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Models of climate change predict that its effects on animal populations will not always be negative, but most studies indicate negative associations between changes in climate and the phenology of animal migration and reproduction. For some populations, however, climate change may render particular environments more favourable, with positive effects on population growth. We used a 30‐year population...
There is considerable interest in understanding how management may help species and populations cope with climate change (climate change adaptation). I used a population model describing the demography of a southern range‐margin European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria population vulnerable to climate change to assess the potential benefits associated with site‐based adaptation management. Two forms...
The morph ratio distribution in polymorphic species often varies clinally, with a gradual change in morph ratios across the distributional range of the species. In polymorphic bird populations, clinal variation is rarely quantified. We describe a cline in the morph ratios of Black Sparrowhawks across South Africa, which is principally driven by a higher ratio of dark morph birds in the newly colonized...
We used GPS data‐loggers, video‐recordings and dummy eggs to assess whether foraging needs may force the low incubation attentiveness (< 55%) of the Crab Plover Dromas ardeola, a crab‐eating wader of the Indian Ocean that nests colonially in burrows. The tidal cycle was the major determinant of the time budget and some foraging trips were more distant from the colony than previously known (up to...
Climate change elevates conservation concerns worldwide because it is likely to exacerbate many identified threats to animal populations. In recent decades, grassland birds have declined faster than other North American bird species, a loss thought to be due to habitat loss and fragmentation and changing agricultural practices. Climate change poses additional threats of unknown magnitude to these...
Climate may influence the distribution and abundance of a species through a number of demographic and ecological processes, but the proximate drivers of such responses are only recently being identified. The Ethiopian Bush‐crow Zavattariornis stresemanni is a starling‐like corvid that is restricted to a small region of southern Ethiopia. It is classified as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of globally...
In some tropical birds, breeding seasonality is weak at the population level, even where there are predictable seasonal peaks in environmental conditions. It therefore remains unclear whether individuals are adapted to breeding at specific times of the year or flexible to variable environmental conditions. We tested whether the relative year‐round breeding activity of the Common Bulbul Pycnonotus barbatus...
Local weather can influence the growth and development of young birds either indirectly, by modifying prey availability, or directly, by affecting energetic trade‐offs. Such effects can have lasting implications for life history traits, but the nature of these effets may vary with the developmental stage of the birds, and over timescales from days to weeks. We examined the interactive effects of temperature,...
Global anthropogenic changes are significantly impacting the ecology and evolution of many species. Among temperate taxa, changes to reproductive phenology as a result of warming springs are apparent. However, how such responses to abiotic change interact with biotic impacts resulting from human management interventions are less clear. Here we examine the response of a range of breeding metrics (laying...
Climate change and associated changes in weather patterns have globally widespread effects on natural systems. Shifts in phenology can affect the reproductive success of birds by causing a mismatch between the onset of breeding and favourable conditions for reproduction, such as a peak in food availability. Weather conditions and their changes have also long been discussed as affecting the reproductive...
Embryonic vocalizations in birds may enable communication between embryos and incubating parents but responses of parents to embryonic vocalizations have not been measured experimentally. In two ground‐nesting shorebirds, we compare parental care of eggs without embryonic vocalizations, those with natural embryonic vocalizations, and those in which we experimentally introduced embryonic vocalizations,...
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