Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Hatching Date Influences Winter Habitat Occupancy: Examining Seasonal Interactions Across The Full Annual Cycle In A Migratory Songbird, Michael E. Akresh, David I. King, Peter P. Marra

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Birds experience a sequence of critical events during their life cycle, and past events can subsequently determine future performance via carry-over effects. Events during the non-breeding season may influence breeding season phenology or productivity. Less is understood about how events during the breeding season affect individuals subsequently in their life cycle. Using stable carbon isotopes, we examined carry-over effects throughout the annual cycle of prairie warblers (Setophaga discolor), a declining Nearctic-Neotropical migratory passerine bird. In drier winters, juvenile males that hatched earlier at our study site in Massachusetts, USA, occupied wetter, better-quality winter habitat in the Caribbean, as indicated by …