Settlement patterns of female barn swallows Hirundo rustica across different group sizes: access to colorful males or favored nests? |
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Authors: | Rebecca J Safran |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA;(2) Present address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, 106A Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA |
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Abstract: | In most avian species, individuals are faced with two critical decisions at the start of a breeding season: choosing a breeding
site and a mate. An analysis of these decisions in light of population-level patterns, such as group size variation in social
breeders, can illuminate the causes and patterns of habitat selection behavior. Group sizes are variable in barn swallows;
however, no clear and consistent benefits of group breeding have been found in this species, and it is puzzling as to why
individuals breed socially. Previous analyses demonstrated that individuals aggregate to gain access to nests that were constructed
during previous seasons; however extra-pair matings are also prevalent in this species, raising questions about the mate-selection
strategies of females across different group sizes. In this paper, I address the question of how females make their first
site-selection decisions in terms of two features known to be causally related to seasonal reproductive success: (1) colorful
males or (2) old nests. Using experimental and observational data, I tested, but found no support for, the hypotheses that
propose female settlement decisions are a function of (1) the prevalence of colorful males or (2) the increased opportunity
for extra-pair matings at group sites. Instead, it is apparent that female settlement patterns are strongly tied to the availability
of old nests at a site. Extra-pair fertilizations are equally common across all group sizes in this population, suggesting
that females do not face a trade-off between old nests and the possibility of extra-pair mating decisions when making settlement
decisions. |
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Keywords: | Barn swallow Extra-pair paternity Feather color Group size Habitat selection Hirundo rustica Mate selection Nest reuse Nest selection |
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