scholarly journals Depredation of Common Eider, Somateria mollissima, Nests on a Central Beaufort Sea Barrier Island: A Case Where No One Wins

2007 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 308
Author(s):  
John A. Reed ◽  
Deborah L. Lacroix ◽  
Paul L. Flint
Keyword(s):  
Nest Site ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
Somateria Mollissima ◽  
Fitness Advantage ◽  
Avian Predators ◽  
Arctic Foxes ◽  
Common Eiders ◽  
Mammalian Predators ◽  
Nest Site Choice

Along the central Beaufort Sea, Pacific Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima v-nigra) nest on unvegetated, barrier islands; often near nesting Glaucous Gulls (Larus hyperboreus). Nest-site choice likely reflects a strategy of predator avoidance: nesting on islands to avoid mammalian predators and near territorial gulls to avoid other avian predators. We observed a nesting colony of Common Eiders from first nest initiation through nesting termination on Egg Island near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska (2002 – 2003). Resident gulls depredated many eider nests, mostly during initiation. All nests failed when an Arctic Fox (Alopex lagopus) visited the island and flushed hens from their nests, exposing the eggs to depredation by the fox and gulls (resident and non-resident). Common Eiders actively defended nests from gulls, but not from foxes. Likely all three species (i.e., eiders, gulls, and foxes) ultimately achieved negligible benefit from their nest-site selection or predatory activity: (a) island nesting provided no safety from mammalian predators for eiders or gulls, (b) for Common Eiders, nesting near gulls increased egg loss, (c) for Glaucous Gulls, nesting near colonial eiders may have reduced nest success by attracting the fox, and (d) for Arctic Foxes, the depredation was of questionable value, as most eggs were cached and probably not recoverable (due to damage from fall storms). Thus, the predator-prey interactions we observed appear to be a case where little or no fitness advantage was realized by any of the species involved.

Nest-site materials affect nest-bowl use by Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima)

2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter L.F. Fast ◽  
H. Grant Gilchrist ◽  
Robert G. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Site Selection ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Nest Survival ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Somateria Mollissima ◽  
Site Characteristics ◽  
Common Eiders ◽  
Nesting Material

Nest-site characteristics influence reproductive success in birds. Most studies of nest-site selection evaluate nest characteristics following the commencement of egg-laying, possibly overlooking the importance of pre-existing nest-site features that may be altered during the nesting process. Because Common Eiders ( Somateria mollissima (L.,1758)) often lay their eggs in nest bowls created in previous years, we were able to experimentally place moss or feather down in nest bowls prior to nesting. We then quantified whether these materials increased nest establishment or advanced laying dates relative to control nests and nests where material was removed prior to arrival of nesting females. We found no difference in the likelihood of successful nest establishment between groups. However, the onset of incubation occurred 2–3 days earlier in nest bowls that contained feather down versus nest bowls with little or no nesting material. Nest bowls containing feathers or vegetation may be selected first if they increase nest survival, perhaps by enhancing egg concealment during the critical early-laying period. The presence of material for egg concealment may be particularly important in nesting environments where tall or dense vegetation is not available to provide nest cover.

scholarly journals Interspecific attraction between ground-nesting songbirds and ants: the role of nest-site selection

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Maziarz ◽  
Richard K. Broughton ◽  
Luca Pietro Casacci ◽  
Grzegorz Hebda ◽  
István Maák ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Site Selection ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Ecological Networks ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
Ant Colonies ◽  
Interspecific Attraction ◽  
Bird Nest ◽  
Nest Site Choice ◽  
Ground Nesting

