The potential function of post-fledging dispersal behavior in first breeding territory selection for males of a migratory bird.

ABSTRACT: One possible hypothesis for the function of post-fledging dispersal is to locate a suitable future breeding area. This post-fledging period may be particularly important in migratory species because they have a limited period to gather information prior to autumn migration, and in protandrous species, males must quickly acquire a territory after returning from spring migration to maximize their fitness. Here we use color-ring resightings to investigate how the post-fledging dispersal movements of the Cyprus wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca, a small migratory passerine, relate to their first breeding territory the following year when they return from migration. We found that males established first breeding territories that were significantly closer to their post-fledging location than to

SUBMITTER: Patchett R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9892789 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature