A field guide for aging passerine nestlings using growth data and predictive modeling

Background:Accurate nestling age is valuable for studies on nesting strategies,productivity,and impacts on repro-ductive success.Most aging guides consist of descriptions and photographs that are time consuming to read and subjective to interpret.The Western Bluebird(Sialia mexicana)is a secondary cavity-nesting passerine that nests in coniferous and open deciduous forests.Nest box programs for cavity-nesting species have provided suitable nesting locations and opportunities for data collection on nestling growth and development.Methods:We developed models for predicting the age of Western Bluebird nestlings from morphometric meas-urements using model training and validation.These were developed for mass,tarsus,and two different culmen measurements.Results:Our models were accurate to within less than a day,and each model worked best for a specific age range.The mass and tarsus models can be used to estimate the ages of Western Bluebird nestlings 0-10 days old and were accurate to within 0.5 days for mass and 0.7 days for tarsus.The culmen models can be used to estimate ages of nest-lings 0-15 days old and were also accurate to within less than a day.The daily mean,minimum,and maximum values of each morphometric measurement are provided and can be used in the field for accurate nestling age estimations in real time.Conclusions:The model training and validation procedures used here demonstrate that this method can create aging models that are highly accurate.The methods can be applied to any passerine species provided sufficient nest-ling morphometric data are available.

Acorn size and tolerance to seed predators:the multiple roles of acorns as food for seed predators,fruit for dispersal and fuel for growth

Fitness of parents and offspring is affected by offspring size.In oaks(Quercus spp.),acorns vary considerably in size across,and within,species.Seed size influences dispersal and establishment of oaks,but it is not known whether size imparts tolerance to seed predators.Here,we examine the relative extent to which cotyledon size serves as both a means for sustaining partial consumption and energy reserves for developing seedlings during early stages of establishment.Acorns of 6 oak species were damaged to simulate acorn predation by vertebrate and invertebrate seed predators.Seedling germination/emergence and growth rates were used to assess seedling performance.We predicted that if cotyledons are important for dispersal,acorns should show tolerance to partial seed consumption.Alternatively,if the cotyledon functions primarily as an energy reserve,damage should significantly influence seedling performance.Acorns of each species germinated and produced seedlings even after removing>50%of the cotyledon.Seed mass explained only some of the variation in performance.Within species,larger acorns performed better than smaller acorns when damaged.Undamaged acorns performed as well or better than damaged acorns.There was no pattern among individual species with increasing amounts of damage.In some species,simulated invertebrate damage resulted in the poorest performance,suggesting alternative strategies of oaks to sustain damage.Large cotyledons in acorns may be important for attracting seed dispersers and sustaining partial damage,while also providing energy to young seedlings.Success of oak establishment may follow from the resilience of acorns to sustain damage at an early stage.

Does multiple seed loading in Blue Jays result in selective dispersal of smaller acorns?

Studies from both tropical and temperate systems show that scatter-hoarding rodents selectively disperse larger seeds farther from their source than smaller seeds,potentially increasing seedling establishment in larger-seeded plants.Size-biased dispersal is evident in many oaks(Quercus)and is true both across and within species.Here,we predict that intraspecifc variation in seed size also influences acorn dispersal by the Blue Jay(Cyanocitta cristata Linnaeus),but in an opposite manner.Blue Jays are gape-limited and selectively disperse smaller acorn species(e.g.pin oaks[Quercus palustris Münchh]),but often carry several acorns in their crop during a single dispersal event.We predict that jays foraging on smaller acorns will load more seeds per trip and disperse seeds to greater distances than when single acorns are carried in the bill.To test this,we presented free-ranging Blue Jays with pin oak acorns of different sizes over a 2-year period.In each of 16 experimental trials,we monitored the birds at a feeding station with remote cameras and determined the number of acorns removed and the distance acorns were dispersed when cached.Jays were significantly more likely to engage in multiple seed loading with smaller seeds in both years of the study.During the second year,these smaller acorns were dispersed farther than larger acorns,and during the first year,larger acorns were dispersed farther,revealing an inconsistent response to seed size during our study.We suggest that in some circumstances,multiple seed loading by Blue Jays may favor dispersal in some plant species.