Delayed timing of breeding attempts, but not time lost to nest construction, reduces the annual reproductive output of the Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

For many birds, nest construction is a costly aspect of parental care, trading finite energetic resources between parental care and self-maintenance. For multi-brooded organisms with short breeding seasons, such as migratory passerines, repeated nest construction could be especially costly if the activity delays the onset of breeding attempts. Earlier studies on passerines that reuse nests between breeding seasons suggested that time lost to initial nest construction reduces seasonal reproductive output. However, costs associated with building new nests between breeding attempts, within the same breeding season, have largely been ignored. Here, we experimentally removed first nests, after fledging or failing, of Eastern Phoebes ( Sayornis phoebe), to evaluate how the annual onset of breeding and nest construction between breeding attempts affected parental investment into second attempts. We found that first egg laying date negatively predicted the probability of second breeding attempts, but experimental treatment (first nest removal vs. control) did not. Neither first egg laying date nor treatment statistically influenced any of the reproductive traits in second breeding attempts (clutch size, nestling body condition, and nestling growth rate). We conclude that in this species, second breeding attempts are limited by the initial onset of seasonal reproduction, and not by time lost to nest construction between breeding attempts.

Audubon's famous banding experiment: fact or fiction?

John James Audubon has been hailed as the progenitor of bird banding in America, but the high rate of natal philopatry in banded Eastern Phoebes (Sayornis phoebe) that he reported is an outlier when compared to modern data. More troubling, a reconstruction of the timeline of events with multiple independent primary sources, shows that Audubon was not in Pennsylvania when he claimed to have re-sighted two banded phoebes there in 1805. These facts cast doubt on the veracity of his story.