Annual adult survival in several new world passerine birds based on age ratios in museum collections

Abstract

We estimated annual survival from proportions of first-year and older birds in museum collections of several species of North American and Neotropical passerine birds (Order Passeriformes). The quality of estimates of survival from museum specimens depends on accurate aging, usually based on plumage markers, and unbiased collecting. The advantages of an age-ratio approach are broad temporal and geographic sampling, large sample sizes, reduced bias from adult dispersal, and access to species and areas not readily sampled in mark-recapture studies. Biases in estimated survival due to sex-and agebased biases in collecting are discussed in detail. Survival estimates were higher in tropical compared to temperate populations/species in Pyrocephalus, Icterus, Pheucticus, and Cyanocompsa, but not Catharus. In seven of nine North American species, estimates of survival from museum collections exceeded those obtained in local MAPS mark-recapture studies. Generalizations concerning adult survival rates in natural populations continue to be elusive, but the use of a variety of estimation approaches will enrich the empirical database and strengthen confidence in perceived patterns of life-history traits.Zusammenfassung Wir haben die jährlichen Ü berlebenswahrscheinlichkeiten von mehreren Arten nordamerikanischer und neotropischer Sperlingsvögel (Ordnung Passeriformes) aus dem Zahlenverhältnis von 1-jährigen zu älteren Vögeln in Museumssammlungen abgeschätzt. Die Verlässlichkeit der Schätzung von Ü berlebensraten aus Museumsbälgen hängt von der genauen Altersbestimmung ab, die meist auf Gefiedermerkmalen beruhen, und der Zufälligkeit des Sammelns. Vorteile der AltersklassenMethode sind ihre breite geografische und zeitliche Anwendbarkeit, hohe Probenzahlen, reduzierter Einfluss der Wanderung adulter Tiere sowie Anwendbarkeit auf Arten oder Gebiete, bei denen Fang-Wiederfang-Studien nicht gut anwendbar sind. Erwartete Fehler bei der Schätzung durch geschlechts-oder alters-abhängiges Sammeln werden ausführlich diskutiert. Die gefundenen Ü berlebensraten waren höher in tropischen als in temperaten Populationen bzw. Arten von Pyrocephalus, Icterus, Pheucticus und Cyanocompsa, nicht aber bei Catharus. In sieben von neun nordamerikanischen Arten waren die mit der AltersklassenMethode geschätzten Ü berlebensraten höher als die aus lokalen MAPS Fang-Wiederfang-Studien. Allgemein gültige Aussagen zu Ü berlebenswahrscheinlichkeiten in natürlichen Vogelpopulationen sind mangels weiterhin schwierig. Die Anwendung verschiedener Schätzmethoden bietet die Möglichkeit, die empirische Datengrundlage zu verbreitern und damit life-history-Vergleiche auf eine bessere Grundlagen zu stellen.R. E. Shea: Deceased.Communicated by F. Bairlein.

Flight Performance and Feather Quality: Paying the Price of Overlapping Moult and Breeding in a Tropical Highland Bird

“…It is conceivable that decreased feather quality and slower escape flight speed bear less of a risk to survival for species in which the rate of adult predation is low [77]. Furthermore, it is possible that species for which flight performance is not as important for many aspects of their life (e.g.…”

Breeding success affects site fidelity in a WhinchatSaxicola rubetrapopulation in abandoned fields

“…The rationale for this estimate is that, in a stationary (non-growing) population, the recruitment of second year birds into the population is equal to the annual adult mortality rate (Ricklefs et al 2011). This estimate can be biased due to delayed breeding of second calendar year males, a despotic breeding distribution or population fluctuations (Conn et al 2005).…”

“…Adult true survival can be estimated on the basis of age ratio in the local population (Ricklefs 1997, Ricklefs et al 2011. The rationale for this estimate is that, in a stationary (non-growing) population, the recruitment of second year birds into the population is equal to the annual adult mortality rate (Ricklefs et al 2011).…”

Banding data reveal bias in age-class sampling of songbirds during spring migration

“…Assuming a non‐growing population (λ = 1, R 0 = 1) with stable age‐class proportions, and given the discrete nature of the breeding seasons of songbirds at temperate latitudes, if SY and ASY birds are captured in proportion to their presence in the population during spring migration, the survival of adults is estimated without bias (Ricklefs , Ricklefs et al. ) by S Ad = A spring .…”