Abstract
Abstract Despite nest predation being the most common cause of breeding failure in open-nesting birds, we have little insight into the cues used by nest predators when they search for nests. So far we have assumed that nest-predating birds are visually oriented while mammal predators to a large extent use scent and auditory cues like nestling begging calls. To evaluate how important nestling begging calls are for corvid nest predators searching for nests, I used artificial nests, which made it possible to find the real costs of the begging without mitigation by parental and nestling behavior. I used paired artificial nests, one with and one without nestling begging call playback. Within 10 days, 62.9% of the nests were predated. The analyses showed that nests with begging calls suffered a significantly higher predation rate than nests without begging calls, especially when the nests were placed close to corvid nests. Moreover, nests with begging calls were predated significantly earlier than nests without begging calls. In artificial nest pairs with both nests predated but on different days, nests with begging calls were predated first. In nest pairs with only one predated nest, nests with begging calls were predated most often. This experiment shows that nestling begging calls imply a cost in terms of increased and earlier nest predation, and that corvids use nestling begging calls as a cue to find and depredate bird nests, challenging earlier expectations.
Highlights
Nest predation is the most common cause of breeding failure in many bird species, and can be responsible for 80% or more of the losses (Nolan, 1963; Ricklefs, 1969; Gates & Gysel, 1978; Martin, 1993a, b; Hewitt et al, 2001)
P = 0.052 P = 0.131 P = 0.098 P = 0.010. The results of this artificial nest experiment clearly show that there is a cost to nestling begging calls
The nest predation risk increased and the time lapse until nest predation decreased with nestling begging call playback compared with similar nests without playback
Summary
Nest predation is the most common cause of breeding failure in many bird species, and can be responsible for 80% or more of the losses (Nolan, 1963; Ricklefs, 1969; Gates & Gysel, 1978; Martin, 1993a, b; Hewitt et al, 2001). This implies a reduction in fecundity, which is the primary demographic parameter influenc-. Despite the fact that nestling begging calls seem to increase predation rate on individual nests, there is little evidence that nest predation influences population dynamics in passerines (Madden et al, 2015)
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