{"title":"Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) Frequently Desert Viable Eggs without Incubating Them","authors":"I. Nisbet","doi":"10.1675/063.045.0114","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) frequently lay single eggs and desert them without incubating them. In a multi-year study, single deserted eggs comprised 4.2% of all clutches and 2.7% of all eggs. Laying dates and masses of single deserted eggs resembled those of first-laid eggs of female-male pairs and multi-female associations, but their masses differed from those of second-laid eggs of female-male pairs. An egg-transfer experiment showed that most single deserted eggs were fertile and that chicks hatched from them were viable when raised by female-male pairs. I hypothesize that single deserted eggs result from females laying their first eggs before the pair has settled on the location of a nest site. Fostering of single deserted eggs could be used to increase chick production in small colonies.","PeriodicalId":54408,"journal":{"name":"Waterbirds","volume":"7 1","pages":"113 - 116"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2022-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Waterbirds","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1675/063.045.0114","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ORNITHOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Abstract. Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) frequently lay single eggs and desert them without incubating them. In a multi-year study, single deserted eggs comprised 4.2% of all clutches and 2.7% of all eggs. Laying dates and masses of single deserted eggs resembled those of first-laid eggs of female-male pairs and multi-female associations, but their masses differed from those of second-laid eggs of female-male pairs. An egg-transfer experiment showed that most single deserted eggs were fertile and that chicks hatched from them were viable when raised by female-male pairs. I hypothesize that single deserted eggs result from females laying their first eggs before the pair has settled on the location of a nest site. Fostering of single deserted eggs could be used to increase chick production in small colonies.
期刊介绍:
Waterbirds is an international scientific journal of the Waterbird Society. The journal is published four times a year (March, June, September and December) and specializes in the biology, abundance, ecology, management and conservation of all waterbird species living in marine, estuarine and freshwater habitats. Waterbirds welcomes submission of scientific articles and notes containing the results of original studies worldwide, unsolicited critical commentary and reviews of appropriate topics.