Changes of nestling ringing dates in nine bird species over seven decades

Abstract Climate change co-occurs with an advancement of avian breeding season (indexed as laying dates or fledging dates) in the temperate zone, suggesting a causality between them. Here, we investigate whether the long-term shifts in nestling (chick) ringing dates also mirror this phenomenon. This index is biased by inherent shortcomings, such as the non-independence of dates (in nestmates, colony members), poor accuracy (long period suitable for ringing), and strange shape of distributions. These shortcomings can be reduced by applying the median of annual ringing dates as an index of breeding phenology. The advantage of this index is that data are available for long periods and large sample sizes. By accepting certain compromise between statistical discipline and fieldwork realities, we examined changes in the breeding phenology of 9 bird species from 1951 to 2020 in Hungary. We found that the annual median of ringing dates advanced significantly (by 9–14 days) in the Black-headed Gull, Common Kestrel, Barn Swallow, Great Tit, and Eurasian Blue Tit. Contrarily, no significant (all P > 0.16) changes occurred in the case of the Common Tern, Black-crowned Night-heron, Common Buzzard, and Long-eared Owl. We also found that the proportion of Great Tits’ second brood has been reduced in recent decades.