Weather impacts on interactions between nesting birds, nest-dwelling ectoparasites and ants.

ABSTRACT: Weather has a dominant impact on organisms, including their life histories and interspecific interactions. Yet, for nesting birds, and the arthropods inhabiting bird nests, the direct and cascading effects of weather are poorly known. We explored the influence of ambient temperatures and rainfall on the cohabitation of dome-shaped bird nests by Wood Warblers Phylloscopus sibilatrix, their blowfly Protocalliphora azurea ectoparasites, and predatory Myrmica and Lasius ants that may provide nest sanitation. We sampled blowflies and ants in 129 nests, and measured warbler nestlings during 2018-2020 in the primeval Białowieża Forest, eastern Poland. The probability of ectoparasites occurring in nests increased with increasing ambient temperatures and declining precipitation in the early nestlin

SUBMITTER: Maziarz M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9596701 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature