Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Does food supplementation really enhance productivity of breeding birds?

  • Physiological ecology - Original Paper
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Food availability influences multiple stages of the breeding cycle of birds, and supplementary feeding has helped in its understanding. Most supplementation studies have reported advancements of laying, whilst others, albeit less numerous, have also demonstrated fitness benefits such as larger clutches, shorter incubation periods, and greater hatching success. Relatively few studies, however, have investigated the effects of supplementary feeding for protracted periods across multiple stages of the breeding cycle. These effects are important to understand since long-term food supplementation of birds is recommended in urban habitats and is used as a tool to increase reproductive output in endangered species. Here, we compare the breeding phenology and productivity of blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus and great tits Parus major breeding in food-supplemented and non-supplemented blocks in a broadleaf woodland in central England over three seasons (2006–2008). Supplementation was provided continuously from several weeks pre-laying until hatching, and had multiple significant effects. Most notably, supplementation reduced brood size significantly in both species, by half a chick or more at hatching (after controlling for year and hatching date). Reduced brood sizes in supplemented pairs were driven by significantly smaller clutches in both species and, in blue tits, significantly lower hatching success. These are novel and concerning findings of food supplementation. As expected, supplementary feeding advanced laying and shortened incubation periods significantly in both species. We discuss the striking parallels between our findings and patterns in blue and great tit reproduction in urban habitats, and conclude that supplementary feeding may not always enhance the breeding productivity of birds.

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.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amundsen T, Lorentsen S-H, Tveraa T (1996) Effects of egg size and parental quality on early nestling growth: an experiment with the Antarctic petrel. J Anim Ecol 65:545–555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ankney CD, Johnson SL (1985) Variation in weight and composition of brown-headed cowbird eggs. Condor 87:296–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arcese P, Smith JNM (1988) Effects of population density and supplemental food on reproduction in song sparrows. J Anim Ecol 57:119–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bland RL, Tully J, Greenwood JJD (2004) Birds breeding in British gardens: an underestimated population? Bird Study 51:97–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blondel J, Maistre M, Perret P, Hurtrez-Bousses S, Lambrechts MM (1998) Is the small clutch size of a Corsican blue tit population optimal? Oecologia 117:80–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosque C, Bosque MT (1995) Nest predation as a selective factor in the evolution of developmental rates in altricial birds. Am Nat 145:234–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boutin S (1990) Food supplementation experiments with terrestrial vertebrates: patterns, problems, and the future. Can J Zool 68:203–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyce MS, Perrins CM (1987) Optimizing great tit clutch size in a fluctuating environment. Ecology 68:142–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro I, Brunton DH, Mason KM, Ebert B, Griffiths R (2003) Life history traits and food supplementation affect productivity in a translocated population of the endangered hihi (stitchbird, Notiomystis cincta). Biol Conserv 114:271–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain DE, Cannon AR, Toms MP, Leech DI, Hatchwell BJ, Gaston KJ (2009) Avian productivity in urban landscapes: a review and meta-analysis. Ibis 151:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charnov EL, Krebs JR (1974) On clutch-size and fitness. Ibis 116:217–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cramp S, Perrins CM (1993a) Blue tit. In: Cramp S, Perrins CM (eds) The birds of the western palearctic, vol 7. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 225–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Cramp S, Perrins CM (1993b) Great tit. In: Cramp S, Perrins CM (eds) The birds of the western palearctic, vol 7. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 255–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Cresswell W, McCleery R (2003) How great tits maintain synchronization of their hatch date with food supply in response to long-term variability in temperature. J Anim Ecol 72:356–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies NB, Lundberg A (1985) The influence of food on time budgets and timing of breeding of the dunnock Prunella modularis. Ibis 127:100–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Neve L, Soler JJ, Ruiz-Rodríguez M, Martín-Gálvez D, Pérez-Contreras T, Soler M (2007) Habitat-specific effects of a food supplementation experiment on immunocompetence in Eurasian magpie Pica pica nestlings. Ibis 149:763–773

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deeming DC (2002) Avian incubation: behaviour, environment, and evolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Drent RH, Daan S (1980) The prudent parent: energetic adjustments in avian breeding. Ardea 68:225–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Eeva T, Lehikoinen E, Pohjalainen T (1997) Pollution-related variation in food supply and breeding success in two hole-nesting passerines. Ecology 78:1120–1131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eikenaar C, Berg ML, Komdeur J (2003) Experimental evidence for the influence of food availability on incubation attendance and hatching asynchrony in the Australian reed warbler Acrocephalus australis. J Avian Biol 34:419–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ewald PW, Rohwer S (1982) Effects of supplemental feeding on timing of breeding, clutch-size and polygyny in red-winged blackbirds Agelaius phoeniceus. J Anim Ecol 51:429–450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gosler AG (1993) The great tit. Hamlyn, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Grieco F, van Noordwijk AJ, Visser ME (2002) Evidence for the effect of learning on timing of reproduction in blue tits. Science 296:136–138

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gustafsson L, Sutherland WJ (1988) The costs of reproduction in the collared flycatcher Ficedula albicollis. Nature 335:813–815

