Suboptimal temperatures may exert negative effects on altricial nestlings, especially during their first days of life, when thermoregulation is not yet fully developed. We experimentally lowered nest temperatures by a mean of 4.5 °C during early development of great tit Parus major nestlings from the Mediterranean region. The thermal treatment only affected nestling size, as cooled nestlings had smaller tarsi by day 15 than controls. Female brooding constancy remained unaltered and female body condition was not negatively affected, so females did not incur additional energetic costs to ameliorate thermal conditions for nestlings. In conclusion, we found that colder nest microclimates may impair nestling growth, which may have negative consequences on future survival.
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1 September 2016
Effects of Cool Nest Microclimates on Nestling Development: An Experimental Study with Mediterranean Great Tits Parus major
Samuel Rodríguez,
Emilio Barba
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Ardeola
Vol. 63 • No. 2
September 2016
Vol. 63 • No. 2
September 2016
crecimiento de los pollos
estrés térmico
nestling growth
nestling survival
supervivencia de los pollos
termorregulación
thermal stress