Return rate age at first breeding and natal dispersal of Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca in central spain.

Demographic data are presented for the first time for a southern European population of Pied Flycatchers. The return rate of nestlings in both males and females is the highest reported in the literature. This could be due to differences in mortality rate, to differential degree of site-tenacity across populations, or to scarcity of available breeding habitat in the southern breeding range. More birds recruit to the breeding population from early nests and from those nestboxes frequently occupied by Pied Flycatchers, although this was not reflected in the condition or size of returning nestlings when at their nest of birth. Age at first breeding differed between the sexes, more males than females not reproducing until the second or third year of life. Natal dispersal distances were similar in both sexes and did not correlate with natal condition or hatching time. Territory quality may influence natal dispersal in males, and some long-dispersing females may risk a reproductive cost. No genetic variation in site-tenacity and natal dispersal distances is apparent in this population.

Potti J. & Montalvo S., ARDEA 79 (3): 419-428.