NESTLING SURVIVAL AND NESTLING WEIGHTS IN THE HOUSE SPARROW AND TREE SPARROW PASSER SPP. AT OXFORD
Authors: Seel D. C. 
Published: April 2008

Nestling survival and nestling weights in P. domesticus and P. montanus were studied in 1961 and 1963–64 at Oxford. This paper concludes a study of factors influencing the reproductive rate.

Taking all losses into account, P. domesticus reared an average of 1.6 nestlings per brood (45%) and P. montanus 2.7 nestlings per brood (59%). About a third of all broods of both species failed completely to survive the nestling period. In P. domesticus these failures were most numerous in the middle part of the breeding season and are attributed to nutritional deficiencies derived from unsuitable food provided as a consequence of a seasonal food shortage, but in P. montanus complete brood failures occurred mostly in the second half of the nestling period and are attributed to predation.

43 broods of P. domesticus and one brood of P. montanus were weighed daily. Those of P. domesticus were classified as (1) successful broods—in these some nestlings died in the larger brood‐sizes, apparently through starvation; (2) long‐lived unsuccessful broods—in these the nestlings died at intervals and failure was attributed to nutritional deficiencies; and (3) short‐lived unsuccessful broods. A slight decrease in the weights of nestlings in successful broods at the end of the nestling period is attributed to the utilization of insulating fat facilitated by the completion of the feather covering. Nestlings of both species left the nest at 88–89% of the adult weight.

Taking all “successful” broods together, the percentage survival rates on nestling day 131/2 (day of hatching = day 1/2) in P. domesticus were 81–82% in b/2–3, 70% in b/4 and 56% in b/5 (a situation paralleled in this respect by P. hispaniolensis), but in P. montanus they were c. 82% in all brood‐sizes. Hence, in P. domesticus b/4 probably gave rise to the largest number of nestlings reared per brood, while in P. montanus most nestlings were produced by the largest brood‐size. Weighings of many broods on day 131/2 showed two trends in the weight of the nestlings: (1) in both species the weight of the nestling decreased as the number of survivors from each initial brood‐size decreased; (2) between successive initial brood‐sizes the weight of the nestling of P. domesticus decreased with increasing brood‐size but in P. montanus there was no change.

The losses in the larger broods of P. domesticus occurred mostly in the first half of the nestling period—apparently in association with the asynchronous hatching of the eggs and as a consequence of the limitation on the feeding frequency of the adults. Nestling survival was lowest in the larger broods in the middle of the breeding season and contrasted with the mid‐season increase in mean clutch‐size. It is suggested that in the study area there was a (possibly unnatural) shortage of food suitable for nestlings in the middle of the season.

It is suggested that in P. domesticus the unexpectedly low feeding frequencies of the adults with large broods, apparently causing their low survival rates, may be an adaptation evolved to obtain the maximum amount of food in the presence of other adults which would be attracted to a food source by higher rates of activity.

The breeding success calculated from data derived from the whole of this study was 35% for P. domesticus and 49% for P. montanus (2.9 and 3.9 nestlings per breeding pair per year respectively).

It is suggested that the population of P. domesticus was much closer to a critical limiting factor, e.g. food supply, than that of P. montanus. This may account for the striking differences between the two species in their nestling survival rates and their nestling weights in relation to brood‐size; in particular, the success of the larger broods of P. montanus may have been a temporary phenomenon.