Nestsite selection by male loons leads to sex‐biased site familiarity

Abstract

Summary 1.The concept that animals benefit from gaining familiarity with physical spaces is widespread among ecologists and constitutes a theoretical pillar in studies of territory defence, philopatry and habitat selection. Yet proximate causes and fitness benefits of site familiarity are poorly known. 2. We used data from marked common loons Gavia immer breeding on 98 territories over 14 years to investigate the 'win-stay, lose-switch rule' for nestsite placement (if eggs hatch, reuse nestsite; if predator takes eggs, move nestsite). Males controlled nest placement in this species: pairs used the rule if both members remained the same from the previous nesting attempt or if only the male remained the same but not if only the female remained the same. 3. By means of the nesting rule, male common loons benefited from site familiarity, increasing nesting success by 41% between their first and third years on a territory. In contrast, females exhibited no increase in nesting success with increased territorial tenure. 4. Owing to site familiarity, a male loon competing for a breeding territory faces a considerable 'familiarity deficit' compared with the male breeder already established there. The familiarity deficit probably explains why resident animals often fight hard to retain familiar territories, when challenged, and why animals of many species tend to remain on familiar territories rather than moving when territories of higher intrinsic quality become available nearby.

Lay, brood, repeat: nest reuse and site fidelity in ecologic time for two Cretaceous troodontid dinosaurs

“…Nesting site fidelity occurs in a variety of extant vertebrates (Harris et al, 1996;Madsen and Shine, 1999;Wilson et al, 1999;Webster and Cook, 2001;Nordmoe et al, 2004) where nest space is limited by the availability of suitable substrates or shade, protection from predators, parasite density, and flooding frequency (Badyaev and Faust, 1996;Stanback and Dervan, 2001). Site fidelity is associated with and provides an important benefit to reproductive success, particularly with intraspecific competition over limited nesting resources (Badyaev and Faust, 1996;Harris et al, 1996;Madsen *Corresponding author. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology e932797 (9 pages) Ó by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2014.932797 and Shine, 1999Semel and Sherman, 2001;Stanback and Dervan, 2001;Kruchenberg and Borbach-Jaene, 2004;Schmidt, 2004;Piper et al, 2008).…”

Extreme site fidelity as an optimal strategy in an unpredictable and homogeneous environment

“…This suggests individuals use their experiences to assess breeding site quality (Schmidt, ). A simple decision rule that is widely supported across animal taxa (especially birds; Piper, Walcott, Mager, & Spilker, ) is that of the win‐stay:lose‐switch (WSLS) rule (Schmidt, ): individuals return to a breeding site if they successfully produce young or switch breeding sites if they are unsuccessful. The type of information used in this decision is known as “private information” (Schmidt et al, ).…”

Home sweet home: fitness consequences of site familiarity in female black-tailed deer

“…Ungulates, however, are a taxonomic group where individuals should also benefit from site familiarity. Many ungulate species show high fidelity to seasonal home ranges (Edge et al 1985;Purdue et al 2000;Wittmer et al 2006) and are long-lived, both important traits for spatial learning (Piper et al 2008;Spencer 2012). Ungulates also utilize spatial knowledge at several spatial scales, showing plasticity in home range size and seasonal movements .…”