Earlier Onset of Egg Laying of Great Tits Parus major with Rising February Temperatures in Pome Fruit Orchards in Southern France
Abstract
Climate warming has led to rising spring temperatures across temperate regions, advancing the reproductive phenology of many bird species. Yet most evidence comes from forest and semi-natural habitats, whereas comparable data from perennial agroecosystems remain scarce, even though agricultural management strongly influences arthropod prey dynamics and may interact with climate-driven shifts in breeding phenology. We investigated long-term variation in reproductive phenology in a Great Tit Parus major population breeding in pome fruit orchards in southern France, using 976 clutches monitored over two decades (2002–2021). Mean egg-laying date of first clutches over the study period occurred in mid-April. Laying date of first clutches advanced by 3.2 ± 0.8 days per decade and were negatively associated with increasing temperatures in February, supporting a temperature-dependent shift within a critical pre-laying period. However, neither the duration of the breeding period nor the proportion of late clutches changed significantly over time. Our results indicate a marked advancement of breeding phenology in an intensively managed agricultural system, mirroring patterns reported in forest populations. Although this shift in laying date did not extend the breeding period, it reflects substantial phenological flexibility in a sedentary, facultatively multi-brooded species under ongoing climate warming. Such an earlier onset of breeding may potentially enhance temporal overlap between chick rearing and periods of high arthropod availability, thereby increasing the likelihood of synchrony between nestling food demand and prey resources. Whether this may contribute to maintaining biological control of orchard pests remains unknown and warrants further investigation.
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BibTeX
@article{bouvier2026earlier,
title = {{Earlier Onset of Egg Laying of Great Tits Parus major with Rising February Temperatures in Pome Fruit Orchards in Southern France}},
author = {Jean-Charles Bouvier and Thomas Boivin and Claire Lavigne},
journal = {Acta Ornithologica},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3161/00016454ao2026.61.1.002},
url = {https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05806054v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Earlier Onset of Egg Laying of Great Tits Parus major with Rising February Temperatures in Pome Fruit Orchards in Southern France
AU - Jean-Charles Bouvier
AU - Thomas Boivin
AU - Claire Lavigne
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/28
JO - Acta Ornithologica
DO - 10.3161/00016454ao2026.61.1.002
UR - https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05806054v1
AB - Climate warming has led to rising spring temperatures across temperate regions, advancing the reproductive phenology of many bird species. Yet most evidence comes from forest and semi-natural habitats, whereas comparable data from perennial agroecosystems remain scarce, even though agricultural management strongly influences arthropod prey dynamics and may interact with climate-driven shifts in breeding phenology. We investigated long-term variation in reproductive phenology in a Great Tit Parus major population breeding in pome fruit orchards in southern France, using 976 clutches monitored over two decades (2002–2021). Mean egg-laying date of first clutches over the study period occurred in mid-April. Laying date of first clutches advanced by 3.2 ± 0.8 days per decade and were negatively associated with increasing temperatures in February, supporting a temperature-dependent shift within a critical pre-laying period. However, neither the duration of the breeding period nor the proportion of late clutches changed significantly over time. Our results indicate a marked advancement of breeding phenology in an intensively managed agricultural system, mirroring patterns reported in forest populations. Although this shift in laying date did not extend the breeding period, it reflects substantial phenological flexibility in a sedentary, facultatively multi-brooded species under ongoing climate warming. Such an earlier onset of breeding may potentially enhance temporal overlap between chick rearing and periods of high arthropod availability, thereby increasing the likelihood of synchrony between nestling food demand and prey resources. Whether this may contribute to maintaining biological control of orchard pests remains unknown and warrants further investigation.
SN - 0001-6454
SN - 1734-8471
ER -