Tropical winter habitat limits reproductive success on the temperate breeding grounds in a migratory bird

Identifying the factors that control population dynamics in migratory animals has been constrained by our inability to track individuals throughout the annual cycle. Using stable carbon isotopes, we show that the reproductive success of a long-distance migratory bird is influenced by the quality of habitat located thousands of kilometres away on tropical wintering grounds. For male American redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla), winter habitat quality influenced arrival date on the breeding grounds, which in turn affected key variables associated with reproduction, including the number of young fledged. Based on a winter-habitat model, females occupying high-quality winter habitat were predicted to produce more than…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: 0089565
• SI
  Smithsonian Institution
• CO
  Cooper Ornithological Society
• WO
  Wilson Ornithological Society
• SO
  Society of Canadian Ornithologists
• QU
  Queen's University
• NS
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada