Subadult Plumage Color of Female Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) Reduces Conspecific Aggression During the Breeding Season

2013 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 348-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea D. Coady ◽  
Russell D. Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Tachycineta Bicolor ◽  
Tree Swallows ◽  
Plumage Color ◽  
Female Tree ◽  
Conspecific Aggression

Within-season and age-related patterns of reproductive performance in female tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 827-834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bridget J. Stutchbury ◽  
Raleigh J. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Tachycineta Bicolor ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Tree Swallows ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Female Tree ◽  
Second Year

In many species of birds, clutch size decreases as the season progresses, but this is confounded by the fact that young birds not only often have smaller clutches but also breed later than older females. We examined the effect of time of season on clutch size, hatching success, and fledging success of female tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) in their second year (SY) and after their second year (ASY), and compared their reproductive performance while controlling for time of season. For both SY and ASY females, clutch size decreased significantly with later first egg dates, which caused number hatched and number fledged per brood to also decline as the season progressed. However, neither the proportion of eggs hatched nor the proportion of young fledged was correlated with first egg date. The within-season decline in clutch size was not due simply to replacement clutches or female age, and we argue that it is also not due to a decrease in food abundance over the breeding season. Age-related differences in reproductive success depended on the time of season. Early in the breeding season, ASY females were superior to SY females in every measure of reproductive performance; however, there were no significant differences between age-classes late in the season. ASY females were more successful than SY females in raising clutches of five or six eggs, which were most common early in the season, but there was no difference between age-classes in raising clutches of four eggs. We suggest that an age-related difference in foraging efficiency and within-season changes in the cost of competition could explain this pattern.

Experimentally altered plumage brightness of female tree swallows: a test of the differential allocation hypothesis

Behaviour ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 153 (5) ◽  
pp. 525-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisha L. Berzins ◽  
Russell D. Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Tachycineta Bicolor ◽  
Differential Allocation ◽  
Tree Swallows ◽  
Agonistic Interactions ◽  
Brood Size Manipulation ◽  
Fledging Success ◽  
Female Attractiveness ◽  
Female Tree

The differential allocation hypothesis posits that individuals should invest in the current reproductive attempt according to the attractiveness of their mate, but studies of allocation by males when female traits are manipulated to be more attractive are lacking. In the current study, we experimentally enhanced and reduced the plumage brightness of female tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) relative to controls to examine whether males adjust investment in parental care according to female attractiveness, while simultaneously performing a brood size manipulation. Contrary to our predictions, we found no evidence that males provisioned nestlings according to the plumage brightness of females. However, we found that nestling quality and fledging success were lowest when female plumage brightness was reduced and brood size was enlarged. This may be due to the plumage brightness treatment influencing agonistic interactions with other females, and may suggest that plumage brightness is a signal assessed by females.

scholarly journals Experimentally altered plumage brightness of female Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) influences nest site retention and reproductive success

2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (6) ◽  
pp. 600-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisha L. Berzins ◽  
Russell D. Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Tachycineta Bicolor ◽  
Tree Swallows ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Female Tree ◽  
Ornamental Traits

That ornamental traits of females can act as signals of quality has gained empirical support, but whether and how such ornaments of females mediate social interactions with conspecifics remains less clear. Female Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor (Vieillot, 1808)) aggressively compete for and defend nest sites, and as such, nest site intrusions by conspecific females challenging ownership of a nest may prevent territory-owning females from dishonestly displaying ornamented plumage. We tested whether plumage brightness of female Tree Swallows influences nest site retention and reproductive success by experimentally enhancing or reducing their plumage brightness relative to controls prior to breeding. Females with reduced brightness were more likely to retain their nests sites and breed relative to control females and females with experimentally enhanced brightness. Females displaying enhanced brightness also tended to initiate clutches later than females with control and reduced brightness. Overall, lower nest site retention and reproductive success for females with enhanced brightness is consistent with social costs imposed on individuals dishonestly signalling high quality. Future studies in female birds should consider whether costs of losing a nest site to intruding conspecific females, especially in species where nest sites are limited, is a mechanism that maintains the honesty of signals of quality.

Does experimentally altered plumage brightness influence extra-pair mating success in female Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)?

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-61
Author(s):  
Lisha L. Berzins ◽  
Russell D. Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Mating Success ◽  
Tachycineta Bicolor ◽  
Competitive Interactions ◽  
Tree Swallows ◽  
Extra Pair Paternity ◽  
Female Tree ◽  
Pair Mating ◽  
And Function ◽  
Ornamental Traits ◽  
Extra Pair Mating

Recent empirical evidence suggests that ornamental traits displayed by female birds may reflect aspects of their quality, and function during competitive interactions and (or) social mate attraction; however, less is known about how such traits influence extra-pair paternity. In Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor (Vieillot, 1808)), plumage brightness of females signals their quality and may be related to extra-pair paternity if it enables them to invade the territories of other females to seek extra-pair copulations and (or) if potential extra-pair mates perceive their plumage brightness as attractive. Therefore, to examine whether the plumage brightness displayed by females influence rates of extra-pair paternity and the number of sires per brood, we experimentally enhanced and reduced the plumage brightness of females relative to controls. Our results showed that plumage brightness treatment of the female did not influence the number of extra-pair offspring in nests or the likelihood of a brood containing extra-pair offspring. Additionally, the number of extra-pair males siring offspring within the broods of females did not differ by plumage brightness treatment. Although extra-pair paternity has been shown to be beneficial for female Tree Swallows, our results suggest that plumage brightness of females does not influence their ability to engage in extra-pair mating.

Female tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) increase offspring heterozygosity through extrapair mating

2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (11) ◽  
pp. 1725-1733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary K. Stapleton ◽  
Oddmund Kleven ◽  
Jan T. Lifjeld ◽  
Raleigh J. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Tachycineta Bicolor ◽  
Tree Swallows ◽  
Extrapair Mating ◽  
Female Tree

Tree swallow diet in relation to wetland acidity

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (10) ◽  
pp. 2629-2637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Blancher ◽  
Donald K. McNicol
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Major Change ◽  
Tachycineta Bicolor ◽  
Tree Swallow ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Tree Swallows ◽  
Nestling Diet ◽  
Aquatic Food ◽  
Emerging Insects

We examined 12 825 prey of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) northeast of Sudbury, Ontario, to observe the importance of aquatic food and the influence of wetland pH on swallow diet during the breeding season. Items of aquatic origin constituted most of the biomass in diets of both nestlings and adults. Molluscs and Ephemeroptera (mayflies), whose distributions in the study wetlands were strongly influenced by pH, were eaten by swallows, particularly nestlings. The major change in nestling diet in relation to wetland acidity was a decrease in mayflies and a corresponding increase in aquatic Diptera at wetlands of lower pH. The number of aquatic taxa eaten by nestlings was lowest at acidic wetlands. The total biomass of emerging insects captured at acidic wetlands was not lower than at wetlands of higher pH, and in fact tended to be greater. The rate at which swallows fed their young and the amount of food fed to nestlings were not related to wetland pH or other wetland characteristics. Nevertheless, the reduced availability of calcium-rich foods at acidic wetlands and the change in types of food available may play a role in the reduced reproductive success of swallows at acidic wetlands.

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