Data for: Early life conditions influence fledging success and subsequent local recruitment rates in a declining migratory songbird, the Whinchat Saxicola rubetra

Life history traits and environmental conditions influence reproductive success in animals, and consequences of these can influence subsequent survival and recruitment into breeding populations. Understanding influences on demographic rates is required to determine the causes of decline. Migratory species experience spatially and temporally variable conditions across their annual cycle, making identifying where the factors influencing demographic rates operate challenging.
Here, we use the Whinchat Saxicola rubetra as a model declining long-distance migrant bird. We analyse 10 years of data from 247 nesting attempts and 2519 post-fledging observations of 1193 uniquely marked nestlings to examine the influence of life history traits, habitat characteristics and weather on survival of young from the nestling stage to local recruitment into the natal population.
We detected potential silver spoon effects where conditions during the breeding stage influence subsequent apparent local recrui..., Study area
Our study was conducted between 2013–2022 at RSPB Geltsdale nature reserve in the North Pennines in Cumbria, UK (54.9°N −2.6°S), which is jointly owned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Weir Trust. The survey area is an ~11km2 sub-section of the reserve comprising blanket bog, heathland and acid grassland, with an altitude of 220–440m.
Study species and field methods
Whinchats are short-lived (<8 years) Afro-Palearctic migrants, breeding in grassland habitats throughout Europe and Western Asia and migrating annually to sub-Saharan Africa for the northern winter. Whinchats are ground nesting and usually lay a single clutch of 4–7 eggs. The incubation period is 12–14 days with young provisioned by both parents for ~13 days before fledging. Young are capable of flight 3–5 days after fledging, with a further 9–15 days spent close to their natal nest while they are still dependent on their parents for food (Collar 2005, Tome & Denac 2012). Post-indepe..., Microsoft Excel
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