Over the course of the annual cycle, migratory bird populations can be impacted by environmental conditions in regions separated by thousands of kilometers. We examine how climatic conditions during discrete periods of the annual cycle influence the demography of a nearctic-neotropical migrant population of yellow warblers (Setophaga petechia), that breed in western Canada and overwinter in Mexico. We demonstrate that wind conditions during spring migration are the best predictor of apparent annual adult survival, male arrival date, female clutch initiation date and, via these timing effects, annual productivity. We find little evidence that conditions during the wintering period influence breeding phenology and apparent annual survival. Our study emphasizes the importance of climatic conditions experienced by migrants during the migratory period and indicates that geography may play a role in which period most strongly impacts migrant populations.

We use stable isotope data to investigate the role of winter habitat use in altering the breeding phenology of yellow warblers Setophaga petechia. We first confirm that δ13C and δ15N isotopic signatures vary with winter habitat use in this species. We then examine the relationship between winter habitat use, breeding phenology and productivity within four age‐sex‐classes, since life history theory would predict that carry‐over effects should vary with age and gender. The δ13C signatures of yellow warblers using riparian habitats over winter were more depleted than the signatures of those using agricultural or scrub habitat. Individuals on the Pacific coast of Mexico were also more δ15N enriched than those on the southern Gulf of Mexico. δ13C and δ15N signatures were only correlated with earlier clutch initiation and subsequent higher productivity in first‐breeding‐season females. We estimate that shifts in δ13C equivalent to a shift from scrub to riparian winter habitat would be associated with the production of 0.8 more fledglings by yearling females. Pre‐breeding events that influence the timing of breeding could also influence the reproductive performance of older males and females, but we found little evidence that winter habitat use influenced breeding season phenology in these birds.

Ecological traps arise when anthropogenic change creates habitat that appears suitable but when selected reduces the fitness of an individual. We evaluated whether riparian habitat within the drawdown zone of the Arrow Lakes Reservoir, British Columbia, creates an ecological trap for Yellow Warblers ( Setophaga petechia (L., 1766)) by investigating habitat preferences and the fitness consequences of habitat selection decisions. Preferences were inferred by examining how habitat variables influenced settlement order, and comparing habitat at nest sites and random locations. Males preferred to settle in territories with more riparian shrub and tree cover, higher shrub diversity, and less high canopy cover. Females built nests in taller shrubs surrounded by a greater density of shrub stems. Habitat preferences were positively associated with fitness: nest sites in taller shrubs surrounded by higher shrub-stem densities were more likely to avoid predation and fledge young, whereas territories with more riparian cover, higher shrub diversity, and less high canopy cover had higher annual productivity. We therefore found no evidence that riparian habitat affected by reservoir operations functions as an ecological trap. Current habitat selection decisions may be associated with fitness because Yellow Warblers are adapted to breeding in a heterogeneous environment subject to periodic flooding.

Stable isotope analysis of feathers may help track populations of migratory birds throughout their annual cycle. We use deuterium isotope ratios in feathers (dD f ) to confirm that Yellow Warblers Dendroica petechia go through both a prebasic molt on or near their breeding grounds and a prealternate molt on their wintering grounds, and evaluate whether dD analysis of different feather types can help assign birds to breeding and winter origins. We show that primary coverts and tail feathers have dD f values that reflect long-term average deuterium isotope ratios in precipitation (dD P ) on the breeding grounds. Most greater coverts and crown feathers, however, have dD f values that are more enriched than predicted based on the dD P of their wintering distribution. We also found significant interannual variation in the dD f values of tail feathers, greater coverts and crown feathers. Interannual variation in dD f of winter-grown feathers may be explained by El Niño/La Niña conditions that influence rainfall and thus dD P ; feathers were more depleted following an El Niño year (2005) than a La Niña year (2006). Gender had no effect on the dD f values of any feathers sampled. Age influenced the dD f values of crown feathers but not greater coverts. This study therefore confirms that dD f of summer-grown feathers can be used to identify breeding locations, but suggests that the ability to use dD f of winter-grown feathers to assign individuals to winter locations is limited by weak spatial gradients and temporal variation in dD P .

Brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater (Boddaert, 1783)) often reduces the reproductive success of their hosts. We examined whether the ability of females to avoid or mitigate the costs of brood parasitism improved with age in a population of Yellow Warblers (Setophaga petechia (L., 1766)) breeding near Revelstoke, British Columbia, between 2004 and 2011. Cowbirds parasitized 18% of Yellow Warbler nesting attempts and females rejected 24% of parasitized nests, principally by deserting the nest and initiating a new breeding attempt. We found no evidence that older females were better at avoiding parasitism or more likely to reject parasitized nests than yearlings. On average, brood parasitism reduced clutch sizes by 0.8 eggs, had no effect on nest success, but reduced the number of young fledged from successful nests by 1.3 offspring. Despite age-related improvement in some measures of breeding performance, the costs of brood parasitism at each period of the breeding cycle did not vary with age. There was, however, some evidence, that brood parasitism reduced the annual productivity (total number of young fledged) of older females less than the annual productivity of yearlings suggesting that the cumulative costs of brood parasitism varied with age.