Optimal maternal incubation strategies for altricial and precocial birds

2020 ◽  
Vol 436 ◽  
pp. 109290
Author(s):  
Alexandra G. Cones ◽  
Philip H. Crowley
Keyword(s):  
Precocial Birds

The Distress Vocalization: Is It an Adequate Index of Fear in Precocial Birds?

1973 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harvey J. Ginsburg ◽  
William G. Braud ◽  
Ronald D. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Distress Vocalization ◽  
Precocial Birds

Allometric relationships between embryonic heart rate and fresh egg mass in birds

2001 ◽  
Vol 204 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Tazawa ◽  
J.T. Pearson ◽  
T. Komoro ◽  
A. Ar
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Embryonic Heart ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Tyto Alba ◽  
Allometric Relationships ◽  
Allometric Relationship ◽  
Subsequent Increase ◽  
Developmental Patterns ◽  
Precocial Birds

Previously, we have measured daily changes (developmental patterns) in embryonic heart rate (fh) in altricial and semi-altricial (ASA) birds (range of mean fresh egg mass approximately 1–20 g), semi-precocial seabirds (egg mass approximately 38–288 g) and precocial birds (egg mass approximately 6–1400 g). An allometric relationship between embryonic fh at 80 % of incubation duration (ID) and fresh egg mass (M) has been derived for six species of precocial bird (fh at 80 % ID=429M(−0.118)). In the present study, additional measurements of embryonic fh in three ASA species, the barn owl Tyto alba, the cattle egret Bubulcus ibis and the lanner falcon Falco biarmicus, were made to extend the egg mass range (20–41 g), and the allometric relationships of embryonic fh for these ASA birds and the precocial and semi-precocial (PSP) groups were investigated from published data. The developmental patterns of embryonic fh in three relatively large ASA species did not show a significant increase prior to the pipping period, unlike those in small ASA birds, but tended to be constant, with a subsequent increase during pipping. The allometric relationship derived for ASA birds was fh at 80 % ID=371M(−0.121) (r=−0.846, P<0.001, N=20) and that for PSP birds was fh at 80 % ID=433M(−0.121) (r=−0.963, P<0.001, N=13). The slopes were parallel, but fh of ASA embryos was low compared with that of PSP embryos with the same egg mass. In ASA birds, embyronic fh was maximal during the pipping (perinatal) period, and the maximum fh (fh(max)) was significantly related to fresh egg mass: fh(max)=440M(−0.127) (r=−0.840, P<0.001, N=20). The allometric relationships for fh at 80 % ID in PSP and fh(max) in ASA embryos were statistically identical. Accordingly, embryonic fh at 80 % ID in PSP birds and fh(max) during pipping in ASA birds can be expressed by a single allometric equation: fh=437M(−0.123) (r=−0.948, P<0.001, N=33).

scholarly journals Incubation temperature affects the expression of young precocial birds’ fear-related behaviours and neuroendocrine correlates

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aline Bertin ◽  
Ludovic Calandreau ◽  
Maryse Meurisse ◽  
Marion Georgelin ◽  
Rupert Palme ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Incubation Temperature ◽  
Precocial Birds

scholarly journals Do small precocial birds enter torpor to conserve energy during development?

2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (21) ◽  
pp. jeb231761
Author(s):  
Yaara Aharon-Rotman ◽  
Gerhard Körtner ◽  
Chris B. Wacker ◽  
Fritz Geiser
Keyword(s):  
Body Temperature ◽  
Metabolic Rate ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Heat Loss ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Infrared Thermometer ◽  
Common Strategy ◽  
Energy Conserving ◽  
Altricial Birds ◽  
Precocial Birds

ABSTRACTPrecocial birds hatch feathered and mobile, but when they become fully endothermic soon after hatching, their heat loss is high and they may become energy depleted. These chicks could benefit from using energy-conserving torpor, which is characterised by controlled reductions of metabolism and body temperature (Tb). We investigated at what age the precocial king quail Coturnix chinensis can defend a high Tb under a mild thermal challenge and whether they can express torpor soon after achieving endothermy to overcome energetic and thermal challenges. Measurements of surface temperature (Ts) using an infrared thermometer showed that king quail chicks are partially endothermic at 2–10 days, but can defend high Tb at a body mass of ∼13 g. Two chicks expressed shallow nocturnal torpor at 14 and 17 days for 4–5 h with a reduction of metabolism by >40% and another approached the torpor threshold. Although chicks were able to rewarm endogenously from the first torpor bout, metabolism and Ts decreased again by the end of the night, but they rewarmed passively when removed from the chamber. The total metabolic rate increased with body mass. All chicks measured showed a greater reduction of nocturnal metabolism than previously reported in quails. Our data show that shallow torpor can be expressed during the early postnatal phase of quails, when thermoregulatory efficiency is still developing, but heat loss is high. We suggest that torpor may be a common strategy for overcoming challenging conditions during development in small precocial and not only altricial birds.

scholarly journals Gosling Growth and Survival in Relation to Brood Movements in Greater Snow Geese (Chen Caerulescens Atlantica)

The Auk ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 1077-1089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julien Mainguy ◽  
Gilles Gauthier ◽  
Jean-François Giroux ◽  
Joël Bêty
Keyword(s):  
Selective Advantage ◽  
Nest Site Selection ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Chen Caerulescens ◽  
Brood Rearing ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Movement Distance ◽  
Chen Caerulescens Atlantica ◽  
Precocial Birds

