With single-sex incubation (species in which incubating females periodically Relates on- and off-bout duration to ambient temperature in small-bodied birds In an attempt to resolve this enigma, we propose a conceptual model that

In field studies are an enigma given the obvious importance of temperature toġ987) and the female's response to experimentally altered Inconsistent relationships between ambient temperature and incubation behavior Temperature and incubation behavior among empirical studies is contrary toĮxperimental studies in which decreased nest or egg temperature increases nestĪttentiveness and decreases off-bout duration The equivocal or minor relationship between Where significantĬorrelations exist, temperature typically explains only a small proportion of Temperature and on- and off-bout durations (Appendix). Studies have reported negative, positive, and no correlation between ambient

Important in species with unassisted, single-sex incubation Resolution of this trade-off between embryos and parent is particularly With their own energetic needs by leaving the nest to forage. Incubating parents must balance the thermal needs of the developing embryos Improve the general model and ultimately aid our understanding of energeticĪnd ecological constraints on avian incubation.īehavior ( Baerands, 1959 Drent, 1970 Haftron, 1988 Lombardo et al., 1995 Weathers and Sullivan, 1989 Weeden, 1966 White and Kinney, 1974 Zerba and Morton, 1983). Typically carry during incubation and the extent of male incubation feeding.Īdditional studies of the effects of temperature on avian incubation will help Probably differs among species based on the amount of fat reserves females The effect of ambient temperature on duration of on-bouts Although some discrepancies could be explained byĬonsidering our model, some studies reported negative correlations in coldĮnvironments. However, the relationships between on-bout durationĪnd temperature reported in previous studies were less consistent with our Results of previous studies were generally consistent with the modelįor off-bout duration most studies in colder environments reported positiveĬorrelations with temperature, and the one negative correlation reported wasįrom a hot environment. Although weįound support for the general shape of the incubation model, temperature stillĮxplained only a small portion of the overall variation in on- and off-boutĭuration. Nests all explained variation in both on- and off-bout duration. Time of day, duration of the previous bout, and variation among Warblers appeared to avoid bouts off the nest <7 min and bouts on the nest Bout durations declined asĪmbient temperature approached or exceeded 40☌. Both off- and on-bout duration were positivelyĬorrelated with ambient temperature between 9° and 26☌, but unrelated Of the model using incubation data from orange-crowned warblers ( VermivoraĬelata) in Arizona. Temperatures can be inappropriate based on development of an incubation modelįor small birds that incorporates how ambient temperature influences bothĮmbryonic development and adult metabolism. Weĭemonstrate why linear correlation analyses across a wide range of Understanding of how we should expect temperature to influence incubation. We propose that theseĮquivocal results can be partly explained by developing a conceptual However, results of empirical studies examining correlations betweenĪmbient temperature and bout duration are equivocal. Ambient temperature is commonly thought to influence avian incubationīehavior.

Incubator temperature