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Nest Survival of Open-Nesting Passerines: Species Differences, Temporal Variability, and the Impact of Weather Conditions

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Abstract

This paper presents modern methods for assessing the nest survival, which are implemented in the free software MARK. Using the example of the data of long-term monitoring of the breeding success of two passerine bird species, the capabilities of the method in assessing the intra- and interannual variability of the daily nest survival rate as well as the dependence of the latter on weather conditions are demonstrated. The analysis is based on a sample of 523 booted warbler (Iduna caligata) nests and 553 whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) nests monitored on abandoned fields of Vologda oblast in 2005–2018. The daily nest survival rates failed to differ between the two species and showed significant interannual variations. Intraseasonal variations in the daily survival rates were weaker than interannual ones. The daily nest survival rate depended nonlinearly on nest age, this effect showing different directions in different years. In some years, the mean daily air temperature rendered a significant impact on the nest daily survival rate.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank the Organizing Committee of the First All-Russian Ornithological Congress for the offer to write an article for the thematic issue of the Zoological Journal. Field research in the Russkii Sever National Park would have been impossible without the comprehensive assistance and support of the management of Russkii Sever National Park—in particular, A.L. Kuznetsov and L.V. Kuznetsov. Invaluable assistance in the search and control of whinchat and booted warbler nests at the field station was provided by employees and students of the Department of Zoology and Ecology of Moscow State Pedagogical University—primarily, T.M. Vaytina, S.E. Fedotova, D.V. Fedchuk, T.V. Makarova, S.V. Samsonov, A.V. Grabovskii, M.V. Mikhailova, V.V. Volkova, S.Yu. Novikova, A.G. Antonova, and E.V. Galkina.

Funding

The study was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (13-04-00745, 16-04-01383 and 19-04-01043).

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  1. Moscow Pedagogical State University, 129278, Moscow, Russia

    D. A. Shitikov

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Shitikov, D.A. Nest Survival of Open-Nesting Passerines: Species Differences, Temporal Variability, and the Impact of Weather Conditions. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 48 (Suppl 1), S74–S84 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359021140168

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