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison TJE (2010) A curate’s egg: feeding birds during reproduction is ‘good in parts’. A study of blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus and great tits Parus major. PhD dissertation, University of Birmingham, Birmingham

  • Hill WL (1988) The effect of food abundance on the reproductive patterns of coots. Condor 90:324–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houston D, McInnes K, Elliott G, Eason D, Moorhouse R, Cockrem J (2007) The use of a nutritional supplement to improve egg production in the endangered kakapo. Biol Conserv 138:248–255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jansson C, Ekman J, Von Brömssen A (1981) Winter mortality and food supply in tits Parus spp. Oikos 37:313–322

  • Jones DN, Reynolds SJ (2008) Feeding birds in our towns and cities: a global research opportunity. J Avian Biol 39:265–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones PJ, Ward P (1976) Level of reserve protein as proximate factor controlling timing of breeding and clutch-size in red-billed quelea Quelea quelea. Ibis 118:547–574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Källander H, Karlsson J (1993) Supplemental food and laying date in the European starling. Condor 95:1031–1034

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly JF, Van Horne B (1997) Effects of food supplementation on the timing of nest initiation in belted kingfishers. Ecology 78:2504–2511

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kempenaers B, Adriaensen F, Dhondt AA (1998) Inbreeding and divorce in blue and great tits. Anim Behav 56:737–740

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lack D (1954) The natural regulation of animal numbers. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Lack D (1966) Population studies of birds. Clarendon, Oxford

  • Lessells CM (1986) Brood size in Canada geese: a manipulation experiment. J Anim Ecol 55:669–689

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyon BE, Montgomerie RD (1985) Incubation feeding in snow buntings: female manipulation or indirect male parental care. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 17:279–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mänd R, Tilgar V, Lõhmus A, Leivits A (2005) Providing nest boxes for hole-nesting birds—does habitat matter? Biodivers Conserv 14:1823–1840

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin TE (1987) Food as a limit on breeding birds: a life-history perspective. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 18:453–487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meijer T, Drent R (1999) Re-examination of the capital and income dichotomy in breeding birds. Ibis 141:399–414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minitab (2007) Meet Minitab 15 for Windows. Minitab Inc., State College

  • Minot EO, Perrins CM (1986) Interspecific interference competition—nest sites for blue and great tits. J Anim Ecol 55:331–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naef-Daenzer B, Widmer F, Nuber M (2001) Differential post-fledging survival of great and coal tits in relation to their condition and fledging date. J Anim Ecol 70:730–738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nager RG, van Noordwijk AJ (1995) Proximate and ultimate aspects of phenotypic plasticity in timing of great tit breeding in a heterogeneous environment. Am Nat 146:454–474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nager RG, Rüegger C, van Noordwijk AJ (1997) Nutrient or energy limitation on egg formation: a feeding experiment in great tits. J Anim Ecol 66:495–507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson JÅ (1991) Clutch size determination in the marsh tit (Parus palustris). Ecology 72:1757–1762

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson JÅ (1993) Energetic constraints on hatching asynchrony. Am Nat 141:158–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson JÅ (1994) Energetic bottle-necks during breeding and the reproductive cost of being too early. J Anim Ecol 63:200–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson JÅ (2000) Time-dependent reproductive decisions in the blue tit. Oikos 88:351–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson JÅ, Smith HG (1988) Incubation feeding as a male tactic for early hatching. Anim Behav 36:641–647

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norris K (1993) Seasonal variation in the reproductive success of blue tits: an experimental study. J Anim Ecol 62:287–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nur N (1984) The consequences of brood size for breeding blue tits II. Nestling weight, offspring survival and optimal brood size. J Anim Ecol 53:497–517

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oehlert GW (1992) A note on the delta method. Am Stat 46:27–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perrins CM (1965) Population fluctuations and clutch-size in the great tit, Parus major L. J Anim Ecol 34:601–647

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perrins CM (1979) British tits. Collins, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Perrins CM, McCleery RH (1989) Laying dates and clutch size in the great tit. Wilson Bull 101:236–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Perrins CM, Moss D (1975) Reproductive rates in the great tit. J Anim Ecol 44:695–706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pettifor RA, Perrins CM, McCleery RH (1988) Individual optimization of clutch size in great tits. Nature 336:160–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramsay SL, Houston DC (1997) Nutritional constraints on egg production in the blue tit: a supplementary feeding study. J Anim Ecol 66:649–657

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramsay SL, Houston DC (1998) The effect of dietary amino acid composition on egg production in blue tits. Proc R Soc Lond B 265:1401–1405

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds SJ, Mänd R, Tilgar V (2004) Calcium supplementation of breeding birds: directions for future research. Ibis 146:601–614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robb GN, McDonald RA, Chamberlain DE, Bearhop S (2008a) Food for thought: supplementary feeding as a driver of ecological change in avian populations. Front Ecol Environ 6:476–484

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robb GN, McDonald RA, Chamberlain DE, Reynolds SJ, Harrison TJE, Bearhop S (2008b) Winter feeding of birds increases productivity in the subsequent breeding season. Biol Lett 4:220–223

