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Urban environments are associated with earlier clutches and faster nestling feather growth compared to natural habitats

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Abstract

Urbanization creates new habitats with novel benefits and challenges not found in natural systems. How a species fares in urban habitats is largely dependent on its life history, yet predicting the response of individual species to urbanization remains a challenge. While some species thrive in urban areas, others do poorly or are not present at all. Mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli) are year-round residents of montane regions of western North America. Commonly found in higher-elevation coniferous forests, these birds can also be found in urban areas where they will regularly visit bird feeders and nest in nest boxes. We monitored mountain chickadees nesting along a habitat gradient, from natural habitat to suburban areas, to determine if the degree of urbanization was associated with: clutch size and success; nestling growth rates; or variation in parental size and age. Females nesting in urbanized areas initiated clutches earlier in the breeding season than those in natural areas, but neither fledging success nor the rate of nestling mass-change differed between habitats. Nestling feather growth-rate increased with later first egg dates in both habitats, and the magnitude of this increase was greatest in urban habitats. We found no difference in the proportion of first-time breeders versus experienced breeders between habitat types, nor any differences in male or female mass or size. Our results indicate no detriment to nesting in urban habitats, suggesting mountain chickadees are able to adapt to moderate urbanization much like other members of the Paridae family.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank S. Joly and members of the BEAC Lab at Thompson Rivers University for assisting with the capture and banding of chickadees, as well as all the field technicians who assisted with data collection and field work. Funding was provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grants to M.W.R. and K.A.O, and a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Industrial Postgraduate Scholarship to K.L.D. Marini.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Thompson Rivers University, 900 McGill Road, Kamloops, BC, V2C 0C8, Canada

    Kristen L. D. Marini & Matthew W. Reudink

  2. Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada

    Ken A. Otter & Stefanie E. LaZerte

  3. Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC, Canada

    Stefanie E. LaZerte

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  1. Kristen L. D. Marini
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  2. Ken A. Otter
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  3. Stefanie E. LaZerte
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Correspondence to Kristen L. D. Marini.

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Marini, K.L.D., Otter, K.A., LaZerte, S.E. et al. Urban environments are associated with earlier clutches and faster nestling feather growth compared to natural habitats. Urban Ecosyst 20, 1291–1300 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-017-0681-2

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