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Weather, food and predation shape the timing of Marsh Tit breeding in primaeval conditions: a long-term study

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Abstract

Marsh Tits Poecile palustris were studied in primaeval fragments of Białowieża National Park (Poland) between 1997 and 2020 to investigate how variation in spring weather, predation, and the timing of tree bud burst and emergence and development of folivorous caterpillars impacts reproductive performance. Marsh Tits commenced egg laying earlier in warmer springs, but had only limited capacity to adjust their breeding behaviour in response to varying conditions in the nestling period. Despite folivorous caterpillars constituting an important food source for nestlings, Marsh Tits reproduced successfully even in years of very low caterpillar abundance, provided the weather remained good and predator pressure was low. Caterpillar abundance became important only in colder springs, when signs of undernourishment (higher brood reduction rates, delayed fledging) were observed. Malnourished young also appeared more exposed to predation as an indirect effect of food availability and weather contributing to nesting success. Despite predation, Marsh Tits experienced median annual nest losses of only 27.5%. Egg laying commenced and breeding finished ahead of most other local bird species, probably due to intraspecific competition to produce young before other birds in the population. Such timing seemingly created a safety window, when predators were likely not yet searching for nests, resulting in nest losses before hatching of usually below 10%. Across the 24 years of this study, Marsh Tits were exposed to a wide range of conditions that themselves did not show a temporal trend. As such, the observed variation is probably representative of forests not subject to climate warming.

Zusammenfassung

Wetter, Nahrung und Prädation beeinflussen den Brutzeitpunkt von Sumpfmeisen in einem Urwaldgebiet: eine Langzeitstudie

Sumpfmeisen Poecile palustris wurden in Urwaldfragmenten im Białowieża Nationalpark (Polen) von 1997 bis 2020 untersucht, um herauszufinden, wie Schwankungen im Frühlingswetter, der Prädation und dem Zeitpunkt des Baumknospenaustriebs sowie der Emergenz und Entwicklung blattfressender Raupen den Fortpflanzungserfolg der Vögel beeinflussen. Sumpfmeisen begannen in wärmeren Frühjahren frühzeitiger mit der Eiablage, waren jedoch nur eingeschränkt in der Lage, ihr Brutverhalten an wechselnde Bedingungen während der Nestlingsphase anzupassen. Obwohl blattfressende Raupen eine wichtige Nahrungsquelle für die Nestlinge darstellen, zogen die Sumpfmeisen selbst in Jahren mit sehr niedriger Raupenabundanz erfolgreich Jungvögel auf, solange das Wetter gut blieb und der Prädationsdruck gering war. Die Raupenabundanz erlangte lediglich in kälteren Frühjahren Bedeutung, wenn Anzeichen von Unterernährung (höhere Brutreduktionsraten, verspätetes Ausfliegen) beobachtet wurden. Ein indirekter Effekt der Nahrungsverfügbarkeit und des Wetters auf den Bruterfolg bestand darin, dass unterernährte Jungvögel offenbar stärkerer Prädation ausgesetzt waren. Trotz Prädation erlitten die Sumpfmeisen lediglich Brutverluste von im Mittel 27,5%. Sie begannen ihre Eiablage und beendeten ihre Brutsaison vor den meisten anderen im Untersuchungsgebiet brütenden Vogelarten, vermutlich aufgrund intraspezifischer Konkurrenz, Jungvögel vor den anderen Vögeln in der Population zu produzieren. Dieses Timing schuf offenbar ein sicheres Zeitfenster, in dem Prädatoren wahrscheinlich noch nicht nach Nestern suchten, was dazu führte, dass die Brutverluste vor dem Schlupf der Küken zumeist weniger als 10% betrugen. Im Verlauf der 24-jährigen Studie waren die Sumpfmeisen einem breiten Spektrum an Bedingungen ausgesetzt, die selbst keinen zeitlichen Trend aufwiesen. Daher repräsentieren die beobachteten Schwankungen wahrscheinlich Wälder, die keine Klimaerwärmung erfuhren.

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Acknowledgements

This work would not be possible to accomplish without the support of numerous people. First, I express gratitude to M. Cholewa, M. Czuchra, G. Hebda, T. Kliś, M. Maziarz, B. Orłowska, P. Rowiński and numerous student-helpers, for their collaboration in collecting data in the field. I thank also P. Rowiński for sharing unpublished data and Richard Broughton for comments and linguistic help. The kind co-operation of the Białowieża National Park administration is also acknowledged.

Funding

Fieldwork and analyses were supported by internal grants from the Faculty of Biological Sciences, Wrocław University.

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  1. Laboratory of Forest Biology, Wrocław University, Sienkiewicza 21, 50 335, Wrocław, Poland

    Tomasz Wesołowski

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TW is the sole author of this study, but due to his passing while the manuscript was under review, the first draft was edited for publication by Richard Broughton, Johan Nilsson, Vladimir Pravosudov and Sandra Bouwhuis, as a tribute to TW and his legendary long-term commitment to Białowieża and its birds. The edited version was accepted by TWs wife Wanda Wesołowska.

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Correspondence to Tomasz Wesołowski.

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Ethics statement

All observations for this study were gathered in compliance with Polish legislation. The permits required for doing fieldwork in the strictly protected reserve were issued by the Białowieża National Park administration.

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Communicated by S. Bouwhuis.

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Wesołowski, T. Weather, food and predation shape the timing of Marsh Tit breeding in primaeval conditions: a long-term study. J Ornithol 164, 253–274 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-022-02003-1

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