Hatzl, J. S. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2025

Cascading carry-over effects of early activity phenotypes in golden eagles

1.Early-life conditions are often associated with fitness of animals later in life. Although recent studies show that environmental conditions during development affect the formation of early behavioural phenotypes we have a limited understanding of the cascade of life-history transitions from early phenotypes to fitness relevant behaviours in later life stages. Here, we used GPS and body-acceleration data of 35 juvenile golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) to investigate the association between nestling body condition and activity levels (ODBA), the relationship of nestling activity with the timing of fledging and post-fledging activity, and the effects of post-fledging activity on post-fledging movements and the timing of dispersal. We found that nestlings with good body condition also showed increased activity levels. Active nestlings fledged earlier and remained more active after fledging than passive nestlings during early post-fledging. Increased post-fledging activity levels were related to an increased number of pre-dispersal forays and an early timing of dispersal. Even though some effects showed reduced certainty, our results provide evidence for downstream effects of behavioural differences due to early-life conditions. They suggest that early activity phenotypes of nestlings drive the timing of subsequent life-history transitions, thereby representing a key mechanism that links early life conditions with future performance.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2025

Timing of independence is explained by movement ability, but depends on how independence is defined for a long-lived raptor

Many young animals must gain independence from parental care by acquiring the necessary skills for survival. Thus, the rate of skill acquisition can predict how long juveniles remain with their parents before emigrating from the natal territory. Yet in some systems, young animals acquire adult-like skills and the capacity to be independent long before they emigrate. This raises the question of why the timing of emigration decouples from the rate of skill acquisition, resulting in extended parental care. We addressed this by leveraging GPS tracking data from juvenile golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), which learn to fly and to hunt while remaining with their parents for 61-283 days after fledging. Young golden eagles often go on excursions without their parents outside of their natal territories before emigration. We expected flight performance to predict the timing of excursions better than the timing of emigration, which should be more influenced by external factors. In a set of time-to-event models, we predicted the rate of excursions and of emigration using metrics of soaring flight performance or of daily movement. Contrary to our prediction, we found that soaring performance failed to predict the rate of either excursions or emigration, whereas daily movement predicted both rates, but inconsistently. This was likely because those coarser metrics captured motivation and weather in addition to flight skills. Thus external factors seem more likely to explain the timing of independence and internal development--in this case of flight skills--may be completed quickly. Juveniles may delay emigration not due to lack of skill, but because the costs of leaving parental care outweigh the benefits. The difference we discovered between when individuals were capable of independence and when they committed to it may obscure the more general link between skill acquisition and the end of parental care in other systems as well.

animal behavior and cognition↗