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Patterns of nest placement in a population of Marsh Tits Poecile palustris

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Abstract

The factors influencing nest placement by territorial birds are not fully understood, including the roles played by habitat, conspecific attraction and female experience of a previous nesting location. We used 7 years of Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris) nest-site and territory data, and high-resolution vegetation models derived from remote sensing, to investigate spatial patterns of nest placement with regard to previous female experience and age, conspecific attraction, and habitat in a woodland environment. We found no evidence for an effect of conspecific attraction or previous nest location on nest placement within the territory. However, first-year (FY) females placed nests in a random spatial pattern within their territories, and after first-year (AFY) females predominantly placed nests within the central parts of their territories, away from conspecifics. The core area of each breeding territory was centred on a region of comparatively taller overstorey and less understorey than other parts of the territory. Nest-sites were situated in localised areas of a similar structure, although absolute differences between selected and non-selected areas of the territory were not substantial. Both female age groups nested in areas of the territory where the overstorey contained relatively more Common Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and Field Maple (Acer campestre), which may have been related to tree height, but there was no selection for English Oak (Quercus robur). We found no significant habitat differences between the territories of FY and AFY females that explained their differing patterns of nest placement.

Zusammenfassung

Nistplatzwahl in einer Population von Sumpfmeisen Poecile palustris

Die Faktoren, die die Nistplatzwahl territorialer Vogelarten beeinflussen, sind nicht gänzlich verstanden. Dies beinhaltet die Funktion des Habitats, innerartliche Attraktion, aber auch die Erfahrung der Weibchen mit früheren Neststandorten. Mit Hilfe eines Datensatzes aus sieben Jahren zu Nistplätzen und Revieren von Sumpfmeisen (Poecile palustris) sowie hoch aufgelösten Vegetationsmodellen (aus Fernerkundungsdaten hergeleitet) untersuchten wir räumliche Muster der Nistplatzwahl im Hinblick auf Alter und Erfahrung der Weibchen, innerartliche Attraktion und Habitat in einem Waldgebiet. Wir fanden keine Beweise für einen Effekt der innerartlichen Attraktion oder früherer Neststandorte auf die Nistplatzwahl innerhalb der Reviere. Allerdings legten vorjährige Weibchen, räumlich gesehen, ihre Nester innerhalb ihrer Reviere in einem zufälligen Muster an. Ältere Weibchen legten dagegen ihre Nester überwiegend in den zentralen Bereichen ihrer Reviere an, abseits von Artgenossen. Das Kerngebiet der einzelnen Brutreviere lag in Bereichen mit vergleichsweise höherem Oberholz und weniger Unterholz als in anderen Bereichen der Reviere. Die Neststandorte befanden sich in Bereichen mit ähnlicher Struktur, obwohl grundsätzliche Unterschiede zwischen gewählten und nicht gewählten Bereichen innerhalb der Reviere nicht substantiell waren. Beide Altersgruppen der Weibchen nisteten in Bereichen der Brutreviere, in denen die höherwüchsige Struktur relativ mehr aus Gewöhnlicher Esche (Fraxinus excelsior) und Feldahorn (Acer campestre) bestand, was mit der Baumhöhe zusammenhängen könnte. Allerdings gab es keine Selektion für Stieleichen (Quercus robur). Wir fanden keine signifikanten Habitatunterschiede zwischen den Revieren der beiden Altersgruppen der Weibchen, die die Verteilung der Neststandorte erklären.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Natural England for access to Monks Wood National Nature Reserve and private landowners for access to the Eastern Woods, Dr. Stephen N. Freeman for statistical support, Dr. Daria Dadam and Dr. Jane Carpenter for additional fieldwork, and the three anonymous reviewers of the manuscript. This work was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The remote sensing data were acquired by the NERC Airborne Research and Survey facility (ARSF) in conjunction with the Unit for Landscape Modelling (ULM) at the University of Cambridge. All ringing activities were licensed by the British Trust for Ornithology, and complied with UK law. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Richard K Broughton is a Visiting Research Fellow at Bournemouth University, UK.

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Author notes

  1. Lindsay J. Henderson & Paul E. Bellamy

    Present address: Faculty of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Glasgow, Graham Kerr Building, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BB, UK

    Richard K. Broughton & Shelley A. Hinsley

  2. School of Applied Sciences, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB, UK

    Ross A. Hill

  3. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL, UK

    Paul E. Bellamy

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  1. Richard K. Broughton
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  2. Ross A. Hill
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  5. Shelley A. Hinsley
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Correspondence to Richard K. Broughton.

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Communicated by T. Gottschalk.

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Broughton, R.K., Hill, R.A., Henderson, L.J. et al. Patterns of nest placement in a population of Marsh Tits Poecile palustris . J Ornithol 153, 735–746 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-011-0790-2

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