Nest predation and nestling growth rate of two lark species in the Negev Desert, Israel

Since David Lack first proposed that birds rear as many young as they can nourish, food limitation has been accepted as the primary explanation for variation in clutch size and other life‐history traits in birds. The importance of food limitation in life-history variation, however, was recently questioned on theoretical grounds. Here, we show that clutch size differences between two populations of a neotropical thrush were contrary to expectations under Lack's food limitation hypothesis. Larger clutch sizes were found in a population with higher nestling starvation rate (i.e. greater food limitation). We experimentally equalized clutches between populations to verify this difference in food limitation. Our experiment confirmed greater food limitation in the population with larger mean clutch size. In addition, incubation bout length and nestling growth rate were also contrary to predictions of food limitation theory. Our results demonstrate the inability of food limitation to explain differences in several life-history traits: clutch size, incubation behaviour, parental feeding rate and nestling growth rate. These life-history traits were better explained by inter‐population differences in nest predation rates. Food limitation may be less important to life history evolution in birds than suggested by traditional theory.

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Effect of El Niño-Southern Oscillation Conditions on Nestling Growth Rate in the Dark-Rumped Petrel

The Condor ◽

10.2307/1368394 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 92 (1) ◽

pp. 160-165 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Justine B. Cruz ◽

Felipe Cruz

Keyword(s):

Growth Rate ◽

El Niño ◽

El Nino ◽

Southern Oscillation ◽

El Niño Southern Oscillation ◽

El Nino Southern Oscillation ◽

Nestling Growth

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Poor prey quality is compensated by higher provisioning effort in passerine birds

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-90658-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sarah Senécal ◽

Julie-Camille Riva ◽

Ryan S. O’Connor ◽

Fanny Hallot ◽

Christian Nozais ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Growth Rate ◽

Growth Rates ◽

Energy Content ◽

Poecile Atricapillus ◽

Daily Growth ◽

Nestling Growth ◽

Prey Quality ◽

Provisioning Rate ◽

The Mean ◽

Compensatory Effect

AbstractIn altricial avian species, nutrition can significantly impact nestling fitness by increasing their survival and recruitment chances after fledging. Therefore, the effort invested by parents towards provisioning nestlings is crucial and represents a critical link between habitat resources and reproductive success. Recent studies suggest that the provisioning rate has little or no effect on the nestling growth rate. However, these studies do not consider prey quality, which may force breeding pairs to adjust provisioning rates to account for variation in prey nutritional value. In this 8-year study using black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and boreal (Poecile hudsonicus) chickadees, we hypothesized that provisioning rates would negatively correlate with prey quality (i.e., energy content) across years if parents adjust their effort to maintain nestling growth rates. The mean daily growth rate was consistent across years in both species. However, prey energy content differed among years, and our results showed that parents brought more food to the nest and fed at a higher rate in years of low prey quality. This compensatory effect likely explains the lack of relationship between provisioning rate and growth rate reported in this and other studies. Therefore, our data support the hypothesis that parents increase provisioning efforts to compensate for poor prey quality and maintain offspring growth rates.

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Aspects of the Ecological Energetics of Development in Rainbow Bee-eaters

Australian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1071/zo96065 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 45 (3) ◽

pp. 281 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Alan Lill ◽

Peter J. Fell

Keyword(s):

