Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Surface temperatures of non-incubated eggs in great tits (Parus major) are strongly associated with ambient temperature

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Biometeorology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Temperature is one of the best investigated environmental factors in ecological life-history studies and is increasingly considered in the contexts of climate change and urbanization. In avian ecology, few studies have examined the associations between thermal dynamics in the nest environment and its neighbouring air. Here, we placed avian nests and non-incubated eggs inside nest boxes at various air temperatures that ranged from 0.3 to 33.1 °C, both in the field and in laboratory conditions. We measured how the design of the boxes, their compass orientation and their location in more or less urbanized environments affected the surface temperature of nests and eggs. We also assessed whether covering the eggs with lining material influenced their surface temperature. Overall, across all performed tests, we found that the surface temperature of nests and eggs strongly reflected the air temperature measured outside of the nest boxes. While the design of the nest boxes had little influence on the temperature of nests and eggs, orienting the nest boxes to the north or to the west significantly decreased their surface temperature. The presence of lining material also kept eggs slightly warmer when air temperatures were low. Altogether these results suggest that non-incubated eggs are not well protected against extreme air temperatures prior to the onset of incubation. From an evolutionary point of view, producers of ectotherm eggs need therefore to time egg-laying appropriately in order to avoid unfavourable thermal nest environments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andreasson F, Nord A, Nilsson J-A (2018) Experimentally increased nest temperature affects body temperature, growth and apparent survival in blue tit nestlings. J Avian Biol e01620. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.01620

  • Baker JR (1938) The evolution of breeding seasons. In: De Beer GR (ed) Evolution: essays on aspects of evolutionary biology. Oxford University Press, London, pp 161–177

    Google Scholar 

  • Blondel J, Thomas DW, Charmantier A, Perret P, Bourgault P, Lambrechts MM (2006) A thirty-year study of phenotypic and genetic variation of blue tits in Mediterranean habitat mosaics. BioScience 56:661–673

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bornstein RD (1968) Observations of the urban heat island effect in New York City. J Appl Meteorol 7(4):575–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Britt J, Deeming DC (2011) First-egg date and air temperature affect nest construction in blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus, but not in great tits Parus major. Bird Study 58:78–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper CB, Voss MA (2013) Avian incubation patterns reflect temporal changes in developing clutches. PLoS One 8(6):e65521. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065521

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper CB, Hochachka WM, Butcher G, Dhondt AA (2005) Seasonal and latitudinal trends in clutch size: thermal constraints during laying and incubation. Ecology 86:2018–2031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crossman CA, Rohwer VG, Martin PR (2011) Variation in the structure of bird nests between Northern Manitoba and Southeastern Ontario. PLoS One 6(4):e19086. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019086

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cruz Á, Álvarez A, Barba E (2016) Nest insulation capacity during incubation and after fledgling are related. Avian Biol Res 9:22–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deeming DC, Mainwaring MC (2015) Functional properties of nests. In: Deeming DC, Reynolds SJ (eds) Nests, eggs, and incubation: new ideas about avian reproduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 29–49

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Deeming DC, Reynold SJ (2015) Nests, eggs, and incubation: new ideas about avian reproduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Deeming DC, Mainwaring MC, Hartley IR, Reynolds SJ (2012) Local temperature and not latitude determines the design of blue tit and great tit nests. Avian Biol Res 5:203–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demeyrier V, Lambrechts MM, Perret P, Grégoire A (2016) Experimental demonstration of an ecological trap for a wild bird in a man-transformed environment. Anim Behav 118:181–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dhondt AA, Eykerman R, Hublé J (1983) Laying interruptions in tits Parus spp. Ibis 125:370–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond SE, Martin RA (2020) Evolutionary consequences of the urban heat island. In: Szulkin M, Munshi-South J, Charmantier A (eds) Urban evolutionary biology. Oxford University Press, Oxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198836841.003.0006

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gaughan JB, Lees AM, Sejian V (2017) Sixty years of animal biometeorology. Int J Biometeol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-017-1459-1

  • Gibb J (1950) The breeding biology of the great and blue titmice. Ibis 92:507–539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gil D, Brumm H (2014) Avian urban ecology. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Glądalski M, Bańbura M, Kaliński A, Markowski M, Skwarska J, Wawrzyniak J, Zieliński Z, Bańbura J (2018) Hatching delays in great tits and blue tits in response to an extreme cold spell: a long-term study. Int J Biometeol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-018-1541-3

  • Goodenough AE, Maitland DP, Hart AG, Elliot SL (2008) Nestbox orientation: a species-specific influence on occupation and breeding success in woodland passerines. Bird Study 55:222–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hafthorn S (1981) Incubation during the egg-laying period in relation to clutch-size and other aspects of reproduction in the great tit Parus major. Ornis Scand 12:169–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison C (1982) An atlas of the birds of the Western Palaearctic. Collins, London 322 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Heenan CB, Goodman BA, White CR (2015) The influence of climate on avian nest construction across large geographic gradients. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 24:1203–1211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imhoff ML, Zhang P, Wolfe RE, Bounoua L (2010) Remote sensing of the urban heat island effect across biomes in the continental USA. Remote Sens Environ 114:504–513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2009.10.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC Report on Climate Change (2014) Synthesis Report. In: Core Writing Team, Pachauri RK, Meyer LA (eds) Contribution of working groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC, Geneva 151 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Kluijver HN (1950) Daily routines of the great tit, Parus m. major L. Ardea 38:99–135

