Reproductive Biology of Shrubsteppe Passerine Birds: Geographical and Temporal Variation in Clutch Size, Brood Size, and Fledging Success

The Condor ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Rotenberry ◽  
John A. Wiens
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Passerine Birds ◽  
Fledging Success

Nestling growth and fledging success in manipulated American kestrel broods

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (12) ◽  
pp. 2421-2425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas W. Gard ◽  
David M. Bird
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Wild Birds ◽  
Falco Sparverius ◽  
Nestling Growth ◽  
American Kestrel ◽  
Fledging Success ◽  
American Kestrels ◽  
Parental Ability

To study factors regulating clutch size in American Kestrels (Falco sparverius), brood manipulation experiments were performed on captive and wild birds in southwestern Quebec during 1986 and 1987. The largest normally occurring brood size was 5 young. Manipulations enlarged or decreased broods to 7 or 2 young, respectively. Significantly more young fledged from wild control and enlarged broods in 1987 than from comparable groups in 1986. The average number of young fledging from enlarged wild broods in 1987 was slightly higher than for control broods, but fledging weight was significantly depressed in enlarged broods. Growth rates and tarsal and antebrachial length at fledging were not affected by brood size, but development of primary feathers was slower in enlarged wild broods. Parental ability to adequately feed all young appears to be the major factor limiting brood size in American Kestrels.

The costs of reproduction in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (10) ◽  
pp. 2540-2547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathaniel T. Wheelwright ◽  
Joanna Leary ◽  
Caragh Fitzgerald
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Tachycineta Bicolor ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Tree Swallows ◽  
Costs Of Reproduction ◽  
Return Rates ◽  
Trade Offs

We investigated the effect of brood size on nestling growth and survival, parental survival, and future fecundity in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) over a 4-year period (1987–1990) in an effort to understand whether reproductive trade-offs limit clutch size in birds. In addition to examining naturally varying brood sizes in a population on Kent Island, New Brunswick, Canada, we experimentally modified brood sizes, increasing or decreasing the reproductive burdens of females by two offspring. Unlike previous studies, broods of the same females were enlarged or reduced in up to 3 successive years in a search for evidence of cumulative costs of reproduction that might go undetected by a single brood manipulation. Neither observation nor experiment supported the existence of a trade-off between offspring quality and quantity, in contrast with the predictions of life-history theory. Nestling wing length, mass, and tarsus length were unrelated to brood size. Although differences between means were in the direction predicted, few differences were statistically significant, despite large sample sizes. Nestlings from small broods were no more likely to return as breeding adults than nestlings from large broods, but return rates of both groups were very low. Parental return rates were also independent of brood size, and there was no evidence of a negative effect of brood size on future fecundity (laying date, clutch size). Reproductive success, nestling size, and survival did not differ between treatments for females whose broods were manipulated in successive years. Within the range of brood sizes observed in this study, the life-history costs of feeding one or two additional nestlings in tree swallows appear to be slight and cannot explain observed clutch sizes. Costs not measured in this study, such as the production of eggs or postfledging parental care, may be more important in limiting clutch size in birds.

Physiological and biochemical correlates of brood size and energy expenditure in tree swallows

2001 ◽  
Vol 204 (8) ◽  
pp. 1491-1501 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.P. Burness ◽  
R.C. Ydenberg ◽  
P.W. Hochachka
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Mass Gain ◽  
Pectoral Muscle ◽  
Population Variation ◽  
Tree Swallows ◽  
Internal Organs ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Energy Expenditures ◽  
Physiological And Biochemical

Intra-population variation in many fitness-related traits (e.g. clutch size) is often attributed to variation in individual parental quality. One possible component of quality is the level at which each individual can expend energy while provisioning dependent young. We used breeding tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) to test whether adults with large, natural-sized broods and/or nestlings in good nutritional condition had relatively high daily energy expenditures (DEEs). Adults with high DEEs were predicted to have large internal organs and high metabolic capacities. We first measured the growth rate of nestlings in natural broods of five, six and seven over a 4-day period and then measured parental DEE using doubly labelled water. Adults were then dissected for analyses of body composition and to determine maximum enzyme activities in the pectoral muscle. Although the total mass gain of large broods was greater than that of small broods, parental DEE was independent of brood size. We hypothesize that adults matched their clutch size (and consequently, brood size) to their individual foraging efficiencies. When statistically controlling for the effects of brood size, in one of two years there was a positive correlation between DEE and brood mass. This suggests that among individuals rearing the same-sized broods there were reproductive benefits of a relatively high DEE. There was no correlation between either brood size or DEE and the mass of any internal organ or the metabolic capacity of the pectoral muscle.