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robbins CT (1981) Estimation of the relative protein cost of reproduction in birds. Condor 83:177–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rohwer FC (1986) Composition of blue-winged teal eggs in relation to egg size, clutch size, and the timing of laying. Condor 88:513–519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rytkönen S, Orell M (2001) Great tits, Parus major, lay too many eggs: experimental evidence in mid-boreal habitats. Oikos 93:439–450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saino N, Romano M, Ambrosini R, Ferrari RP, Møller AP (2004) Timing of reproduction and egg quality covary with temperature in the insectivorous barn swallow, Hirundo rustica. Funct Ecol 18:50–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanz JJ (1996) Effect of food availability on incubation period in the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca). Auk 113:249–253

    Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute Inc. (2008) SAS/STAT® 9.2 user’s guide. SAS Institute Inc., Cary

  • Schoech SJ, Hahn TP (2008) Latitude affects degree of advancement in laying by birds in response to food supplementation: a meta-analysis. Oecologia 157:369–376

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schoech SJ, Bowman R, Reynolds SJ (2004) Food supplementation and possible mechanisms underlying early breeding in the Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens). Horm Behav 46:565–573

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schoech SJ, Bowman R, Bridge ES, Boughton RK (2007) Baseline and acute levels of corticosterone in Florida scrub-jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens): effects of food supplementation, suburban habitat, and year. Gen Comp Endocr 154:150–160

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schoech SJ, Bridge ES, Boughton RK, Reynolds SJ, Atwell JW, Bowman R (2008) Food supplementation: a tool to increase reproductive output? A case study in the threatened Florida scrub-jay. Biol Conserv 141:162–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soler M, Soler JJ (1996) Effects of experimental food provisioning on reproduction in the jackdaw Corvus monedula, a semi-colonial species. Ibis 138:377–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Svensson E, Nilsson JÅ (1995) Food supply, territory quality, and reproductive timing in the blue tit (Parus caeruleus). Ecology 76:1804–1812

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toms M, Sterry P (2008) Garden birds and wildlife. AA, Basingstoke

  • Verhulst S, Tinbergen JM (1991) Experimental evidence for a causal relationship between timing and success of reproduction in the great tit Parus m. major. J Anim Ecol 60:269–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Visser ME, Holleman LJM, Caro SP (2009) Temperature has a causal effect on avian timing of reproduction. Proc R Soc Lond B 276:2323–2331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walsberg GE (1983) Avian ecological energetics. Academic, New York

  • Wiebe KL, Martin K (2000) The use of incubation behavior to adjust avian reproductive costs after egg laying. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 48:463–470

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkin TA, Garant D, Gosler AG, Sheldon BC (2006) Density effects on life-history traits in a wild population of the great tit Parus major: analyses of long-term data with GIS techniques. J Anim Ecol 75:604–615

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkin TA, Gosler AG, Garant D, Reynolds SJ, Sheldon BC (2009) Calcium effects on life-history traits in a wild population of the great tit (Parus major): analysis of long-term data at several spatial scales. Oecologia 159:463–472

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams TD (1996) Variation in reproductive effort in female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) in relation to nutrient-specific dietary supplements during egg laying. Physiol Zool 69:1255–1275

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through a studentship to TJEH, and we are grateful to CJ Wildlife Ltd. (especially Peter Deans and Chris Whittles) for providing equipment, consumables and financial support. The Worcestershire Wildlife Trust generously allowed the use of Chaddesley Woods National Nature Reserve, and we also thank Mervyn and Rose Needham for their help in facilitating this research. Numerous people provided considerable help with field, laboratory and office work, especially Munhazaya Battsengel, Ivana Budinski, Louise Gilmour, Nardie Hanson, Chan Heu, Elizabeth Kingston, Ewa Kos, Marija Majer, and Vladimir Rakić. We are grateful to Phillip Cassey, Simon Harold, and Kate Lessells for statistical advice, and to Steve Schoech and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. We declare that this research was conducted lawfully within the United Kingdom.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ornithology, School of Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    Timothy J. E. Harrison, Jennifer A. Smith, Graham R. Martin & S. James Reynolds

  2. British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU, UK

    Timothy J. E. Harrison & Dan E. Chamberlain

  3. Dipartimento di Biologiá Animale e dell’Uomo, Universitá degli Studi di Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123, Turin, Italy

    Dan E. Chamberlain

  4. Centre for Ecology and Conservation, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn, TR10 9EZ, UK

    Stuart Bearhop

  5. School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, BT9 7BL, UK

    Stuart Bearhop & Gillian N. Robb

  6. Department of Zoology & Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa

    Gillian N. Robb

Authors
  1. Timothy J. E. Harrison
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jennifer A. Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Graham R. Martin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Dan E. Chamberlain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Stuart Bearhop
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Gillian N. Robb
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. S. James Reynolds
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Timothy J. E. Harrison or S. James Reynolds.

Additional information

Communicated by Douglas Robinson.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (114 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (60 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Harrison, T.J.E., Smith, J.A., Martin, G.R. et al. Does food supplementation really enhance productivity of breeding birds?. Oecologia 164, 311–320 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-010-1645-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-010-1645-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation