Foraging Patch Selection in Winter: A Balance between Predation Risk and Thermoregulation Benefit

Villén‐Peréz, Sara; Carrascal, Luis M.; Seoane, Javier

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0068448

Cited by 25 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This may be explained by two complementary effects; a) warm weather reduces the cost of thermoregulation in endothermic birds and the pressure to get enough food to survive in cold situations (e.g. winter nights, Calder and King , Villén‐Pérez et al ), b) in warm Mediterranean lowlands, the arrival of autumn rain produces flooding in many areas and the onset of a winter period of primary productivity, which increases the avail ability of food for many birds, including aquatic prey used by herons and black storks (Rendón et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographical and environmental factors affecting the distribution of wintering black storks Ciconia nigra in the Iberian Peninsula

Cano¹,

Pacheco

Refoyo³

et al. 2014

Journal of Avian Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Here we explore the environmental and geographical factors affecting the winter distribution of the black stork Ciconia nigra in the Iberian Peninsula, where an increasing number of individuals have remained to winter in the last two decades. We recorded 179 locations of 54 ringed individuals between 1988 and 2011 to map the species habitat suitability with MaxEnt, a machine‐learning technique based on the principle of maximum entropy. The migratory movements of 25 birds equipped with satellite transmitters were used to define the autumnal migratory flyway used by most storks crossing the Peninsula as well as to define the wintering period. The aim was to test if the number of wintering storks was positively correlated to habitat suitability and negatively correlated to the flyway distance. Data provided by an extensive count across Portugal and Spain during the 2012–2013 winter supported the findings that black storks were more abundant in areas of high habitat suitability close to the migratory flyway. This agrees with previous evidence on the role of migratory flyways in determining the distribution of some wintering birds in Iberia. A gap analysis reflected that just 12.3% of the suitable areas and 18.8% of individuals recorded during the 2012–2013 winter were included within the Special Protection Areas network of Portugal and Spain. Most of these birds were crowded in unprotected areas covered by rice fields (68% of individuals), a key habitat for the species.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographical and environmental factors affecting the distribution of wintering black storks Ciconia nigra in the Iberian Peninsula

Cano¹,

Pacheco

Refoyo³

et al. 2014

Journal of Avian Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Stankowich and Blumstein, 2005;Tsurim et al, 2010;Villén-Perez et al, 2013). The SSS only elicited fleeing in 41% of focal magpies and so was probably only a moderately threatening stimulus.…”

Section: Starting Distance and Proximity To A Refugementioning

confidence: 94%

Boldness of Urban Australian Magpies and Local Traffic Volume

Gravolin

Key

Lill

2014

Avian Biology Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In order to successfully colonise the urban environment, birds must be able tolerate pedestrian and vehicle proximity, because exhibiting a strong fleeing response each time that a harmless traffic stimulus is encountered would be maladaptive. We examined whether a native 'urban adapter', the Australian magpie (Cracticus tibicen), varied in its tolerance of human approach and a simulated vehicular traffic sound in urban Melbourne, Australia as a function of pedestrian or vehicular traffic volume in the local area. The flight initiation distance (FID) paradigm and presentation of a potentially startling sound stimulus (SSS) were used to measure the magpies' boldness in areas with differing traffic volumes. Magpies in areas with relatively high pedestrian traffic volumes exhibited a shorter FID to, and retreated a shorter distance from, an approaching human than conspecifics experiencing relatively low volumes of pedestrian traffic. Magpies in areas with a relatively high vehicular traffic volume were less likely to flee from a SSS than conspecifics in areas with little or no vehicular traffic. Habituation to human disturbance and/or adjustment of anti-predator effort seem the most likely explanations for these disparities and suggest that magpies have considerable behavioural flexibility. The ability to tolerate high volumes of traffic and the associated noise allows magpies to use: (a) ecologically suitable habitat adjoining city roads with heavy vehicular traffic and (b) urban areas with many pedestrians and consequently much human food waste, which the birds exploit.

show abstract

“…On the other hand, if birds could fully meet their daily energy requirements, being partially determined by short‐term fluctuations in minimum temperatures, they could minimize their longer‐term risk of starvation by foraging more intensively when weather conditions become more favorable (Turcotte and Desrochers , Villén‐Pérez et al. , Pakanen et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How extreme is extreme? Demographic approaches inform the occurrence and ecological relevance of extreme events

Latimer

Zuckerberg

2019

Ecological Monographs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Projected increases in the variability of both temperature and precipitation will result in the greater likelihood and magnitude of extreme weather (e.g., cold snaps, droughts, heat waves) with potential implications for animal populations. Despite the ecological consequences of extreme weather, there are several challenges in identifying extreme events and measuring their influence on key demographic processes in free‐living animals. First, there is often a mismatch between the spatial and/or temporal resolution of biological and climate data that could hinder our ability to draw accurate inferences about how species and populations respond to extreme events. Second, there are multiple approaches for identifying an extreme event ranging from statistical definitions (e.g., standardized deviates) to species‐specific biological thresholds. Lastly, the impacts of extreme weather on species can vary as a function of differences in exposure and intrinsic sensitivity to climate variability. In the Northern Hemisphere, rapid warming has contributed to a “wobblier” jet stream that promotes the higher likelihood of cold Arctic air moving southward and leading to more extreme winter conditions. Due to these conditions, the Upper Midwest experienced two of the coldest winters in the past 35 yr during 2014 and 2015. We combined radiofrequency identification technologies with fine‐scale weather data and standard capture–mark–recapture analyses to estimate weekly and overwinter survival rates of a common winter passerine, the Black‐capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), in a near continuous fashion. Using both statistical and biological definitions of weather extremes, we found that declining ambient temperatures reduced survival (despite the presence of favorable microclimates), and that biologically defined thresholds of extreme weather were better at explaining variation in survival than statistical ones. Moreover, habitat fragmentation interacted with temperature to modify the exposure of birds to extreme weather with survival consequences, but sensitivity, as measured by body condition, did not appear to play a significant role. These results provide a novel contribution to the understanding of how extreme weather may interact with local‐ and landscape features to influence the demography of species and populations, and suggest potential opportunities for climate‐change adaptation in human‐dominated landscapes.

show abstract

Foraging Patch Selection in Winter: A Balance between Predation Risk and Thermoregulation Benefit

Cited by 25 publications

References 31 publications

Geographical and environmental factors affecting the distribution of wintering black storks Ciconia nigra in the Iberian Peninsula

Geographical and environmental factors affecting the distribution of wintering black storks Ciconia nigra in the Iberian Peninsula

Boldness of Urban Australian Magpies and Local Traffic Volume

How extreme is extreme? Demographic approaches inform the occurrence and ecological relevance of extreme events

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About