Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Nosy neighbours: large broods attract more visitors. A field experiment in the pied flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca

  • Behavioral ecology–original research
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Life is uncertain. To reduce uncertainty and make adaptive decisions, individuals need to collect information. Individuals often visit the breeding sites of their conspecifics (i.e., “prospect”), likely to assess conspecifics’ reproductive success and to use such information to identify high-quality spots for future breeding. We investigated whether visitation rate by prospectors and success of visited sites are causally linked. We manipulated the reproductive success (enlarged, reduced, and control broods) in a nest-box population of migratory pied flycatchers, Ficedula hypoleuca, in Finland. We measured the visitation rates of prospectors at 87 nest-boxes continuously from manipulation (day 3 after hatching) to fledging. 302 adult pied flycatchers prospected 9194 times on these manipulated nests (at least 78% of detected prospectors were successful breeders). While the number of visitors and visits was not influenced by the relative change in brood size we induced, the resulting absolute brood size predicted the prospecting behaviour: the larger the brood size after manipulation, the more visitors and visits a nest had. The parental provisioning rate at a nest and brood size pre-manipulation did not predict the number of visitors or visits post-manipulation. More visitors, however, inspected early than late nests and broods in good condition. Our study suggests that individuals collect social information when visiting conspecific nests during breeding and provides evidence that large broods attract more visitors than small broods. We discuss the results in light of individual decision-making by animals in their natural environments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alatalo RV, Lundberg A, Glynn C (1986) Female pied flycatchers choose territory quality and not male characteristics. Nature 323:152–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aparicio J, Bonal R, Muñoz A (2007) Experimental test on public information use in the colonial lesser kestrel. Evol Ecol 21:783–800

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arlt D, Pärt T (2008) Sex-biased dispersal: a result of a sex difference in breeding site availability. Am Nat 171:844–850. doi:10.1086/587521

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bollinger EK, Gavin TA (1989) The effects of site quality on breeding-site fidelity in bobolinks. Auk 106:584–594

    Google Scholar 

  • Boulinier T, Danchin E, Monnat JY, Doutrelant C, Cadiou B (1996) Timing of prospecting and the value of information in a colonial breeding bird. J Avian Biol 27:252–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boulinier T, McCoy KD, Yoccoz NG, Gasparini J, Tveraa T (2008) Public information affects breeding dispersal in a colonial bird: kittiwakes cue on neighbours. Biol Lett 4:538–540

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Brooke MDL (1979) Differences in the quality of territories held by wheatears (Oenanthe oenanthe). J Anim Ecol 48:21–32. doi:10.2307/4097

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown CR, Brown MB, Danchin E (2000) Breeding habitat selection in cliff swallows: the effect of conspecific reproductive success on colony choice. J Anim Ecol 69:133–142. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.2000.00382.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruinzeel LW, Van de Pol M (2004) Site attachment of floaters predicts success in territory acquisition. Behav Ecol 15:290–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cadiou B (1999) Attendance of breeders and prospectors reflects the quality of colonies in the kittiwake Rissa tridactyla. Ibis 141:321–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calabuig G, Ortego J, Aparicio JM, Cordero PJ (2008) Public information in selection of nesting colony by lesser kestrels: which cues are used and when are they obtained? Anim Behav 75:1611–1617

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calabuig G, Ortego J, Aparicio JM, Cordero PJ (2010) Intercolony movements and prospecting behaviour in the colonial lesser kestrel. Anim Behav 79:811–817

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cote J, Clobert J (2007) Social information and emigration: lessions from immigrants. Ecol Lett 10:411–417. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01032.x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Crawley MJ (2007) The R book. John Wiley, Chichester

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dall SRX, Giraldeau LA, Olsson O, McNamara JM, Stephens DW (2005) Information and its use by animals in evolutionary ecology. Trends Ecol Evol 20:187–193

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Danchin E, Boulinier T, Massot M (1998) Conspecific reproductive success and breeding habitat selection: implications for the study of coloniality. Ecology 79:2415–2428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danchin E, Giraldeau LA, Valone TJ, Wagner RH (2004) Public information: from nosy neighbors to cultural evolution. Science 305:487–491

