Register      Login
Emu Emu Society
Journal of BirdLife Australia
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > MU > MU04006
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 104(4)

Breeding ecology of Richard’s Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae) in the Snowy Mountains

C. J. Norment A C and K. Green B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Environmental Science and Biology, SUNY Brockport, Brockport, NY 14420, USA.

B National Parks and Wildlife Service, Snowy Mountains Region, PO Box 2228, Jindabyne, NSW 2627, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: cnorment@brockport.edu

Emu 104(4) 327-336 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU04006
Submitted: 27 January 2004  Accepted: 22 June 2004   Published: 16 December 2004

Abstract

We studied the breeding biology of Richard’s Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae) in the Snowy Mountains during 1979–2003; intensive field work occurred in 2000–01. In this region Richard’s Pipit is an altitudinal migrant, and its nesting cycle was affected by patterns of snowmelt and arthropod abundance. Date of first observation above winter snowline was positively related to date of last snowcover. Adults arrived in the main study area in October, and began nesting in early November, when the ground was ~50% snow-free. Many pipits apparently were double-brooded; young of first and second broods fledged when arthropod abundance was near maximum levels. Post-breeding flocking began in mid-February. Most nests were placed below shrubs ≤30 cm in height; orientation was non-random, with nest entrances 100–200° from prevailing cold fronts. Clutch size for pipits in the Snowy Mountains was 2.91 ± 0.34 (s.d.), significantly greater than for clutch size data from the Birds Australia Nest Record Scheme. In 2000–01, 54.1% of the nests (n = 41) fledged at least one young; nest survival probability was 0.636. The major cause of nesting mortality was predation (70.6% of losses). Nest success increased with increasing vegetation cover within 1 m of the nest. Differences in the breeding biology of Richard’s Pipit, compared with the alpine-breeding American Pipit (Anthus rubescens), include smaller clutch size, smaller clutch mass as a percentage of female mass, and high frequency of double-brooding. These differences may be due to the shorter duration of snowcover and the longer growing season in the alpine zone of the Snowy Mountains compared with the North American alpine, which allows for multiple breeding attempts in a single season. Given possible decreases in snow cover and duration due to predicted warming in Australian mountain areas, Richard’s Pipit represents a ‘model organism’ that could be used for a long-term study on effects of climate change on high-altitude ecosystems in the region.


Acknowledgments

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service provided permission to study pipits in Kosciuszko National Park. Pipits were banded under Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme Banding Authority No. 2408, Environment Australia. Logistical support was provided by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, and Billy and Marilyn James. Financial support was provided by the State University College of New York at Brockport. Pipit clutch-size data from the Birds Australia Nest Records Scheme were furnished by Rory Poulter, Birds Australia. Robert Palmer provided access to pipit specimens in the Australian National Wildlife Collection, Canberra. Thanks to Snowy Hydro for Spencers Creek snowcourse data. David Little supplied several nest records. Nancy Fitzsimmons and Tony Tucker helped in the field, while Melissa Norment assisted in many ways. Paul Hendricks and two anonymous reviewers commented on a draft of the manuscript.


References

Askenmo C. , and Neergaard R. (1990). Polygyny and nest predation in the Rock Pipit: do females trade male assistance against safety? In ‘Population Biology of Passerine Birds’. (Ed. J. Blondel.) pp. 331–343. NATO ASI Series, Vol. G 24. (Springer-Verlag: Berlin.)

Askenmo, C. , and Unger, U. (1986). How to be double-brooded: trends and timing of breeding performance in the Rock Pipit. Ornis Scandinavica 17, 237–244.
Barker R. D. , and Vestjens J. M. (1990). ‘The Food of Australian Birds. Part 2: Passerines.’ (CSIRO: Melbourne.)

Barrett G. , Barry S. , Cunningham R. , Poulter R. , and Silcocks A. (2004). ‘The New Atlas of Australian Birds.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.)

Batschelet E. (1981). ‘Circular Statistics in Biology’. (Academic Press: Orlando.)

Bédard, J. , and LaPointe, G. (1984). The Savannah Sparrow territorial system: can habitat features be related to breeding success? Canadian Journal of Zoology 62, 1819–1828.
Blakers R. (1980). Insects in the alpine zone: arthropods on snow, and aspects of the ecology of the aestivating Bogong Moth, Agrotis infusa (Boiso.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). B.Sc.(Honours) Thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.

