Food limits annual fecundity of a migratory songbird: An experimental study

In short-lived species, fecundity strongly influences population size. For those species with multiple breeding attempts per breeding season, variance in fecundity is best explained by the number of breeding attempts. For birds, multiple brooding may be influenced by food availability. Here, we report results of a food supplementation experiment that tests the role of food as a mechanism driving variation among individuals in the frequency of multiple brooding in a Neotropical migrant songbird, the Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens). Supplementally fed females produced more second broods, spent less time foraging and more time loafing, and stayed closer to their nests than did control females. Fed and control females did not differ in the number or mass of young fledged from the first nesting attempt. Supplemental food increased the probability that females would initiate second broods in both a low and an average food year, suggesting that this population is food limited during the breeding season in most years. Our results thus demonstrate that food availability can strongly influence annual fecundity in migratory bird species breeding in temperate forests, which, in turn, affects annual recruitment rates and population size.