Abstract Background Interspecific interactions within ecological networks can influence animal fitness and behaviour, including nest-site selection of birds and ants. Previous studies revealed that nesting birds and ants may benefit from cohabitation, with interspecific attraction through their nest-site choice, but mutual interactions have not yet been tested. We explored a previously undescribed ecological link between ground-nesting birds and ants raising their own broods (larvae and pupae) within the birds’ nests in a temperate primeval forest of lowland Europe. We tested whether the occurrence of ant broods within bird nests resulted from a mutual or one-sided interspecific attraction that operated through nest-site choice and was modified by weather conditions. Results We found a non-random occupation of bird nests by ants raising their own broods within them, which indicated interspecific attraction driven solely by the ants. The birds’ preference to nest near tussocks of vegetation showed little overlap with the most frequent placement of ant colonies among fallen deciduous tree-leaves, dead wood and moss. Additionally, birds did not appear to select forest localities with high densities of ant colonies. The occurrence of ant broods within bird nests was also unrelated to bird nest placement near to specific habitat features. The attractiveness of bird nests to ants appeared to increase with the thermal activity of the birds warming their nests, and also during cool and wet weather when the occurrence of ant broods within bird nests was most frequent. Ants often remained in the nests after the birds had vacated them, with only a slight reduction in the probability of ant brood occurrence over time. Conclusions The natural patterns of bird nest colonisation by ants support the hypothesis of ants’ attraction to warm nests of birds to raise their broods under advantageous thermal conditions. Similar relationships may occur between other warm-blooded, nest-building vertebrates and nest-dwelling invertebrates, which depend on ambient temperatures. The findings advance our understanding of these poorly recognised interspecific interactions, and can inform future studies of ecological networks.

scholarly journals The Effect of Brood Quantity on Nest Site Choice in the Temnothorax rugatulus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takao Sasaki ◽  
Jennifer E Briner ◽  
Stephen C Pratt
Keyword(s):  
Nest Site ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
Self Organized ◽  
Highly Nonlinear ◽  
Nest Site Choice ◽  
Mass Recruitment ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Behavioral Mechanisms ◽  
Brood Item

Abstract Ant colonies are self-organized systems, meaning that complex collective behavior emerges from local interactions among colony members without any central control. Self-organized systems are sensitive to initial conditions, whereby small random effects are amplified through positive feedback and have a large influence on collective outcomes. This sensitivity has been well demonstrated in collective decision-making by ants that use mass recruitment via trail pheromones, where it is attributed to the highly nonlinear relationship between the amount of pheromone on a trail and its effectiveness at attracting recruits. This feature is absent in many species, such as the rock ant Temnothorax rugatulus (Emery) whose tandem run recruitment shows a linear relationship between effort and effectiveness. Thus, these ants may have other behavioral responses that amplify initial differences during collective choices. We investigated this by testing whether nest site selection is influenced by small differences in the amount of brood at competing sites. Our results show that T. rugatulus colonies prefer a nest containing brood items to an empty nest, even when the brood-containing nest has only one brood item. When both nests have brood, colonies prefer the nest that contains more. However, as the numbers of brood items becomes more similar, this preference becomes weaker. Moreover, the smaller the difference in brood number, the more likely are colonies to split between sites. We discuss potential behavioral mechanisms for the observed effect, as well as its implications for number sense in ants.

scholarly journals Do small swarms have an advantage when house hunting? The effect of swarm size on nest-site selection by Apis mellifera

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (87) ◽  
pp. 20130533 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Schaerf ◽  
J. C. Makinson ◽  
M. R. Myerscough ◽  
M. Beekman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Nest Site Choice ◽  
Realistic Problem ◽  
Swarm Size

Reproductive swarms of honeybees are faced with the problem of finding a good site to establish a new colony. We examined the potential effects of swarm size on the quality of nest-site choice through a combination of modelling and field experiments. We used an individual-based model to examine the effects of swarm size on decision accuracy under the assumption that the number of bees actively involved in the decision-making process (scouts) is an increasing function of swarm size. We found that the ability of a swarm to choose the best of two nest sites decreases as swarm size increases when there is some time-lag between discovering the sites, consistent with Janson & Beekman (Janson & Beekman 2007 Proceedings of European Conference on Complex Systems , pp. 204–211.). However, when simulated swarms were faced with a realistic problem of choosing between many nest sites discoverable at all times, larger swarms were more accurate in their decisions than smaller swarms owing to their ability to discover nest sites more rapidly. Our experimental fieldwork showed that large swarms invest a larger number of scouts into the decision-making process than smaller swarms. Preliminary analysis of waggle dances from experimental swarms also suggested that large swarms could indeed discover and advertise nest sites at a faster rate than small swarms.