Bliss, L. C. (1971). Arctic and alpine life cycles. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 2, 405–438.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Bollman K. , and Reyer H.-U. (1999). Why does monogamy prevail in the Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta? In ‘Proceedings of the 22nd International Ornithological Congress, Durban’. (Eds N. J. Adams and R. H. Slotow.) pp. 2666–2688.

Bollman, K. , and Reyer, H.-U. (2001). Reproductive success of Water Pipits in an alpine environment. Condor 103, 510–520.
Christidis L. , and Boles W. F. (1994). ‘The Taxonomy and Species of Birds of Australia and its Territories. (RAOU: Melbourne.)

Climate Impact Group (1996). Climate change scenarios for the Australian region. Climate Impact Group, CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Research, Melbourne.

Clark, R. G. , and Nudds, T. D. (1991). Habitat patch size and duck nesting success: the crucial experiments have not yet been performed. Wildlife Society Bulletin 19, 534–543.
Conry J. A. (1978). Resource utilization, breeding biology and nestling development in an alpine tundra passerine community. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Colorado, Boulder.

Costin, A. (1957). The high mountain vegetation of Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 5, 173–189.
Costin A. , Gray M. , Totterdell C. , and Wimbush D. (2000). ‘Kosciuszko Alpine Flora.’ 2nd edn. (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.)

Coulson, J. C. (1956). Mortality and egg production of the Meadow Pipit with special references to altitude. Bird Study 3, 119–133.
Good R. (1998). Changing snow regimes and the distribution of alpine vegetation. In ‘Snow: A Natural History; an Uncertain Future’. (Ed. K. Green.) pp. 98–122. (Australian Alps Liaison Committee: Canberra).

Green, K. (1989). Altitudinal and seasonal differences in the diets of Antechinus swainsonii and A. stuartii (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae) in relation to the availability of prey in the Snowy Mountains. Australian Wildlife Research 16, 581–592.
Green K. (1998). Introduction. In ‘Snow: A Natural History; an Uncertain Future’. (Ed. K. Green.) pp. xiii–xix. (Australian Alps Liaison Committee: Canberra.)

Green, K. , and Osborne, W. (1979). A summer vertebrate fauna survey above 1500 m in the Gungartan region of Kosciusko National Park, New South Wales. Victorian Naturalist 96, 176–184.
Green K. , and Osborne W. (1994). ‘Wildlife of the Australian Snow-country’. (Reed Books: Sydney.)

Green K. , and Pickering C. M. (2002). A potential scenario for mammal and bird diversity in the Snowy Mountains of Australia in relation to climate change. In ‘Mountain Biodiversity: A Global Assessment’. (Eds C. Körner and E. M. Spehn.) pp. 241–249. (Parthenon Publishing: London.)

Hågvar, S. , Østbye, E. , and Melåen, J. (1978). Pitfall catches of surface-active arthropods in some high mountain habitats at Finse, Norway. II. General results at group level, with emphasis on Opiliones, Araneida, and Coleoptera. Norwegian Journal of Entomology 25, 195–205.
Hendricks D. P. (1993). Clutch and egg-size variation of American Pipits in alpine environments. Ph.D. Thesis, Washington State University, Pullman.

Hendricks, P. (2003). Spring snow conditions, laying date and clutch size in an alpine population of American Pipits. Journal of Field Ornithology 74, 423–429.
Hines J. E. (2002). MAYFIELD software to compute daily survival rate for nest visitation. USGS-PWRC. http://mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/software/mayfield.html.

Hötker, H. (1988). Lifetime reproductive output of male and female Meadow Pipits Anthus pratensis. Journal of Animal Ecology 57, 109–118.
Körner C. (1999). ‘Alpine Plant Life.’ (Springer-Verlag: Berlin.)

Körner C. , Paulsen J. , and Palaez-Riedl S. (2003). A bioclimatic characterisation of Europe’s alpine areas. In ‘Alpine Biodiversity in Europe’. (Eds L. Nagy, G. Grabherr, C. Körner, and D. B. A. Thompson.) pp. 13–18. (Springer-Verlag: New York.)