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Doligez B, Danchin E, Clobert J, Gustafsson L (1999) The use of conspecific reproductive success for breeding habitat selection in a non-colonial, hole-nesting species, the collared flycatcher. J Anim Ecol 68:1193–1206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doligez B, Danchin E, Clobert J (2002) Public information and breeding habitat selection in a wild bird population. Science 297:1168–1170

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Doligez B, Cadet C, Danchin E, Boulinier T (2003) When to use public information for breeding habitat selection? The role of environmental predictability and density dependence. Anim Behav 66:973–988. doi:10.1006/anbe.2002.2270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doligez B, Pärt T, Danchin E (2004) Prospecting in the collared flycatcher: gathering public information for future breeding habitat selection? Anim Behav 67:457–466. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.03.010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dow H, Fredga S (1985) Selection of nest sites by a hole-nesting duck, the goldeneye Bucephala clangula. Ibis 127:16–30. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1985.tb05034.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eadie JM, Gauthier G (1985) Prospecting for nest sites by cavity-nesting ducks of the Genus Bucephala. Condor 87:528–534

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elmberg J, Nummi P, Pöysä H, Gunnarsson G, Sjöberg K (2005) Early breeding teal Anas crecca use the best lakes and have the highest reproductive success. Ann Zool Fenn 42:37–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Forsman JT, Thomson RL (2008) Evidence of information collection from heterospecifics in cavity-nesting birds. Ibis 150:409–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsman JT, Seppänen J-T, Nykänen IL (2012) Observed heterospecific clutch size can affect offspring investment decisions. Biol Let 8:341–343. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0970

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuller RJ (2012) Birds and habitat: relationships in changing landscapes. Cambridge University, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hoover JP (2003) Decision rules for site fidelity in a migratory bird, the prothonotary warblers. Ecology 84:416–430. doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2003)084[0416:DRFSFI]2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Järvistö PE, Calhim S, Schuett W, Velmala W, Laaksonen T (2015) Foster, but not genetic, father plumage coloration has a temperature-dependent effect on offspring quality. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 69:335–346. doi:10.1007/s00265-014-1846-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Järvistö PE, Calhim S, Schuett W, Velmala W, Laaksonen T (2016) Sex-dependent responses to increased parental effort in the pied flycatcher. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 70:157–169. doi:10.1007/s00265-015-2034-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kivelä SM et al (2014) The past and the present in decision-making: the use of conspecific and heterospecific cues in nest site selection. Ecology 95:3428–3439. doi:10.1890/13-2103.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klopfer PH, Ganzhorn JU (1985) Habitat selection: behavioral aspects. In: Cody ML (ed) Habitat selection in birds. Academic Press, London, pp 435–453

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindén M, Gustafsson L, Pärt T (1992) Selection on fledging mass in the collared flycatcher and the great tit. Ecology 73:336–343. doi:10.2307/1938745

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lundberg A, Alatalo RV (1992) The pied flycatcher. Poyser, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin TE (1998) Are microhabitat preferences of coexisting species under selection and adaptive? Ecology 79:656–670. doi:10.1890/0012-9658(1998)079[0656:AMPOCS]2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nager RG, Monaghan P, Houston DC (2000) Within-clutch trade-offs between the number and quality of eggs: experimental manipulations in gulls. Ecology 81:1339–1350. doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2000)081[1339:WCTOBT]2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakagawa S, Cuthill IC (2007) Effect size, confidence interval and statistical significance: a practical guide for biologists. Biol Rev 82:591–605. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2007.00027.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ottosson U, Backman J, Smith HG (2001) Nest-attenders in the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) during nestling rearing: a possible case of prospective resource exploration. Auk 118:1069–1072

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parejo D, White J, Clobert J, Dreiss A, Danchin E (2007) Blue tits use fledgling quantity and quality as public information in breeding site choice. Ecology 88:2373–2382

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parejo D, Perez-Contreras T, Navarro C, Soler JJ, Aviles JM (2008) Spotless starlings rely on public information while visiting conspecific nests: an experiment. Anim Behav 75:483–488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pärt T, Doligez B (2003) Gathering public information for habitat selection: prospecting birds cue on parental activity. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 270:1809–1813. doi:10.1098/rspb.2003.2419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pärt T, Arlt D, Doligez B, Low M, Qvarnström A (2011) Prospectors combine social and environmental information to improve habitat selection and breeding success in the subsequent year. J Anim Ecol 80:1227–1235

