Parental sex allocation and sex-specific survival drive offspring sex ratio bias in little owls

Tschumi, Matthias; Humbel, Jolanda; Erbes, Joscha; Fattebert, Julien; Fischer, Jochen; Fritz, G.; Geiger, Barbara; Harxen, Ronald van; Hoos, Bernd; Hurst, Johanna; Jacobsen, Lars-Bo; Keil, Herbert; Kneule, Werner; Michel, Vanja T.; Michels, Heinz; Möbius, Leander; Perrig, Marco; Rößler, Philip; Schneider, Dieter; Schuch, Siegfried; Stroeken, Pascal; Naef‐Daenzer, Beat; Grüebler, Martin U.

doi:10.1007/s00265-019-2694-8

Cited by 12 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…In our study, sex-differences in RTL were observed at the nestling stage, with longer telomeres in the females. A previous study showed that females were slightly but consistently of bigger size (Tschumi et al, 2019), however it is not the case in our population. Yet, we did not investigate nestlings growth rates, which can be different event if the final size and/or body mass is similar (e.g.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 89%

“…Thus, it is unlikely that little owl nestlings had to face such a growth-body maintenance trade-off. Given that body mass is a determinant of survival from hatching to fledging in little owl (Tschumi et al, 2019), nestling telomeres rather acts as a proxy of individual quality (Angelier et al, 2019). In addition, our results do not match with the idea that the heterogametic sex (i.e.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 86%

“…One alternative explanation lies on optimal parental care towards the offspring sex with the highest chance of survival (Hasselquist & Kempenaers, 2002). It has been shown previously that females have a higher survival probability from hatching to fledging, independent of any variation in body mass (Tschumi et al, 2019). However, it is not known whether this sexdifference persists in older individuals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Telomere length vary with sex, hatching order and year of birth in little owls, Athene noctua

Criscuolo¹,

Fache²,

Scaar³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Telomeres are non-coding DNA sequences located at the end of linear chromosomes, protecting genome integrity. In numerous taxa, telomeres shorten with age and telomere length (TL) is positively correlated with longevity. Moreover, TL is also affected by environmental stressors and/or resource-demanding situations particularly during early-life. Thus, TL has been used as a physiological marker of individual quality and also as an indicator of population trend in conservation physiology. In this study, we investigated the effects of hatching rank, year of birth (2014 to 2017), sex and nest environment on TL of 137 little owls nestlings (Athene noctua). Little owls’ populations in Europe showed a marked declined in the end of the 20th century. Nowadays, in the studied Alsatian population, the population is increasing. In this study, our results indicated that telomeres are longer in females and, independently of sex, in nestlings with the highest body condition. There was also a negative effect of hatching rank but only for last-hatched nestlings in large clutches of 5 nestlings. We did not find a marked effect of the environmental covariates on nestlings’ TL. Finally, we found that nestlings’ TL decreased over years, while nestlings’ body condition stayed unchanged over the same period. This result is intriguing given the local positive population dynamics and is further discussed in the context of physiological conservation. Future studies should investigate the link between reduced TL and survival prospects in this species.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Telomere length vary with sex, hatching order and year of birth in little owls, Athene noctua

Criscuolo¹,

Fache²,

Scaar³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…We ringed chicks at ca 14 days old. We determined nestlings' sex genetically using feather samples [30,43]. At ca 4 weeks old, normally a few days before fledging, we tagged the chicks with a VHF radio-transmitter of our own construction mounted with a backpack figure-8-harness (total ca 7 g; 4.5% average adult body mass) [29][30][31].…”

Section: (B) Brood Monitoring and Taggingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimentally disentangling intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of natal dispersal in a nocturnal raptor

et al. 2019

Self Cite

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Equivocal knowledge of the phase-specific drivers of natal dispersal remains a major deficit in understanding causes and consequences of dispersal and thus, spatial dynamics within and between populations. We performed a field experiment combining partial cross-fostering of nestlings and nestling food supplementation in little owls ( Athene noctua ). This approach disentangled the effect of nestling origin from the effect of the rearing environment on dispersal behaviour, while simultaneously investigating the effect of food availability in the rearing environment. We radio-tracked fledglings to quantify the timing of pre-emigration forays and emigration, foray and transfer duration, and the dispersal distances. Dispersal characteristics of the pre-emigration phase were affected by the rearing environment rather than by the origin of nestlings. In food-poor habitats, supplemented individuals emigrated later than unsupplemented individuals. By contrast, transfer duration and distance were influenced by the birds' origin rather than by their rearing environment. We found no correlation between timing of emigration and transfer duration or distance. We conclude that food supply to the nestlings and other characteristics of the rearing environment modulate the timing of emigration, while innate traits associated with the nestling origin affect the transfer phases after emigration. The dispersal behaviours of juveniles prior and after emigration, therefore, were related to different determinants, and are suggested to form different life-history traits.

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“…2016, Tschumi et al . 2019). This manipulation would be more pronounced in small clutches than in large clutches, which is what our results show.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex ratio of Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) is mediated by phenology and clutch size

Bartlow

Jankowski

Hathcock

et al. 2021

Ibis

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Mothers may produce more of one sex to maximize their fitness if there are differences in the cost of producing each sex or there are differences in their relative reproductive value. Breeding date and clutch size are known to influence offspring sex ratios in birds through sex differences in dispersal, social behaviours, differential mortality and available food resources. We tested whether breeding date, clutch size and drought conditions influenced offspring sex ratios in a sexually size‐monomorphic species, the Western Bluebird Sialia mexicana, by interrogating a 21‐year dataset. After controlling for differential mortality, we found that hatch dates late in the breeding season were associated with the production of more females, suggesting that the value of producing males declines as the breeding season progresses. When clutch size was taken into account, small clutches yielded significantly more females late in the breeding season than in the early and middle parts of the breeding season, which produced significantly more males. Large clutches early in the season tended to produce more females, although this was not significant. Drought severity was not correlated with sex ratio adjustment. We propose and discuss several explanations for these patterns, including male offspring, but not female offspring, acting as helpers, increased female nestling provisioning late in the breeding season, differences in food abundance and egg‐laying order. Future work will help to uncover the mechanisms leading to these patterns. Identifying patterns and mechanisms of sex ratio skew from long‐term datasets is important for informing predictions regarding life‐history trade‐offs in wildlife populations.

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Parental sex allocation and sex-specific survival drive offspring sex ratio bias in little owls

Cited by 12 publications

References 54 publications

Telomere length vary with sex, hatching order and year of birth in little owls, Athene noctua

Telomere length vary with sex, hatching order and year of birth in little owls, Athene noctua

Experimentally disentangling intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of natal dispersal in a nocturnal raptor

Sex ratio of Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) is mediated by phenology and clutch size

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