High survival rate and site fidelity in the Siberian Tit Parus cinctus, a focal species of the taiga

Abstract

The Siberian Tit Parzis cincttrs population of Finland, and probably of the whole of Fennoscandia, has declined dramatically during this century. Understanding its population dynamics is essential for its conservation. We studied annual survival rate and dispersal distance of both breeding and fledgling Siberian Tits during 1989-97 in a moderately managed forest habitat near the southern border of its range in Kuusamo, northeastern Finland. Breeding density was low, averaging 0.51 pairs/& in a nestbox area of about 42 km2. This was probably an underestimate, because we did not search for nests in natural holes. However, following its population decline, overall densities at the southern border of the range are low. The study area was, however, suitable breeding habitat as reflected by their high nesting success. Brood size at fledging averaged 7.45 young, and reproductive output was 6.16 young per breeding pair, including failed nests. Clutch size adjustment was successful among pairs producing fledglings because, on average, 92.6% of the eggs laid produced young in successful broods. Median distance between consecutive breeding attempts was 100 m for both males and females (range 0-2500 m and 0-6000 m, respectively). Natal dispersal distance was significantly longer in females than in males. We applied Cormack-Jolly-Seber modelling to estimate survival and recapture probabilities separately. Survival of breeding birds was not sex-related, averaging 0.69 annually. Some of the ringed fledglings (3.00/0) were later captured as breeders in the area. This is an underestimate of local survival rate due to incomplete recapturing of breeding birds. The implications of these results with respect to the conservation status of the

Importance of adult survival, local recruitment and immigration in a declining boreal forest passerine, the willow tit Parus montanus

“…In Europe, the ranges for reported adult survival estimates are, for example, for the blue tit P. caeruleus 0.57-0.82 (Dhont et al 1990;Blondel et al 1992) and for the great tit P. major 0.26-0.51 (Clobert et al 1988;Hõ rak and Lebreton 1998). For the Siberian tit P. cinctus, Orell et al (1999b) reported a high survival probability (0.69) in one population in Finland.…”

Flocking propensity by satellites, but not core members of mixed-species flocks, increases when individuals experience energetic deficits in a poor-quality foraging habitat

“…Candidate models with interaction terms and constant detection probabilities were also included in the candidate set. We did not include effects of sex to avoid overparameterization, but also because previous studies show sex does not significantly influence survival in parids [79–81].…”

Whinchat survival estimates across Europe: can excessive adult mortality explain population declines?

“…In migratory species which are often more faithful to their non‐breeding than to their breeding site (Blackburn & Cresswell, 2016 b ), annual apparent survival estimated in the non‐breeding area is often higher than in the breeding grounds, for example garden warbler Silvia borin 0.40 vs. 0.54 (Peach et al ., 2001; Johnston et al ., 2016) or Saxicola rubetra 0.44 vs. 0.53 (this study, Blackburn & Cresswell, 2016 a ). Consistently, survival of small passerines from populations where permanent emigration is negligible reach values of 0.6–0.7 (siberian tit Poecile cinctus Orell et al ., 1999, willow tit Poecile montanus Lampila et al ., 2006, house sparrow Passer domesticus Ringsby et al ., 1999, song sparrow Melospiza melodia Dybala et al ., 2013, ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana Steifetten & Dale, 2006).…”