Rainy springs linked to poor nestling growth in a declining avian aerial insectivore ( Tachycineta bicolor).

ABSTRACT: As species shift their ranges and phenology to cope with climate change, many are left without a ready supply of their preferred food source during critical life stages. Food shortages are often assumed to be driven by reduced total food abundance, but here we propose that climate change may cause short-term food shortages for foraging specialists without affecting overall food availability. We frame this hypothesis around the special case of birds that forage on flying insects for whom effects mediated by their shared food resource have been proposed to cause avian aerial insectivores' decline worldwide. Flying insects are inactive during cold, wet or windy conditions, effectively reducing food availability to zero even if insect abundance remains otherwise unchanged. Using long-term moni

SUBMITTER: Cox AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6458330 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature