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Renesting of Common Terns Sterna hirundo in the life history perspective

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Abstract

Replacement clutches may increase the annual reproductive output of individuals and the population, but cause additional effort and may have fitness consequences. Whether longevity and lifetime reproductive success are affected by renesting is unknown. In an individual-based long-term study (1992–2009) we investigated Common Terns Sterna hirundo breeding at the colony site “Banter See” on the German North Sea coast and marked with transponders. This approach allowed us to study short-term as well as long-term consequences of relaying for both the population and individuals. In 5 of 7 years characterized by higher relaying activity, breeding success of replacement clutches was similar or even higher than that of first clutches, but in the total study period only 4.5% of all fledglings (4.4% of natal recruits) stemmed from replacement clutches. Demographic effects of relaying were minor. In most years, relaying birds were able to increase their annual reproductive output through the replacement clutch. Relaying Common Terns were high quality individuals, arriving and laying earlier, and characterized by higher age and body condition than non-relaying conspecifics. Relaying probability decreased with delayed arrival and laying date of first clutch. Survival to the next year did not differ between breeders with or without a replacement clutch. In the lifetime perspective, individuals with at least one renesting event had higher survival, longevity, lifetime reproductive success and fitness compared to birds without a replacement clutch. The higher lifetime reproductive success of the renesting individuals was achieved by a longer lifespan as well as by the reproductive output due to relaying. The positive links between survival, additional effort for replacement clutches and their success are obviously due to the fact that only those individuals relay that can cope with the additional effort required for production and care of the replacement clutch. In this way, renesting is an indicator of high individual quality and a benefit for fitness.

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Acknowledgments

We thank many colleagues and helpers for their input in collecting and compiling the long-term dataset used for this study, especially C. Bauch, A. Braasch, T. Dittmann, B. Limmer, S. Ludwig, J.-D. Ludwigs, J. Riechert, L. Szostek and H. Wendeln. R. Nagel, S. Oswald, G. Scheiffarth, J. Trauernicht, G. Wagenknecht and M.Wagener gave technical support. T. Dittmann helped with the figures, J. Riechert, L. Szostek and H. Wendeln commented on the manuscript. The study was done under licence of Bezirksregierung Weser-Ems and Stadt Wilhelmshaven and was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (BE 916/3 to 9).

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  1. Institut für Vogelforschung “Vogelwarte Helgoland”, Wilhelmshaven, Germany

    P. H. Becker & H. Zhang

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  1. P. H. Becker
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Correspondence to P. H. Becker.

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Communicated by T. Friedl.

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Becker, P.H., Zhang, H. Renesting of Common Terns Sterna hirundo in the life history perspective. J Ornithol 152 (Suppl 1), 213–225 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-010-0639-0

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