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Piper W (2011) Making habitat selection more “familiar”: a review. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 65:1329–1351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ponchon A et al (2013) Tracking prospecting movements involved in breeding habitat selection: insights, pitfalls and perspectives. Methods Ecol Evol 4:143–150. doi:10.1111/j.2041-210x.2012.00259.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pöysä H (1999) Conspecific nest parasitism is associated with inequality in nest predation risk in the common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula). Behav Ecol 10:533–540. doi:10.1093/beheco/10.5.533

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pöysä H (2006) Public information and conspecific nest parasitism in goldeneyes: targeting safe nests by parasites. Behav Ecol 17:459–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pöysä H, Ruusila V, Milonoff M, Virtanen J (2001) Ability to assess nest predation risk in secondary hole-nesting birds: an experimental study. Oecologia 126:201–207. doi:10.1007/s004420000512

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2012) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria. http://www.R-project.org/

  • Ratnayake CP, Morosinotto C, Ruuskanen S, Villers A, Thomson RL (2014) Passive integrated transponders (PIT) on a small migratory passerine bird: absence of deleterious short and long-term effects. Ornis Fennica 91:244–255

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed JM, Boulinier T, Danchin E, Oring LW (1999) Informed dispersal: prospecting by birds for breeding sites. Curr Ornithol 15:189–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schjørring S, Gregersen J, Bregnballe T (1999) Prospecting enhances breeding success of first-time breeders in the great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis. Anim Behav 57:647–654

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seppänen JT, Forsman JT, Mönkkönen M, Thomson RL (2007) Social information use is a process across time, space, and ecology, reaching heterospecifics. Ecology 88:1622–1633

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seppänen J-T, Forsman JT, Mönkkönen M, Krams I, Salmi T (2011) New behavioural trait adopted or rejected by observing heterospecific tutor fitness. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 278:1736–1741. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.1610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stamps JA (1987) The effect of familiarity with a neighborhood on territory acquisition. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 21:273–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valone TJ, Templeton JJ (2002) Public information for the assessment of quality: a widespread social phenomenon. Philos Trans R Soc Lond Ser B-Biol Sci 357:1549–1557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Velmala W et al (2015) Natural selection for earlier male arrival to breeding grounds through direct and indirect effects in a migratory songbird. Ecol Evol 5:1205–1213. doi:10.1002/ece3.1423

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ward MP (2005) Habitat selection by dispersing yellow-headed blackbirds: evidence of prospecting and the use of public information. Oecologia 145:650–657

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zicus M, Hennes SK (1989) Nest prospecting by common goldeneyes. The Condor 91:807–812

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuur AF, Ieno EN, Walker N, Smith GM (2009) Mixed effects models and extensions in ecology with R. Springer, Heidelberg

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Matias Ukkola, Kirsi Ukkola, and Jenna Ruohonen for assistance in the field. The project was funded by the Academy of Finland (grants to TL). We are grateful to Hannu Pöysä, Blandine Doligez, and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments.

Author contribution statement

All authors designed the experiment and conducted fieldwork. WS processed the data. WS, SC performed statistics. WS wrote the manuscript; other authors provided editorial advice.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoological Institute, Biocenter Grindel, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Wiebke Schuett

  2. Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland

    Pauliina E. Järvistö, Sara Calhim, William Velmala & Toni Laaksonen

  3. Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Sara Calhim

Authors
  1. Wiebke Schuett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Pauliina E. Järvistö
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sara Calhim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. William Velmala
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Toni Laaksonen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wiebke Schuett.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

All applicable national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. The procedures had been approved by the Animal Experiment Board of Finland (animal experiment committee of Southern Finland, ID: VARELY/338/07.01/2012).

Data accessibility

Raw data are provided in the Electronic Supplementary Material (Online Resource 5, Table S4).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Communicated by Hannu J. Ylonen.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 180 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Schuett, W., Järvistö, P.E., Calhim, S. et al. Nosy neighbours: large broods attract more visitors. A field experiment in the pied flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca . Oecologia 184, 115–126 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3849-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3849-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation