Personality and natal dispersal in great tits (Parus major)

Abstract

This thesis investigates the relationship between personality traits and natal dispersal for both sexes of the great tit Parus major in a population close to Oslo, Norway. Contrary to previous studies which focused only on exploratory behaviour and in more southern populations, fifteen behavioural traits in females and eight in males were here utilized on our northern study population. These behavioural traits were studied to compare personality with origin (local recruits and immigrants) and natal dispersal (of local recruits) within the study area. Only a difference in personality between local recruits and immigrants was found in males in one out of eight tests, namely in distance flown from the hand when released after capturing; local recruits flew further distances from hand than immigrants and this was shown to be dependent on body mass. No such differences were found for females. Additionally, no correlation between personality and natal dispersal of local recruits was found. The conclusion is that no relationship exists between personality and natal dispersal in our population of great tits supporting our null-hypothesis. Further studies should try to investigate for a better measure of personality, not just using a single dimension. Comparative studies may need to include more behavioural traits to see if a correlation between personality and natal dispersal would withstand. It would also be interesting to see if the personality as observed in a juvenile is the same for as an adult. In addition, a larger sample size of the local recruits would be recommended, which may help give a better representation of the population.