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Population Dynamics and Migration Routes of Tree Swallows, Tachycineta Bicolor, in North America

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Population Dynamics and Migration Routes of Tree Swallows, Tachycineta Bicolor, in North America J. Field Ornithol., 59(4):395-402 POPULATION DYNAMICS AND MIGRATION ROUTES OF TREE SWALLOWS, TACHYCINETA BICOLOR, IN NORTH AMERICA ROBERT W. BUTLER Canadian Wildlife Service Box $dO Delta, British Columbia, VdK $Y$, Canada and EcologyGroup Departmentof Zoology Universityof British Columbia Vancouver, British Columbia V6T ?W5, Canada Abstract.--Band recoveriesand published accountsindicate that 79.1% of Tree Swallows (Tachycinetabicolor) die in their first year and 60.3% in eachsubsequent year. Tree Swallows live an averageof 2.7 yr. The net reproductiverate (R0) is 0.701 females/yr.At that rate a femalethat raisesan average-sizedbrood in eachbreeding year more than replacesherself in an averagelife span.However, a secondyear (SY) femalethat fails to breedmust raise an average-sizedbrood in each of the next three years to replace herself, but few females live that long. Tree Swallowsuse three migration routeseast of the Rockies:(1) eastcoast and Great Lake populationsmigrate along the easternseaboard to Florida, the Caribbean and Central America; (2) Canadian prairie and mid-west USA populationsfollow the Mississippidrainage basin to the Gulf Coast statesand Central America;(3) populations alongthe eastside of the Rockiesmigrate due southinto Mexico. Migration routesof western populationsare unknown,but a residentpopulation may exist in southernCalifornia. DINJ•MICA DE POBLACIONES Y RUTAS DE MIGRACI6N DE TACHYCINETA BICOLOR EN NORTE AMERICA Rcsumcn.--Tanto la litcratura como cl rccobrodc anillas indican quc cl 79.1% dc los individuosdc Tachycinetabicolor mucrcn durante cl primer afio y cl 60.3% cn aftossubsi- guicntcs.En promcdiocstas aves duran 2.7 aftos.La taza ncta rcproductivadc la cspccic (R0) cs dc 0.71 hcmbras/afio.A csta taza rcproductiva,una hcmbra quc cric una camada dc tamafio promcdiodurante susaftos dc vida, producirauna pcqucfiamayor cantidaddc individuosquc su rcmplazo. Sin embargo,una hcmbra dc dos aftos (SY) quc falle en rcproducirsc,dcbc criar una camadadc tamafio promcdiodurante los proximostrcs aftos para podcr scr rcmplazada. No obstantclas hcmbras pot lo general no duran tanto ticmpo. Estasgolondrinas utilizan trcsrutas dc migraci6nal cstcdc las Rocallosas.Las poblaci6ncs dc la costacstc y cl Gran Lago migran a lo largo dcl bordccstc costcrno dc la Florida, cl Caribc y America Ccntral. Las poblaci6ncsdc la pradcra canadicnscy cl mcdianoocstc nortcamcricano,sigucn la ruta dcl Mississippihasta los cstadosdcl golfo y prosiguchacia America Ccntral. Las avesal cstcdc las Rocallosasmigran hacia cl sur hastaMexico. Las rutasdc migraci•n dc las poblaci•ncsdcl ocstcson dcsconocidas, aunquc al surdc California cs probablequc cxistauna poblaci•nrcsidcntc. The Tree Swallow(Tachycineta bicolor) is a ubiquitousbreeding species of temperateNorth American (AOU 1983). Its breedingbehavior has receivedmuch attention (e.g., Chapman 1935, 1939, 1955; De Steven 1978; Forbush 1929; Harris 1979; Kuerzi 1941) and severalauthors have examinedthe rate of return of banded swallows(e.g., Chapman 1955; Houston and Houston 1987; Low 1933, 1934). However, I know of no 395 396] R.W. Butler j. FieldOrnithol. Aufumn 1988 studiesthat have describedthe demographicsand migration pattern of the Tree Swallow acrossits range in North America. METHODS The data used in this paper came mostly from band recoveryrecords collectedbetween 1929 and 1984 by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and publishedaccounts of the breedingbiology of the Tree Swallowacross North America. A first-year (HY) mortality estimatewas derivedfrom the proportionof banded nestlingsthat survivedfrom the date of nest departureto the beginningof the next breedingseason (1 Apr.). Too few recoverieswere availableto derivea mortality estimatefor swallowsolder than 12 mo (AHY). Instead I used the average(39.7%) percentageof adults that returned to their breeding site each year from two long term studies(Chapman 1955, Houston and Houston 1987) to derive a con- servativeestimate of annual adult mortality. I assumedthat adult mortality rates were similar in subsequentyears. These data were then used to constructa vertical life table and net reproductiverate. A vertical life table estimatesthe age structureof a population at a point in time and assumesthat the populationis constantand recruitmentand mortality ratesare equal (Moss,Watson, and Ollason1982). The net reproductive rate (Re) is a statisticof the number of female offspringproduced by a cohortof femalesthrough their life span or: •o Re= • lxmx (1) 0 where 1xis the probabilityof survivingto year x and mx is the number of femaleoffspring produced per breedingfemale in year x (Krebs 1972). The number of female offspring that fledged per successfulbreeding attempt was estimatedfrom the reproductiveefficiency of adult females (ASY) in 13 studiesacross North America. Females that breed in their secondyear (SY) are lessfecund than older (ASY) femalesso I useda valueof 1.94 femaleoffspring produced by SY females(De Steven1978). Migration routes were determined from recoveriesof banded birds during the non-breedingseason (1 Aug.