Age-dependent diet choice in an avian top predator
Age-dependent breeding performance is arguably one of the best-documented phenomena in ornithology. The existence of age-related trends has major implications for life-history theory, but the proximate reasons for these patterns remain poorly understood. It has been proposed that poor breeding perfo...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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ftunstandrewcris:oai:risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/45ee7f2a-412d-4c53-8224-be620bf74d78 2023-05-15T13:00:32+02:00 Age-dependent diet choice in an avian top predator Rutz, C Whittingham, MJ Newton, I 2006-03-07 https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/agedependent-diet-choice-in-an-avian-top-predator(45ee7f2a-412d-4c53-8224-be620bf74d78).html https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3353 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Rutz , C , Whittingham , MJ & Newton , I 2006 , ' Age-dependent diet choice in an avian top predator ' , Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , vol. 273 , no. 1586 , pp. 579-586 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3353 Accipiter gentilis age-dependent foraging proficiency delayed maturation and breeding fitness life-history theory northern goshawk GOSHAWKS ACCIPITER-GENTILIS REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS EUROPEAN BLACKBIRDS BIRDS SPARROWHAWKS PERFORMANCE SELECTION SURVIVAL NISUS SIZE article 2006 ftunstandrewcris https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3353 2021-12-26T14:23:36Z Age-dependent breeding performance is arguably one of the best-documented phenomena in ornithology. The existence of age-related trends has major implications for life-history theory, but the proximate reasons for these patterns remain poorly understood. It has been proposed that poor breeding performance of young individuals might reflect lack of foraging skills. We investigated this possibility in a medium-sized, powerful raptor-the northern goshawk Accipitergentilis. Male goshawks are responsible for providing their females and their offspring with food. We hypothesized that young males may generally show poor breeding performance or even delay breeding, because they lack the experience to hunt efficiently-especially, their principal avian prey, the feral pigeon Columba livia. Our study exploited a rare 'natural experiment', the expansion phase of an urban population, where intraspecific interference was negligible and many young males bred successfully. This enabled us to examine the improvement of foraging skills in a larger sample of young individuals, and in more controlled conditions than usually possible. Using data from individually identified male breeders, we show that, consistent with our hypothesis, the proportion of pigeons in the diet increased significantly with male age, for at least the first three years of life. Other studies have shown a parallel increase in productivity, and a positive effect of a pigeon-rich diet on brood size and nestling condition, stressing the potential fitness relevance of this prey species for goshawks. Our results suggest a causal link between patterns of age-dependence in foraging ecology and reproductive performance. Furthermore, our study is, to our knowledge, the first demonstration that prey choice of breeders, which might reflect individual hunting skills, is age-dependent in a raptor. Article in Journal/Newspaper Accipiter gentilis Northern Goshawk University of St Andrews: Research Portal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 273 1586 579 586 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
topic |
Accipiter gentilis age-dependent foraging proficiency delayed maturation and breeding fitness life-history theory northern goshawk GOSHAWKS ACCIPITER-GENTILIS REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS EUROPEAN BLACKBIRDS BIRDS SPARROWHAWKS PERFORMANCE SELECTION SURVIVAL NISUS SIZE |
spellingShingle |
Accipiter gentilis age-dependent foraging proficiency delayed maturation and breeding fitness life-history theory northern goshawk GOSHAWKS ACCIPITER-GENTILIS REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS EUROPEAN BLACKBIRDS BIRDS SPARROWHAWKS PERFORMANCE SELECTION SURVIVAL NISUS SIZE Rutz, C Whittingham, MJ Newton, I Age-dependent diet choice in an avian top predator |
topic_facet |
Accipiter gentilis age-dependent foraging proficiency delayed maturation and breeding fitness life-history theory northern goshawk GOSHAWKS ACCIPITER-GENTILIS REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS EUROPEAN BLACKBIRDS BIRDS SPARROWHAWKS PERFORMANCE SELECTION SURVIVAL NISUS SIZE |
description |
Age-dependent breeding performance is arguably one of the best-documented phenomena in ornithology. The existence of age-related trends has major implications for life-history theory, but the proximate reasons for these patterns remain poorly understood. It has been proposed that poor breeding performance of young individuals might reflect lack of foraging skills. We investigated this possibility in a medium-sized, powerful raptor-the northern goshawk Accipitergentilis. Male goshawks are responsible for providing their females and their offspring with food. We hypothesized that young males may generally show poor breeding performance or even delay breeding, because they lack the experience to hunt efficiently-especially, their principal avian prey, the feral pigeon Columba livia. Our study exploited a rare 'natural experiment', the expansion phase of an urban population, where intraspecific interference was negligible and many young males bred successfully. This enabled us to examine the improvement of foraging skills in a larger sample of young individuals, and in more controlled conditions than usually possible. Using data from individually identified male breeders, we show that, consistent with our hypothesis, the proportion of pigeons in the diet increased significantly with male age, for at least the first three years of life. Other studies have shown a parallel increase in productivity, and a positive effect of a pigeon-rich diet on brood size and nestling condition, stressing the potential fitness relevance of this prey species for goshawks. Our results suggest a causal link between patterns of age-dependence in foraging ecology and reproductive performance. Furthermore, our study is, to our knowledge, the first demonstration that prey choice of breeders, which might reflect individual hunting skills, is age-dependent in a raptor. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rutz, C Whittingham, MJ Newton, I |
author_facet |
Rutz, C Whittingham, MJ Newton, I |
author_sort |
Rutz, C |
title |
Age-dependent diet choice in an avian top predator |
title_short |
Age-dependent diet choice in an avian top predator |
title_full |
Age-dependent diet choice in an avian top predator |
title_fullStr |
Age-dependent diet choice in an avian top predator |
title_full_unstemmed |
Age-dependent diet choice in an avian top predator |
title_sort |
age-dependent diet choice in an avian top predator |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/agedependent-diet-choice-in-an-avian-top-predator(45ee7f2a-412d-4c53-8224-be620bf74d78).html https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3353 |
genre |
Accipiter gentilis Northern Goshawk |
genre_facet |
Accipiter gentilis Northern Goshawk |
op_source |
Rutz , C , Whittingham , MJ & Newton , I 2006 , ' Age-dependent diet choice in an avian top predator ' , Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , vol. 273 , no. 1586 , pp. 579-586 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3353 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3353 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
273 |
container_issue |
1586 |
container_start_page |
579 |
op_container_end_page |
586 |
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1766253311901564928 |