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Breeding output and nest predation patterns in steppe-associated Mediterranean birds: the case of the Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris

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Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to provide exhaustive and extensive data on the breeding biology of the Mediterranean Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris. Reproduction was studied within two populations nesting in shrubsteppes in central Spain. We compared breeding parameters (including hatching success, productivity, incubation, brood failures, predation rates, clutch and brood size) between study areas, and among years within each area. Our results suggest that Tawny Pipit reproduction in Spanish shrubsteppes is influenced by two main related factors: timing of breeding and nest predation. We detected seasonal declines in most breeding parameters, but a mid-season peak in productivity. Although large-sized broods were detected at the beginning of the breeding season, the recruitment of these juveniles was very low due to high predation rates on early broods. Finally, our results are compared with the scarce available data from previous breeding studies from other European Tawny Pipit populations.

Zusammenfassung

Brutleistung und Nestprädationsmuster bei steppegebundenen Vögeln des Mittelmeerraums: der Fall des Brachpiepers Anthus campestris

Der Hauptzweck dieser Studie war es, vollständige und umfassende Daten zur Brutbiologie mediterraner Brachpieper Anthus campestris bereitzustellen. Die Fortpflanzung wurde in zwei Populationen, die in Strauchsteppe in Zentralspanien nisten, untersucht. Wir haben Brutparameter (einschließlich Schlupferfolg, Produktivität, Bebrütung, Brutverluste, Prädationsraten, Gelege- und Brutgrößen) zwischen den Untersuchungsgebieten sowie innerhalb der Untersuchungsgebiete zwischen verschienenden Jahren verglichen. Unsere Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Fortpflanzung von Brachpiepern in spanischen Strauchsteppen von zwei Hauptfaktoren beeinflusst wird: Zeitpunkt des Brütens und Nestprädation. Wir haben ermittelt, dass die meisten Brutparameter im Verlauf der Saison abnahmen, die Produktivität jedoch in der Mitte der Saison ihren Höhepunkt erreichte. Obwohl zu Beginn der Brutsaison große Bruten erfasst wurden, waren die Rekrutierungsraten für diese Jungvögel sehr niedrig, da frühe Bruten einem hohen Prädationsrisiko ausgesetzt waren. Schließlich vergleichen wir unsere Ergebnisse mit den wenigen verfügbaren Daten aus früheren Brutstudien in anderen europäischen Brachpieperpopulationen.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by JCCM projects (PAC06-0137 and PII1C09-0128-4724) and CSIC-MICINN project (PIE 201030I019). M.C.-R. was supported by a predoctoral grant (I3P) from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC). We are grateful to the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha for capture licenses, the landowners of Layna and Valeria, I. Hervás and J. Hernández-Justribó for their help during the fieldwork. A. Benitez, B. Frasure and Sally Bach checked the language in different versions of the manuscript. This paper is dedicated to the memory of our beloved colleague F. Suárez (“Quico”).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13005, Ciudad Real, Spain

    María Calero-Riestra & Jesús T. García

  2. Dpto. de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma, c/Darwin, 2, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Jesús Herranz & Francisco Suárez

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  1. María Calero-Riestra
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  2. Jesús T. García
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  3. Jesús Herranz
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  4. Francisco Suárez
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Correspondence to María Calero-Riestra.

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Communicated by P. H. Becker.

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Calero-Riestra, M., García, J.T., Herranz, J. et al. Breeding output and nest predation patterns in steppe-associated Mediterranean birds: the case of the Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris . J Ornithol 154, 289–298 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-012-0893-4

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