-31 Mar.). Some swallowsthat died during the breeding seasoncould have been recoveredlater in the yearnear their nests.To separatethese records from thoseof true migrants I arbitrarily chosea boundaryof two degreeblocks (120 km) as a dividing line beyondwhich recordswere consideredto be from migratingswallows. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Causesof mortality.--There were 802,662 Tree Swallows banded as nestlingsor adultsby 31 May 1984 and 293 recoveriesin which the cause of deathwas reported.Sixty swallows(20.5%), of which 23 were in their first year of life (HY), were caught by other birds. Fifty-four (18.4%) died on highwaysor in collisions.The remaining 179 (61.1%) causesof death includedbeing shot,caught by rodents,cats and dogs,trapped in buildings,electric shock, entanglements, and unspecifiedinjuries. Vol.59, ?40.4 PopulationDynamics, Migration ofSwallows [397 T^BLE1. Percentageof Tree Swallowsbanded as nestlings and adultsthat were recaptured at the bandingsite one year later. Percentrecaptured Banding location Nestlings Adults Reference Pennsylvania 5.4 51.3 Stahura 1982 New Jersey 3.1 39.6 Chapman 1955 Massachusetts 12.0 34.0 Low 1933 Connecticut -- 26.7 Kuerzi 1941 Alberta 1.3 13.7 Pinel 1980 Saskatchewan 0.8 12.8 Houston and Houston 1987 Mortality estimates.--Of320 recoveriesfrom swallowsbanded as nest- lings that successfullyleft the nest, 253 (79.1%) occurredin their first year of life (HY code).Fewer bandswere recoveredfrom second-year (SY) (n = 2, 0.6%) and older (ASY) birds (n = 65, 20.3%). To examinewhether the estimateof 79.1% mortality in the first year of life is a reasonableapproximation of mortality I examined the per- centageof banded nestlingsreported to have returned one year later, acrossthe Tree Swallow's range (Table 1). Two authors have shown that mostsurviving nestlings return to their natal sitethe followingyear (Cohen 1981, Houstonand Houston 1987). Bandingdata showedthat only 37 of 1479 (2.5%) SY femalesrecovered dead or alive during the breedingseason occurred more than 10 km from their bandingsite. This result partly reflectsthe distributionof bird banders,but also supports Cohen's(1981) and Houstonand Houston's(1987) findings.Therefore, the recapturepercentages should approximate, but not exceedthe survivai estimate.For nestlings,those estimates ranged from 0.8 to 12.0% (Table 1) all below the band recoveryestimate of 20.9%. The recapture values for adults also varied from site to site (Table 1) and betweenyears (Chapman 1955, Houston and Houston 1987). Two longterm studies(Chapman 1955, Houstonand Houston1987) spanning 14 and 17 yr, respectively,had very similar meanrates of return by adults one year after banding. Chapman (1955) found a mean of 39.7% for all bandedadults that returnedthe followingyear and Houstonand Houston (1987) found a value of 38.7%. These values indicate that annual adult mortality is about 61%, nearly three times the value estimatedfrom band recoverydata (SY + ASY = 0.6% + 20.3% = 20.9%). The reasonfor this discrepancyis unclear exceptthat very few recoveriesoccurred in the winter quarterswhere presumablymost adult mortality takesplace. Recapturerates and annual survivalestimates of other speciesof swal- lows also vary betweenyears but approximatemy estimatesfor Tree Swallows. For example, return rates of adult Cliff Swallows (Hirundo pyrrhonota)ranged from 27% (Sikesand Arnold 1984) to 50% (Mayhew 1958). Estimatesof Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia) annual survivales- timates from band recoverydata were 35-40% for adults and 20-23% 398] R.W. Butler J.Field Ornithol. Autumn 1988 TABLE2. Vertical life table for the Tree Swallow beginningwith 1000 individuals. Number alive at Number dying Year start of year in the year Mortality rate 0 1000 791 0.791 1 209 126 0.603 2 83 50 0.603 3 33 20 0.603 4 13 8 0.603 5 5 3 0.603 6 2 I 0.603 7 I I 1.000 for juveniles(Hardwood and Harrison 1977, Mead 1979). The survival estimatesfor Barn Swallows(H. rustica)were 43% for adults (Henny 1972) and 35% for juveniles (Samuel 1971). Survival estimatesbased upon the number of marked birds that return to the banding site underestimatethe true survivalvalue becausethey fail to account for birds that survived, but bred elsewhere. However, Cohen( 1981), Chapman( 1955), and Houstonand Houston( 1987) showed that althougha small number of SY femalesbred in nearby populations they nested closerto their natal sites in succeedingyears, sometimes reoccupyingthe nest box where they were raised.
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