Magrath, R. D. , Leedman, A. W. , Gardner, J. L. , Giannasca, A. , Nathan, A. C. , Yezerinac, S. M. , and Nichols, J. A. (2000). Life in the slow lane: reproductive life history of the White-browed Scrubwren, an Australian endemic. Auk 117, 479–489.
Osborne W. S. , Davis M. S. , and Green K. (1998). Temporal and spatial variation in snow cover. In ‘Snow: A Natural History; an Uncertain Future’. (Ed. K. Green.) pp. 56–68. (Australian Alps Liaison Committee: Canberra.)

Pätzold R. (1984). ‘Der Wasserpieper.’ (A. Ziemsen Verlag: Wittenberg Lutherstadt.)

Rahn, H. C. , Paganelli, C. V. , and Ar, A. (1975). Relation of avian egg to body weight. Auk 92, 750–765.
Rowley I. , and Russell E. (1991). Demography of Passerines in the temperate Southern Hemisphere. In ‘Bird Population Studies’. (Eds C. M. Perrins, J.-D. Lebreton and G. J. M. Hirons.) pp. 22–43. (Oxford University Press: New York.)

Schodde R. , and Mason I. J. (1999). ‘The Directory of Australian Birds: Passerines.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.)

Seastedt, T. R. , and MacLean, S. F. (1979). Territory size and composition in relation to resource abundance in Lapland Longspurs breeding in arctic Alaska. Auk 96, 131–142.
Sibley C. G. , and Ahlquist J. E. (1990). ‘Phylogeny and Classification of Birds: a Study in Molecular Evolution.’ (Yale University Press: New Haven.)

Simms E. (1992). ‘British Larks, Pipits and Wagtails.’ (HarperCollins Publishers: London.)

Skutch, A. F. (1949). Do tropical birds rear as many young as they can nourish? Ibis 91, 430–455.
Southwood T. R. E. (1966). ‘Ecological Methods with Particular Reference to the Study of Insect Populations.’ (Methuen: London.)

SPSS (2002). ‘SPSS. Version 11.5.0.’ (SPSS Inc.: Chicago.)

Stake, M. M. , and Cimprich, D. A. (2003). Using video to monitor predation at Black-capped Vireo nests. Condor 105, 348–357.
Starck J. M. , and Ricklefs R. E. (1998). Avian growth data set. In ‘Avian Growth and Development’. (Eds J. M. Starck and R. E. Ricklefs.) pp. 381–415. (Oxford University Press: New York).

Taylor M. (1992). ‘Birds of the Australian Capital Territory: an Atlas.’ (Canberra Ornitholgists’ Group: Canberra.)

Tolbert, W. W. , Tolbert, V. R. , and Ambrose, R. E. (1977). Distribution, abundance, and biomass of Colorado alpine arthropods. Arctic and Alpine Research 9, 221–234.
Verbeek N. A. M. , and Hendricks P. (1994). American Pipit (Anthus rubescens). No. 95 in ‘The Birds of North America’. (Eds A. Poole and F. Gill.) (Academy of Natural Sciences: Philadelphia & American Ornithologists’ Union: Washington, DC.)

Viega, J. P. (1990). A comparative study of reproductive adaptations in House and Tree Sparrows. Auk 107, 45–49.
Walker M. D. , Walker D. S. , Theodose T. A. , and Webber P. J. (2001). The vegetation: hierarchical species–environment relationships. In ‘Structure and Function of an Alpine Ecosystem: Niwot Ridge, Colorado’. (Eds W. D. Bowman and T. R. Seastedt.) pp. 99–127. (Oxford University Press: New York.)

Wardlaw I. F. (1998). Plant activity beneath the snow. In ‘Snow: A Natural History; an Uncertain Future’. (Ed. K. Green.) pp. 113–124. (Australian Alps Liaison Committee: Canberra.)

Webber P. J. (1974). Vegetation B. Primary productivity. In ‘Arctic and Alpine Environments’. (Eds J. D. Ives and R. G. Barry.) pp. 445–473. (Methuen: London.)

Whetton P. (1998). Climate change impacts on the spatial extent of snow-cover in the Australian Alps. In ‘Snow: A Natural History; an Uncertain Future’. (Ed. K. Green.) pp. 195–206. (Australian Alps Liaison Committee: Canberra.)

Wiens, J. A. (1969). An approach to the study of ecological relationships among grassland birds. Ornithological Monographs 8, 1–93.
Zar J. F. (1999). ‘Biostatistical Analysis.’ (Prentice-Hall: Upper Saddle River.)