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Size of an interspecific competitor may be a source of information in reproductive decisions

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Listed:
  • Reetta Hämäläinen
  • Panu Välimäki
  • Jukka T Forsman

Abstract

Animals use inter-specific cues as a source of information in decisions-making, but the full costs and benefits of inter-specific information use are unknown. We tested whether pied flycatchers use the body size and clutch size of great tits as cues in their reproductive decisions and what are the possible fitness consequences as a function of great tit size. The size of great tit females associated positively with flycatcher’s probability to settle near a tit nest over a territory further away. Flycatcher egg mass was positively correlated with great tit female size regardless of flycatcher territory choice. However, in flycatchers that had chosen to nest near great tits, the size of nestlings decreased in relation to increasing great tit female size. Our results demonstrate the use of size of inter-specifics as a cue in reproductive decisions and the trade-off between the value of information and costs of competition information users face when using inter-specific information in decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Reetta Hämäläinen & Panu Välimäki & Jukka T Forsman, 2023. "Size of an interspecific competitor may be a source of information in reproductive decisions," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 34(1), pages 33-41.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:beheco:v:34:y:2023:i:1:p:33-41.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/beheco/arac094
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jukka T. Forsman & Mårten B. Hjernquist & Jenni Taipale & Lars Gustafsson, 2008. "Competitor density cues for habitat quality facilitating habitat selection and investment decisions," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 19(3), pages 539-545.
    2. Jukka T. Forsman & Robert L. Thomson & Janne-Tuomas Seppänen, 2007. "Mechanisms and fitness effects of interspecific information use between migrant and resident birds," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 18(5), pages 888-894.
    3. Deseada Parejo & Etienne Danchin & Jesús M. Avilés, 2005. "The heterospecific habitat copying hypothesis: can competitors indicate habitat quality?," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 16(1), pages 96-105, January.
    4. Juan José Sanz & Vicente García-Navas, 2011. "Nest ornamentation in blue tits: is feather carrying ability a male status signal?," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 22(2), pages 240-247.
    5. Tuomo Jaakkonen & Sami M. Kivelä & Christoph M. Meier & Jukka T. Forsman, 2015. "The use and relative importance of intraspecific and interspecific social information in a bird community," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 26(1), pages 55-64.
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