Breeding-site infidelity in greater snow geese: a consequence of constraints on laying date?

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (10) ◽  
pp. 1866-1875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Lepage ◽  
Gilles Gauthier ◽  
Austin Reed
Keyword(s):  
Nest Site ◽  
Breeding Site ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
Deterrent Effect ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Chen Caerulescens ◽  
Arctic Foxes ◽  
Chen Caerulescens Atlantica ◽  
Annual Distribution

We studied annual variation in the distribution of greater snow goose (Chen caerulescens atlantica) nests and colonies at a High Arctic breeding site (Bylot Island, Northwest Territories, Canada) from 1988 to 1994. Annual distribution and size of colonies within the study area were highly variable. The distance between colony centres in successive years ranged from 2.9 to 6.9 km [Formula: see text], with no overlap of the areas occupied. Timing of snowmelt and nest-site availability were also very variable. In some years, the area was snow-free at the time the geese arrived, whereas in others, snow persisted for up to 3 weeks after their arrival. However, even in the 3 years of earliest snowmelt (1988, 1993, and 1994), geese used markedly different nesting areas, in both lowland and upland areas. Geese nested in association with snowy owls (Nyctea scandiaca) in the 2 years that owls nested and their nesting success was markedly improved, probably because of the deterrent effect of owls on arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus), the main nest predator. This suggests that protection from nest predators is an important determinant of nest-site selection. The lack of fidelity to a specific nesting location is unusual in geese. We suggest that large annual variability in timing of snowmelt, predation pressure, and availability of feeding areas during the prenesting period, combined with the need to lay at an optimal date because of the short arctic nesting season, probably explain the low nest-site fidelity in this population.

Aggressive neighbors and dense nesting: nest site choice and success in high-Arctic common eiders

Polar Biology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (9) ◽  
pp. 1597-1604 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabeau Pratte ◽  
Shanti E. Davis ◽  
Mark Maftei ◽  
Mark L. Mallory
Keyword(s):  
Nest Site ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Common Eiders ◽  
Nest Site Choice

scholarly journals Nest-Site Selection, Interspecific Associations, and Nest Success of King Eiders

The Condor ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana K. Kellett ◽  
Ray T. Alisauskas ◽  
Katherine R. Mehl
Keyword(s):  
Site Selection ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Nest Success ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
Nest Failure ◽  
Somateria Spectabilis ◽  
Interspecific Associations ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Sterna Paradisaea ◽  
Mammalian Predators

Abstract We investigated factors influencing nest success in King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis) at Karrak Lake, Nunavut, Canada, during 1995–2001. Island-nesting King Eiders had higher nest success (range 30–89%) than that reported for mainland-nesting populations, and nested at much higher densities (46–198 nests km−2) than on mainland, where they were detected infrequently (usually <1 nest km−2). Predation was the main cause of nest failure, and King Eider nest success was greater on isolated islands (smaller islands, and larger islands farther from the mainland) that were presumably less accessible to mammalian predators. King Eiders did not derive protection from predators by nesting near gulls (Larus spp.) and Arctic Terns (Sterna paradisaea). Selección del Sitio de Nidificación, Asociaciones Interespecíficas y Éxito de Nidificación de Somateria spectabilis Resumen. Investigamos los factores que influencian el éxito de nidificación de Somateria spectabilis en Karrak Lake, Nunavut, Canada, durante 1995–2001. Los individuos que nidifican en las islas presentaron un mayor éxito de nidificación (entre 30–89%) que el reportado para las poblaciones que nidifican en el continente, y anidaron a una mayor densidad que en el continente, donde se detectaron infrecuentemente (usualmente <1 nido km−2). La depredación fue la principal causa de fracaso, y el éxito de nidificación de S. spectabilis fue mayor en islas grandes y pequeñas más alejadas del continente, las que presumiblemente se encontraban menos accesibles a mamíferos depredadores. Somateria spectabilis no obtuvo protección contra depredadores al nidificar cerca de gaviotas (Larus spp.) y gaviotines Sterna paradisaea.

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