Do Post-Hatching Factors Limit Clutch Size in the Cape BArren Goose, Cereopsis novaehollandiae Latham?

1982 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 145 ◽  
Author(s):  
SM Pellis ◽  
VC Pellis
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Cost Of Reproduction ◽  
Vigilance Behaviour ◽  
The Cost

The vigilance behaviour of geese was measured by the amount of time per day they spent with their heads raised, and also by the frequency with which they interrupted feeding to look up. Goslings were vulnerable to predation in the first 4 weeks after hatching. The adults' vigilance behaviour was higher during the 4 weeks after hatching than later, and this reduced the amount of time they spent feeding. It is argued that brood size and the adults' ability to protect the young are inversely related, and that larger broods, for this reason, raise the cost of reproduction. These factors are considered as posthatching limitations on clutch size.

Brood size manipulations in herring gulls

1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (10) ◽  
pp. 1762-1766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard T. Haymes ◽  
Ralph D. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Natural Food ◽  
Herring Gull ◽  
Chick Survival ◽  
Fledging Success ◽  
Herring Gulls

Herring gull broods were artificially increased to four and five chicks while others were reduced to one chick. The growth rates of chicks and chick weights at fledging were similar among all control and experimental broods. The experimentally increased brood sizes had a slightly higher fledging success than control broods, and the fledging success of one-chick experimental broods was higher than that of one-chick control broods. Thus, chick survival was not reduced in larger brood sizes and the number of young fledged per pair of adults increased with brood size. Further. chicks in large broods were at no weight (or viability) disadvantage despite the presence of a larger number of brood mates. We conclude that food was not limiting either the growth rate or fledging success of chicks from broods larger than the modal clutch size, and suggest that parents used local, abundant, artificial food sources in addition to their natural food supply.

scholarly journals Spatial and Temporal Variation in Heterophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratios of Nestling Passerine Birds: Comparison of Blue Tits and Great Tits

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. e74226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerzy Banbura ◽  
Joanna Skwarska ◽  
Miroslawa Banbura ◽  
Michal Gladalski ◽  
Magdalena Holysz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Passerine Birds ◽  
Blue Tits

Factors affecting the reproductive success of common tern (Sterna hirundo) colonies on the lower Great Lakes during the summer of 1972

1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (11) ◽  
pp. 1850-1862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph D. Morris ◽  
Rodger A. Hunter ◽  
James F. McElman
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Relative Proportion ◽  
Common Tern ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Fledging Success ◽  
Egg Failure

The breeding biology of five common tern (Sterna hirundo) colonies in the lower Great Lakes was studied between May and August 1972. Frequent visits were made to each colony and data collected on nests within large artificially enclosed areas. The objective was to identify factors that influence the reproductive success of common tern colonies on the Great Lakes. Hatching success was significantly dependent on clutch size and time of clutch initiation, whereas fledging success was independent of clutch size. The most common category of egg failure was disappearance from the nest. One colony (Port Colborne) realized a significantly higher hatching and fledging success than the others, among which there were no significant differences in prehatch or posthatch success rates. Factors that contributed to differences in reproductive success are presented and their relative contributions to the reproductive success of the tern colonies are discussed. The factors include the relative proportion of three-egg clutches, incubation time as a measure of 'parent attentiveness,' numerical size of the colony, predation, competition for nesting sites by gulls, food availability, flooding, and toxic chemicals. We conclude that no single factor can be readily correlated with reproductive success and suggest that caution should be exercised when considering the relationships between reproductive success and factors influencing it.

Experiments on clutch size and nest size in passerine birds

Oecologia ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tore Slagsvold
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Nest Size ◽  
Passerine Birds
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document