Data from: Spatial, temporal and individual-based differences in nest-site visits and subsequent reproductive success in wild great tits

Firth, Joshua A., University of Oxford

Verhelst, Brecht L., University of Oxford

Crates, Ross A., Australian National University, University of Oxford

Garroway, Colin J., University of Manitoba, University of Oxford

Sheldon, Ben C., University of Oxford

Firth, Josh A., University of Oxford

Published Jul 19, 2018 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8nm8r6s

Cite this dataset

Firth, Joshua A. et al. (2018). Data from: Spatial, temporal and individual-based differences in nest-site visits and subsequent reproductive success in wild great tits [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8nm8r6s

Abstract

The behaviour of individual birds before and during the breeding period may be an important factor determining reproductive success. One commonly observed behaviour during the breeding period in many species is the visitation of multiple potential breeding sites. Much research has attempted to determine the function and consequences of this behaviour, but traditionally studies have been limited to not examining individual-level behaviour, or only considering a small number of individuals. We used automated recording of RFID-tagged birds visiting nestboxes to study a population of 80 great tits (Parus major) making >3500 daily visits across 74 breeding sites, to quantify the frequency, spatial patterning, and temporal occurrence of this behaviour from the pre-breeding period onwards. We argue that (i) the tight spatial clustering of visits, (ii) juveniles visiting more sites than adults, and (iii) males (but not females) continuing to visit other sites even as egg laying at their own nest occurs, indicate that territoriality and extra-pair mating may underpin visitation behaviour. Further, we find that spatial clustering of female visits relates to increased clutch size and fledging success, while frequently visiting a preferred nesting site increases the likelihood of obtaining a breeding site but reduces subsequent reproductive output for both sexes. Our study offers new insight into the mechanisms potentially driving breeding site visitation behaviour, and demonstrates its relationship to individual fitness. We suggest that although visitation behaviour may be related to different components of fitness, future work should use experiments to fully assess the causal factors and effects of visitation behaviour.

Usage notes

Dryad Data

DESCRIPTIONS OF RDATA OBJECTS: "'obs.dryad' object description: Each row is unique and indicates each visit by each individual to a nestbox on each day. Columns are: 'PIT'= the PIT tag (or RFID tag) identification code for that bird, 'Date'= Year-Month-Day d, 'Unit'=the unique identifier code for the nestbox RFID logger, 'Sex'= M for male or F for female, 'Age'= 5 for juvenile or 6 for adult (as per BTO scoring), 'Species'= the species of the bird (all great tits - Parus major) , 'Breeding'= whether a bird was recorded breeding that year (B) or not recorded breeding (NB), 'LD'= the lay date of the first egg of this bird (days since April 1st), 'Day'= the day of this visit by this individual to this nestbox (days since Feb 1st), 'diff'= the number of days difference between the day of this visit by this bird to this box and the day it laid its first egg (for non-breeders, the average lay date is used), 'box'= the name of the box the bird visited, 'brebox'= the name of the box the bird bred in, 'breunit'= the unit code of the box the bird bred it. Please email joshua.firth@zoo.ox.ac.uk with any questions" and "'bre.dryad' object description: Each row is unique and indicates a breeding record for each bird that year. Columns are: 'PIT'= the PIT tag (or RFID tag) identification code for that bird, 'SEX'= M for male or F for female, 'AGE2012'= 5 for juvenile or 6 for adult (as per BTO scoring) that year, 'BOX2012'= the name of the box the bird bred in that year, 'LD'= the lay date of the first egg of this bird (days since April 1st), 'NF'= the number of chicks fledged, 'CS'= the clutch size, 'WING'= bird wing length, 'WT'= bird weight, 'TARSUS'= bird tarsus length. Please email joshua.firth@zoo.ox.ac.uk with any questions"