Effects of breeding success, age and sex on breeding dispersal of a reintroduced population of the Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) in Ningshan County, China

Abstract Background Breeding dispersal is an important ecological process that affects species’ population dynamics and colonization of new suitable areas. Knowledge of the causes and consequences of breeding dispersal is fundamental to our understanding of avian ecology and evolution. Although breeding success for a wild and reintroduced population of the Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) has been reported, the relationships between individuals’ breeding dispersal and their breeding success, age and sex remain unclear. Methods Ibises’ breeding dispersal distance, which is the distance moved by adults between sites of reproduction, was estimated based on the observations of consecutive breeding sites of marked ibis individuals. From observational and capture-recapture data (n = 102) over 9 years, individuals’ breeding dispersal probability in relation to age, sex, and reproductive success was analyzed via a generalized linear mixed effect modeling approach. Results Our results show that 55% males and 51% females keep their previous territories following nesting success. Failed breeding attempts increased dispersal probabilities. Both females and males failed in breeding were more likely to disperse with greater distances than successful birds (females: 825 ± 216 m vs 196 ± 101 m, males: 372 ± 164 m vs 210 ± 127 m). Crested Ibis exhibited a female-biased dispersal pattern that the mean dispersal distance of females (435 ± 234 m) was much larger than that of males (294 ± 172 m). Conclusion Our results are fundamental to predict the patterns of breeding dispersal related to reproductive success under different release sites. From the conservation point of view, landscape connectivity between the reintroduced populations should be taken into account in accordance with the distance of breeding dispersal