White-rumped swallows prospect while they are actively nesting

Wischhoff, Uschi; Marques‐Santos, Fernando; Ardia, Daniel R.; Roper, James J.

doi:10.1007/s10164-015-0425-9

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Tree swallows are one of the best-studied species of birds outside of the laboratory. Although visits to other boxes have been documented previously (Lombardo 1986(Lombardo , 1987bWischhoff et al 2015), the extent of social visitation to other boxes that we uncovered was surprising and was made possible only because of the novel use of RFID technology at each active nest-box. This technology has been used to quantify social interaction networks at central food resources (Adelman et al 2015;Psorakis et al 2015;Ellwood et al 2017), but has not been used nearly as extensively in quantifying social interactions at nest locations, which may have quite different functions than social associations within a foraging flock.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Achromatic plumage brightness predicts stress resilience and social interactions in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)

2019

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Theory suggests that signal honesty may be maintained by differential costs for high and low quality individuals. For signals that mediate social interactions, costs can arise from the way that a signal changes the subsequent social environment via receiver responses. These receiver-dependent costs may be linked with individual quality through variation in resilience to environmental and social stress. Here, we imposed stressful conditions on female tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) by attaching groups of feathers during incubation to decrease flight efficiency and maneuverability. We simultaneously monitored social interactions using an RFID network that allowed us to track the identity of every individual that visited each nest for the entire season. Before treatments, plumage coloration was correlated with baseline and stress-induced corticosterone. Relative to controls, experimentally challenged females were more likely to abandon their nest during incubation. Overall, females with brighter white breasts were less likely to abandon, but this pattern was only significant under stressful conditions. In addition to being more resilient, brighter females received more unique visitors at their nest-box and tended to make more visits to other active nests. In contrast, dorsal coloration did not reliably predict abandonment or social interactions. Taken together, our results suggest that females differ in their resilience to stress and that these differences are signaled by plumage brightness, which is in turn correlated with the frequency of social interactions. While we do not document direct costs of social interaction, our results are consistent with models of signal honesty based on receiver-dependent costs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Achromatic plumage brightness predicts stress resilience and social interactions in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)

2019

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“…The study area in southern Brazil (25.50°S, 49.05°W) consists of two colonies, ca. 5 km apart, with regularly mowed lawns, sparse groups of trees, and marshes (Wischhoff et al., ). During this study, 139–149 wooden nest‐boxes of similar design (17 × 13 × 25 cm) were available to breeding birds.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As an alternative, swallows exhibit another behavior to explore the environment. This behavior is the prospection of cavities and supposedly allows them to occupy better nest‐sites in the future (Lombardo, ; Wischhoff, Marques‐Santos, Ardia, & Roper, ). Prospecting behavior may be a personality trait in swallows because it was found to be consistent in jackdaws ( Corvus monedula ; Schuett, Laaksonen, & Laaksonen, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parenting styles in white‐rumped swallows (Tachycineta leucorrhoa) show a trade‐off between nest defense and chick feeding

et al. 2018

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Studies about personalities in wild animals usually focus on five categories of behavioral traits that do not easily accommodate all aspects of parental care, a class of behaviors with direct consequence to reproductive success. Parental care can vary consistently between individuals and constitute parenting styles. Here we investigate the consistency of four behaviors of parental care across two breeding seasons of white‐rumped swallows Tachycineta leucorrhoa in southern Brazil. These behaviors are a prospection of potential nest‐sites, nest defense against predators or conspecifics, and chick feeding. If these first three behaviors are consistent, they can be classified according to the standard categories of personality as exploration, boldness, and aggressiveness, respectively. We find that all behaviors, except exploration, are consistent between individuals in the long term. We also show that, besides individual identity, couple identity is an important component explaining variation in behavior. This pattern can arise if behavior influences pair formation or if behavior is a consequence of a common environment affecting the couple. We show that, depending on the parental task, males or females are more consistent, suggesting that sexes are adopting different strategies of parental care allocation. We then investigate if there is a trade‐off between nest defense and chick feeding. We find that birds that defend more also feed the brood less often and suggest that testosterone might be the mechanism modulating this trade‐off. Lastly, we discuss the implications of our results to mate choice and highlight the need for studies linking parenting styles to fitness in swallow species.

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“…At the beginning of the breeding season, breeders separate from the flock to start their reproductive activities (Archawaranon, 2003). A difficult challenge and an ecological constraint of Hill Mynahs is that they are secondary nest-cavity breeders, with heavy competition for nest sites (Bonebrake and Beissinger, 2010); this can limit their reproductive success (Karlsson, 1983;Wischhoff et al, 2015). Studies of Hill Mynah breeding in the wild have shown that male and female Hill Mynah aggressively chase away other couples from encroaching a tree in which they have already established their nests, and there are never two or more breeding pairs nested in the same tree even if the tree has a number of cavities (Archawaranon, 2003(Archawaranon, , 2006.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monogamous Mating System in the Hill Mynah Gracula Religiosa: The Role of Female–Female Aggression

Archawaranon

2017

Avian Biology Research

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This study aimed to discover whether the Hill Mynah Gracula religiosa forms pairs for a single breeding season or engages in long-term pair bonding, and to investigate the role of female aggression in maintaining pair bonds. Experiments were conducted on captive birds in Thailand between 2006 and 2013, and pair behaviours such as allopreening and aggression were observed four times every day. In the first experiment, when each breeding pair was preparing to rear a new clutch, pairs were placed in a new aviary with unfamiliar males and females with which they could potentially form relationships. Results indicated that breeding pairs stayed with the same mates over four continuous breeding seasons (2006–2009) without changing partners or taking additional mates. In a second experiment, the role of female aggression in maintaining long-term pair bonding was examined. Each breeding pair, when preparing to rear a new clutch, was placed in a new aviary with three unfamiliar females. The results showed that female breeders displayed vigorous aggression towards the other three females, forcing them to retreat from the pair; this behaviour was sustained over four continuous breeding seasons (2010–2013). Thus, it is suggested that the Hill Mynah engages in long-term pair bonding and that the aggression of the breeding female is an essential component in the maintenance of pair-bonds.

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White-rumped swallows prospect while they are actively nesting

Cited by 10 publications

References 24 publications

Achromatic plumage brightness predicts stress resilience and social interactions in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)

Achromatic plumage brightness predicts stress resilience and social interactions in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)

Parenting styles in white‐rumped swallows (Tachycineta leucorrhoa) show a trade‐off between nest defense and chick feeding

Monogamous Mating System in the Hill Mynah Gracula Religiosa: The Role of Female–Female Aggression

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