Growth Rate ◽

Energy Density ◽

Dry Mass ◽

Brood Reduction ◽

Logistic Growth ◽

Nestling Growth ◽

Water Fraction ◽

Food Shortages ◽

The Mean ◽

Nestling Feeding

Prefledging developmental energetics of rainbow bee-eaters were investigated by comparing the mass, water fraction and energy density of the egg, hatchling and fledgling, determining the growth rate and pattern of the nestling and documenting the reproductive time investments of breeders. The incubation and nestling periods greatly exceeded allometric predictions. On average, the egg contents contained 26% yolk, 80% water and had an energy density of 25·82 kJ g -1 dry mass. The 3·3-g hatchling contained 83% water and had an energy density of 21·28 kJ g-1 dry mass; its size and composition suggested that it was not exceptionally mature and thus that embryonic growth was inherently slow, but no extra energy loading was evident in the egg to meet the predicted high maintenance costs. Nestling growth was also inherently slow, K for the logistic growth model being 0·266 and t10-90 16·5 days. Nestlings attained asymptotic mass after about two- thirds of the nestling period had elapsed, exceeded adult mass by up to 3·5-g and then underwent a 15% prefledging mass recession. Fledglings contained 67% water, had a mean energy density of 23·33 kJ g -1 dry mass and were capable of efficient flight. Nestling growth was highly labile and intrabrood mass hierarchies and brood reduction through nestling starvation were common and may be adaptations to short-term food shortages. The mean incubation constancy (54% of daytime) and the mean nestling feeding rate of 4 meals per nestling h of breeders were comparatively low; the former probably reflects the insulation of the burrow from ambient temperature oscillations and the latter the slow nestling growth rate. Members of breeding pairs often contributed to feeding the brood quite disparately and auxiliaries’ contributions in the 24% of breeding units that contained them were relatively small. The unpredictable nature of the species’ aeroplankton diet may have favoured slow nestling growth through its influence on breeders’ food gathering capacity and by favouring a relatively high degree of physiological maturity and self-sufficiency in fledglings.

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Mercury exposure of a wetland songbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, in the New York metropolitan area and its effect on nestling growth rate

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment ◽

10.1007/s10661-014-3677-x ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 186 (7) ◽

pp. 4029-4036 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Allisyn-Marie Tsz Yan Gillet ◽

Chad L. Seewagen

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Growth Rate ◽

Metropolitan Area ◽

Mercury Exposure ◽

Agelaius Phoeniceus ◽

Nestling Growth ◽

York Metropolitan Area ◽

New York Metropolitan Area

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First nest records, nestling growth and morphometrics of Dendroplex picus peruvianus (Aves: Dendrocolaptidae) in southwestern Brazilian Amazon

Revista Peruana de Biología ◽

10.15381/rpb.v28i3.20476 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. e20476

Author(s):

Jônatas Lima ◽

Edson Guilherme

Keyword(s):

Growth Rate ◽

Clutch Size ◽

Rainy Season ◽

Brazilian Amazon ◽

Forest Fragment ◽

Constant Growth Rate ◽

Nestling Growth ◽

Constant Growth ◽

Southwestern Amazonia

We reported the first data on the breeding and growth in Dendroplex picus peruvianus from a forest fragment in southwestern Amazonia. We observed and netted this species between 1999 and 2019. We found two active nests in 2012 and 2013, but we monitored only one. Clutch size was two eggs, incubated for 16 days. The constant growth rate (K) of nestlings was 0.31 with a growth asymptote of 46.3 g. We recorded a longest minimum longevity of eight years. Our records showed that D. p. peruvianus breeds mainly in the rainy season (September–March) overlapping with the molt period.

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Geographic Variation in the Trade-Off Between Nestling Growth Rate and Body Condition in the Tree Swallow

The Condor ◽

10.1093/condor/108.3.601 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 108 (3) ◽

pp. 601-611 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Daniel R. Ardia

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Growth Rate ◽

Body Mass ◽

Body Condition ◽

Growth Rates ◽

Tree Swallow ◽

Residual Body ◽

Trade Off ◽

Nestling Growth ◽

Trade Offs

AbstractNestlings can exhibit considerable variation in developmental patterns both within and among locations due to differences in environmental conditions and parental investment. I investigated trade-offs between nestling growth rate and residual body mass (body condition) at three locations across the range of the Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor). Nestlings at the northern extreme of the range in Alaska had slower growth rates, lower body mass, and higher residual body mass than nestlings in New York and Tennessee. High insect availability was correlated with increased growth rates of nestlings in New York and Tennessee, but not in Alaska. Conversely, nestlings in Alaska showed increased residual body mass with high insect availability, but nestlings in New York and Tennessee did not. The trade-off between growth rate and residual body mass varied among sites, with fast-growing nestlings in Tennessee maintaining a higher residual body mass than those in Alaska. These results suggest that factors affecting offspring growth and condition vary among sites, leading to geographical differences in offspring development trajectories.

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