Abstract
During incubation, tropical passerines have been shown to have lower levels of nest attentiveness than their counterparts at north temperate latitudes, spending a higher percentage of daylight time off the nest. This difference has been interpreted as evidence of parental restraint; tropical birds allocate more time to daily self-maintenance, perhaps preserving their higher annual survival rates and future breeding potential. But such comparisons are susceptible to the confounding effects of day length variation, because a given amount of time spent off the nest will account for a greater percentage of daylight time near to the equator than at high latitudes during spring and summer. Based on a pattern of increasing day length between 0° and 70°N, we show that the impact of this bias is likely to be small where sites are separated by less than 30°–40° of latitude, but should increase substantially both with latitudinal span and distance from the equator. To illustrate this effect, we compared nest attentiveness in two congeners breeding at 1°S and 52°N. During incubation, Stripe-breasted Tits Parus fasciiventer in Uganda had a shorter working day (time from emerging to retiring) than north temperate Great Tits P. major, and spent a higher percentage of daylight time off the nest (32 %) than Great Tits in the UK (24 %). However, this difference was almost wholly explained by the latitudinal difference in day length; the amount of time spent off the nest differed by just 10 min day−1 (<1 % of the 24-h cycle). We show that this effect may be moderated by the change in working day length, which increased less rapidly (in relation to latitude) than day length. Although these effects can thus confound latitudinal comparisons of nest attentiveness, accentuating a pattern predicted by life-history theory, they are avoidable if attentiveness is expressed as the percentage of time or the number of minutes spent incubating per 24 h.
Zusammenfassung
Die von der geographischen Breite abhängigen Veränderungen von Tageslicht- und Arbeitstaglänge verfälschen vergleichende Untersuchungen der Zeiten, die tropische Vögel und solche aus gemäßigten Breiten am Nest verbringen
Für tropische Sperlingsvögel ist gezeigt worden, dass sie während der Brutzeit ihren Nestern weniger Zeit und Aufmerksamkeit als ihre Artgenossen in nördlicheren Breiten schenken und einen größeren Anteil der Tageslichtzeit entfernt vom Nest verbringen. Dieser Unterschied ist als Beweis für elterliche Fürsorge interpretiert worden; tropische Vögel investieren täglich mehr Zeit in die eigene Versorgung und Pflege. So können sie ihre eigene höhere Überlebensrate halten und dadurch einen potentiell größeren Bruterfolg in der Zukunft erreichen. Solche Vergleiche sind jedoch anfällig für den verfälschenden Einfluss der wechselnden Tageslichtlängen, weil eine bestimmte Dauer Abwesenheit vom Nest in Äquatornähe einen größeren Prozentsatz der Tageslichtzeit ausmacht als in höheren Breiten im Frühjahr und im Sommer. Anhand eines Schemas mit wachsenden Tageslichtlängen zwischen Null Grad und 70 Grad nördlicher Breite können wir zeigen, dass der Einfluss dieses verfälschenden Faktors vermutlich eher klein ist, wenn die betreffenden Gebiete weniger als 30–40 Breitengrade voneinander entfernt liegen, aber bei größeren Abständen voneinander sowie vom Äquator beträchtlich ansteigen müsste. Um diesen Effekt aufzuzeigen, verglichen wir die Nestbetreuung von zwei verwandten Arten, die auf 1 Grad Süd, beziehungsweise auf 52 Grad Nord brüten, miteinander. Während der Brutzeit hatten die Schwarzbrustmeisen (Parus fasciiventer) in Uganda einen kürzeren Arbeitstag (Dauer vom Aufwachen bis zum Einschlafen) als die höher im Norden vorkommenden Kohlmeisen (P. major) und verbrachten einen größeren Anteil (32 %) der Tageslichtlänge entfernt vom Nest als Kohlmeisen im U.K. (24 %). Dieser Unterschied konnte jedoch praktisch komplett mit dem von den Breitengraden abhängigen Unterschied in den Tageslichtlängen erklärt werden; die Zeiten, die die Tiere vom Nest abwesend waren, wichen nur um 10 Min. d-1 (< 1 % des 24-Stunden-Zyklus) voneinander ab. Wir zeigen, dass der Effekt möglicherweise von der Länge des Arbeitstags beeinflusst wurde, die weniger stark (im Verhältnis zur geographischen Breite) als die Tageslichtlänge ansteigt. Obwohl diese Effekte eine vergleichende Untersuchung von Nestanwesenheiten in Abhängigkeit von der geographischen Breite verfälschen können, indem sie ein der Life History-Theorie konformes Verhaltensmuster betonen, kann dieser verfälschende Einfluss vermieden werden, wenn die Nestanwesenheiten in Prozenten statt in absoluten Zahlen angegeben werden, oder in „Minuten Bebrütungsdauer pro 24 Stunden“.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Narsensius Owoyesigire, Savio Ngabirano, Lawrence Tumugabirwe, Margaret Kobusingye and David Ebbutt for assisting with fieldwork, and Alastair McNeilage, Martha Robbins, Miriam van Heist and Douglas Sheil for their hospitality and their support for the Stripe-breasted Tit study at Bwindi. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the British Ornithologists’ Union and the African Bird Club, and the Uganda Wildlife Authority and Uganda National Council for Science and Technology for granting permission for P.S. to participate in the study.
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Communicated by F. Bairlein.
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Shaw, P., Cresswell, W. Latitudinal variation in day length and working day length has a confounding effect when comparing nest attentiveness in tropical and temperate species. J Ornithol 155, 481–489 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-013-1029-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-013-1029-1