw,et al.  Anova for Unbalanced Data: An Overview , 1993 .

[47]  A. Desrochers,et al.  AGE-SPECIFIC FECUNDITY IN EUROPEAN BLACKBIRDS (TURDUS MERULA): INDIVIDUAL AND POPULATION TRENDS , 1993 .

[48]  Edward O. Minot,et al.  Effects of Interspecific Competition for Food in Breeding Blue and Great Tits , 1981 .

[49]  A. Łomnicki,et al.  Regulation of population density due to individual differences and patchy environment , 1980 .

[50]  R. Holmes,et al.  MULTIPLE BROODING AND PRODUCTIVITY OF A NEOTROPICAL MIGRANT, THE BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER (DENDROICA CAERULESCENS), IN AN UNFRAGMENTED TEMPERATE FOREST , 1992 .

[51]  S. Fretwell,et al.  On territorial behavior and other factors influencing habitat distribution in birds , 1969 .

[52]  John A. Wiens,et al.  The Ecology Of Bird Communities , 1989 .

[53]  J. Terborgh,et al.  Where Have All the Birds Gone? , 1989 .

[54]  M. Bowers.  Dynamics of age- and habitat-structured populations , 1994 .