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1 September 2011 Spatial Variation in Clutch Size and Egg Size Within a Colony of Whiskered Terns (Chlidonias hybrida)
Piotr Minias, Krzysztof Kaczmarek, Tomasz Janiszewski, Zbigniew Wojciechowski
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Abstract

Egg and clutch size of Whiskered Terns (Chlidonias hybrida) in relation to their location within the colony were investigated at Jeziorsko Reservoir, central Poland. All nests (n  =  125) in the colony were individually marked and mapped using a Global Positioning System. Four nest clusters were distinguished within the colony based on the patchy distribution of floating vegetation which delineated potential nesting areas. Early breeding Whiskered Terns nested in more central and denser parts of nest clusters and late breeders nested in more peripheral zones of the clusters (trend analysis: F  =  20.47, df  =  1, P < 0.001). Pairs which nested closer to the centers of clusters had larger clutch sizes (trend analysis: F  =  5.70, df  =  1, P  =  0.019), but there was no relationship between clutch size and distance to the colony center (F  =  0.38, df  =  2, P  =  0.69). Edge clutches had higher coefficient of variation in egg volume in comparison to more central clutches (trend analysis: F  =  5.07, df  =  1, P  =  0.028). Terns nesting in intermediate densities laid eggs of the highest length and volume (trend analysis: F  =  7.17, df  =  1, P  =  0.009; F  =  6.35, df  =  1, P  =  0.014, respectively). We suggest that establishment of particular nest clusters in the Whiskered Terns colony at Jeziorsko Reservoir followed a central-periphery model.

Piotr Minias, Krzysztof Kaczmarek, Tomasz Janiszewski, and Zbigniew Wojciechowski "Spatial Variation in Clutch Size and Egg Size Within a Colony of Whiskered Terns (Chlidonias hybrida)," The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 123(3), 486-491, (1 September 2011). https://doi.org/10.1676/10-167.1
Received: 8 October 2010; Accepted: 1 February 2011; Published: 1 September 2011
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