Data from: Rearing conditions have long-term sex-specific fitness consequences in the collared flycatcher

Rearing conditions may exert profound effects on individual performance, however, effects manifested after independence and recruitment are seldom considered. Here, we examine the long-term fitness consequences of rearing conditions in the collared flycatcher, a species where rearing conditions have sex-specific effects on nestling growth (with greater effects in males), but not on morphology at fledging. We performed a brood size manipulation experiment, and followed the recruits during their local lifetime. Brood size manipulation did not influence recruitment probability. However, the experiment had a sex-specific effect on the number of eggs the recruits had during their entire lifetime. While reproductive output was unaffected by rearing conditions in females, males reared in enlarged broods were outperformed by males reared in reduced broods. This effect was mediated by the number of years, in which the recruits were recaptured. Interestingly, at their first reproductive event, recruits from reduced broods bred later. In the study, we controlled for paternity, and found that extra-pair young had fewer eggs than within-pair young at their first reproductive event, but not during their whole local lifetime. In general, our results show that first, long-term effects of rearing conditions are not necessarily detectable by looking at recruitment probability only. Second, the sex that is more affected by rearing conditions in the short-term seems to be the one that is more affected in the long-term as well. Third, short-term sex-specific environmental sensitivity may have predictive value for fitness consequences even if the sex-difference that is apparent during development vanishes by fledging