Abstract Post-hatch brood movements to high-quality foraging sites are common in precocial birds but may entail costs for young. We assessed effects of overland movements of broods between the nesting and rearing areas in Greater Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens atlantica) breeding on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada, to determine whether these movements affected gosling survival and growth. We monitored 51 radiomarked females over five years to quantify movement distance, movement duration, and gosling survival. Gosling growth was compared over four years using a sample of web-tagged broods recaptured shortly before fledging among adults that (1) nested and reared their young in a dense colony, (2) left the colony and moved ≈30 km to reach the main brood-rearing area, or (3) nested and reared their young in the main brood-rearing area. Brood movements by radio-marked birds were highly variable (2.6-52.5 km, depending on rearing areas used) and fairly rapid (≤6 days after hatch for 72% of the females). Gosling survival was not related to distance moved between nesting and brood-rearing areas. However, gosling growth was influenced by areas used and whether or not they had to move to reach their brood-rearing area. Geese nesting at the main brood-rearing area generally reared heavier and larger goslings than those that moved ≈30 km from the main nesting colony to rear their brood at the main brood-rearing area. On the other hand, goslings leaving the nesting colony after hatch were heavier and larger than those that stayed there throughout brood rearing in one of two years. Although brood movements allow goslings access to high-quality habitats, they entail some costs. Thus, minimizing such movements through nest-site selection should provide a selective advantage by allowing goslings to maximize their growth. Croissance et Survie des Oisons en Relation avec les Déplacements des Familles chez Chen caerulescens atlantica

FILIAL SOCIAL BOND FORMATION IN FRY OF THE MATERNAL MOUTHBROODING TILAPIA (PISCES: CICHLIDAE): A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Behaviour ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 136 (5) ◽  
pp. 567-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Russock
Keyword(s):  
Response Pattern ◽  
Bond Formation ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Significant Decline ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Social Bond ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Passerine Birds ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Precocial Birds

AbstractThe mother - fry relationship in the maternal mouthbrooding species of tilapia has become a model of social bond formation in fish because of the relatively extensive care given to the young. This relationship has been extensively studied in Oreochromis mossambicus. In order to determine if the response pattern observed in O. mossambicus fry has broader applications, the critical experiments of these studies were replicated in two closely related species of maternal mouthbrooding tilapia, O. niloticus and O. esculentus. All fry used in the study were removed from their mother's mouth as eggs and hatched artificially in groups. The fry were also exposed to maternal models in groups, but all fry in the study were tested for their responsiveness or preferential behaviour to maternal models individually. Experiment I determined the responsiveness of fry naive to maternal models in order to establish a baseline for future comparisons. O. niloticus fry exhibited a significant decline in responsiveness to models between days 11 and 12 post-hatching while O. esculentus fry exhibited a significant decline between days 16 and 18, suggesting the possible existence of a sensitive period in these two species. In order to obtain evidence for the existence of a sensitive period, naive fry of both species in Experiment II were exposed to maternal models at their peak of responsiveness and then tested at a later age at which responsiveness in naive fry had fallen significantly. In 15 of the 18 comparisons involving the two species, exposure to a maternal model at the peak of responsiveness for naive fry prevented the later decline in responsiveness. Experiment III examined whether experience with maternal models effected how exclusively fry responded to such models in the future. It was predicted that, like O. mossambicus fry, experienced fry of both species would exhibit a decline in responsiveness to models that formed at least a partial mismatch with the fry's initial schema for maternal stimuli. This prediction was not supported. Experiment IV examined preferential behaviour. It was predicted that fry exposed to a maternal model would later behave preferentially toward whichever model of a pair formed a closer match with their schema, and not necessarily toward the model to which they had been previously exposed. Maternally naive fry were not expected to behave preferentially. These predictions were generally supported, although the effect was less vigorous or consistent than in O. mossambicus. Filial social bond formation in these species of maternal mouthbrooding tilapia appears to be characterized by strong predispositions for maternally relevant visual stimuli which require appropriate experience for their maintenance and for the induction of preferences. Since a similar developmental pattern in seen in (e.g.) song learning in passerine birds, imprinting in precocial birds and filial following in substrate spawning cichlid fish, the phenomenon appears to be of broad significance.

Habitat use and behaviour of Greater Snow Geese during movements from nesting to brood-rearing areas

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (8) ◽  
pp. 1096-1103 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mainguy ◽  
G. Gauthier ◽  
J.-F. Giroux ◽  
I. Duclos
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Chen Caerulescens ◽  
Brood Rearing ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Greater Snow Goose ◽  
Chen Caerulescens Atlantica ◽  
Precocial Birds ◽  
Aerial Tracking

Many precocial birds make long-distance movements with their young after hatch to reach the best foraging sites. On Bylot Island, Nunavut, a large number of Greater Snow Goose ( Chen caerulescens atlantica L., 1758) families move 30 km from the main nesting colony (MNC) to reach the main brood-rearing area (MBR) soon after hatch. Geese moving from the MNC to the MBR generally rear lighter and smaller goslings than geese that avoid this movement by both nesting and rearing their brood at the MBR. In this study, we tested the hypotheses that use of low-quality habitats and an increase in the time spent walking at the expense of foraging during movements could explain the reduced growth of goslings in those families. We conducted visual observations to compare habitat use and selection as well as behaviour of geese during brood movements from the MNC to the MBR (i.e., at a transit area) with those of families that had already settled at the MBR. We also conducted aerial tracking to monitor habitat use of 16 radio-marked females during and after brood movements. Streams, wet polygons, and lakes, considered high-quality habitats in terms of feeding opportunities and predator refuges, were preferred, while upland, a low-quality habitat, was avoided at both the transit area and the MBR. However, broods were found in the upland habitat more often during movements than once settled on a rearing site. The behaviour of unmarked geese at the transit site did not differ from that of geese at the MBR. We suggest that reduced food intake in low-quality habitats during movements, but not the increase in time spent walking, may explain the reduction in growth observed at fledging in goslings moving from the MNC to the MBR.

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