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambrechts MM, Adriaensen F, Ardia DR, Artemyev A, Atiénzar F, Bańbura J, Barba E, Bouvier J-C, Camprodon J, Cooper CB, Dawson RD, Eens M, Eeva T, Faivre B, Garamszegi LZ, Goodenough AE, Gosler AG, Grégoire A, Griffith SC, Gustafsson L, Scott Johnson L, Kania W, Keišs O, Llambias PE, Mainwaring MC, Mänd R, Massa B, Mazgajski TD, Møller AP, Moreno J, Naef-Daenzer B, Nilsson J-A, Norte AC, Orell M, Otter KA, Park CR, Perrins CM, Pinowski J, Porkert J, Potti J, Remeš V, Richner H, Rytkönen S, Shiao M-T, Silverin B, Slagsvold T, Smith HG, Sorace A, Stenning MJ, Stewart I, Thompson CF, Török J, Tryjanowski P, van Noordwijk AJ, Winkler DW, Ziane N (2010) The design of artificial nestboxes for the study of secondary hole-nesting birds: a review of methodological inconsistencies and potential biases. Acta Ornithol 45:1–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambrechts MM, Aimé C, Midamegbe A, Galan M-J, Perret P, Grégoire A, Doutrelant C (2012) Nest size and breeding success in first and replacement clutches: an experimental study in blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus. J Ornithol 153:173–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambrechts MM, Charmantier A, Demeyrier V, Lucas A, Perret S, Abouladzé M, Bonnet M, Canonne C, Faucon V, Grosset S, le Prado G, Lidon F, Noell T, Pagano P, Perret V, Pouplard S, Spitaliéry R, Bernard C, Perret P, Blondel J, Grégoire A (2017) Nest design in a changing world: great tit Parus major nests from a Mediterranean city environment as a case study. Urban Ecosyst 20:1181–1190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-017-0670-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mainwaring MC, Hartley IR, Bearhop S, Brulez K, du Feu CR, Murphy G, Plummer KE, Webber SL, Reynolds SJ, Deeming DC (2012) Latitudinal variation in blue tit and great tit nest characteristics indicates environmental adjustment. J Biogeogr 39:1669–1677

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mainwaring MC, Hartley IR, Lambrechts MM, Deeming DC (2014) The design and function of birds’ nests. Ecol Evol 20:3909–3928

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mainwaring MC, Barber I, Deeming DC, Pike DA, Roznik EA, Hartley IR (2017) Climate change and nesting behaviour in vertebrates: a review of the ecological threats and potential for adaptive responses. Biol Rev 92:1991–2002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maziarz M, Broughton RK, Wesołowski T (2017) Microclimate in tree cavities and nest-boxes: implications for hole-nesting birds. For Ecol Manag 389:306–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meijer T, Nienaber U, Langer U, Trillmich F (1999) Temperature and timing of egg-laying of European starlings. Condor 101:124–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nager RG, Noordwijk van AJ (1992) Energetic limitation in the egg-laying period of great tits. Proc R Soc B 249:259–263

  • Nord A, Nilsson J-A (2012) Context-dependent costs of incubation in the pied flycatcher. Anim Behav 84:427–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pendlebury CJ, Bryant DM (2005) Night-time behaviour of egg-laying tits. Ibis 147:342–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perrins CM (1979) British tits. Collins, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaper SV, Dawson A, Sharp PJ, Gienapp P, Caro SP, Visser ME (2011) Increasing temperature, not mean temperature, is a cue for avian timing of reproduction. Am Nat 179:E55–E69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seress G, Liker A (2015) Habitat urbanization and its effects on birds. Acta Zool Acad Sci Hung 61(4):373–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Surgey J, du Feu CR, Deeming DC (2012) Opportunistic use of a wool-like artificial material as lining of tit (Paridae) nests. Condor 114:385–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Visser ME, Both C, Lambrechts MM (2004) Global climate change leads to mistimed avian reproduction. Adv Ecol Res 35:89–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkin TA, Perrins CM, Sheldon BC (2007) The use of GIS in estimating spatial variation in habitat quality: a case study of lay-date in the great tit Parus major. Ibis 149:110–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the city of Montpellier, the University of Montpellier, OSU-OREME, and the Mediterranean Centre for Environment and Biodiversity (LabEx CeMEB). Nicolas Lambrechts helped with monitoring. We thank Arnaud Grégoire, Stéphanie Grosset, Thierry Noell, Pascal Pagano, Vincent Perret and Gilles Tessier for their logistic support. We thank three anonymous reviewers for their very constructive comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive CEFE, UMR 5175, Campus CNRS, Université de Montpellier, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier, EPHE, 1919 route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    Marcel M. Lambrechts, Aude E. Caizergues, Anne Charmantier & Samuel P. Caro

  2. Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations UMR CBGP, INRAE, CIRAD, IRD, Montpellier SupAgro, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Charles Perrier

Authors
  1. Marcel M. Lambrechts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Aude E. Caizergues
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Charles Perrier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Anne Charmantier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Samuel P. Caro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marcel M. Lambrechts.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 57 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lambrechts, M.M., Caizergues, A.E., Perrier, C. et al. Surface temperatures of non-incubated eggs in great tits (Parus major) are strongly associated with ambient temperature. Int J Biometeorol 64, 1767–1775 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-020-01958-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-020-01958-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation