TY - JOUR
T1 - Hatching failure is greater in altricial bird species with cavity nests and large clutches
AU - Di Giovanni, Alexander J.
AU - Miller, Michael J.
AU - Jones, Todd M.
AU - Benson, Thomas J.
AU - Ward, Michael P.
N1 - We deeply appreciate the funding sources for this research which were provided by Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Federal Aid project W-154-R). Additional research grants include the Van Tyne Award from the American Ornithological Society, a Wilson Ornithological Society Research Grant, and the Kendeigh Grant from the Champaign County Audubon Society, without which this project would not have been possible due to COVID-19.
PY - 2023/1/12
Y1 - 2023/1/12
N2 - Mortality rates are high for most avian species during early life stages, forming a critical source of natural selection that helps shape the diversity of avian life-history traits. We investigated hatching failure (i.e., non-predatory embryonic mortality, excluding abandoned or damaged eggs) and found significant variation among passerine species. Failure rates ranged from 1.0% to 12.7%, and species with cavity nests and larger clutches experienced greater rates of hatching failure. While past research has focused on the direct effects of predation on the nestling and fledgling stages, little is known about how predation may indirectly influence other sources of mortality such as hatching failure. We investigated the influence of nest predation risk and other factors on variation in hatching failure among 14 free-living grassland and shrubland songbird species. Across all species, 7.7% of 1,667 eggs failed to hatch. We found little evidence that variation in nest temperature influenced rates of hatching failure within and among species, although species with larger clutch sizes had more variable nest temperatures. Dissection of failed eggs revealed that most hatching failures occurred before or shortly after the onset of development; however, there was no difference between cavity and open-cup nesters in the rate of early-stage mortality. Our findings suggest there may be tradeoffs to having a large clutch, with a benefit of rearing more young at the cost of greater hatching failure, possibly due to delayed onset of incubation, poor incubation behavior, or inability to incubate large clutches. Additionally, as larger clutches are often laid in cavity nests, which have a relatively low predation risk, this may outweigh the costs of increased hatching failure. More experimental approaches, such as clutch size manipulations and egg-specific incubation behavior are needed to provide greater insight into factors driving variation in hatching failure across species.
AB - Mortality rates are high for most avian species during early life stages, forming a critical source of natural selection that helps shape the diversity of avian life-history traits. We investigated hatching failure (i.e., non-predatory embryonic mortality, excluding abandoned or damaged eggs) and found significant variation among passerine species. Failure rates ranged from 1.0% to 12.7%, and species with cavity nests and larger clutches experienced greater rates of hatching failure. While past research has focused on the direct effects of predation on the nestling and fledgling stages, little is known about how predation may indirectly influence other sources of mortality such as hatching failure. We investigated the influence of nest predation risk and other factors on variation in hatching failure among 14 free-living grassland and shrubland songbird species. Across all species, 7.7% of 1,667 eggs failed to hatch. We found little evidence that variation in nest temperature influenced rates of hatching failure within and among species, although species with larger clutch sizes had more variable nest temperatures. Dissection of failed eggs revealed that most hatching failures occurred before or shortly after the onset of development; however, there was no difference between cavity and open-cup nesters in the rate of early-stage mortality. Our findings suggest there may be tradeoffs to having a large clutch, with a benefit of rearing more young at the cost of greater hatching failure, possibly due to delayed onset of incubation, poor incubation behavior, or inability to incubate large clutches. Additionally, as larger clutches are often laid in cavity nests, which have a relatively low predation risk, this may outweigh the costs of increased hatching failure. More experimental approaches, such as clutch size manipulations and egg-specific incubation behavior are needed to provide greater insight into factors driving variation in hatching failure across species.
KW - comportamiento de incubación
KW - egg viability
KW - embryo mortality
KW - fracaso de la eclosión
KW - hatching failure
KW - incubation behavior
KW - mortalidad embrionaria
KW - reproductive success
KW - viabilidad del huevo
KW - éxito reproductivo
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U2 - 10.1093/ornithology/ukac048
DO - 10.1093/ornithology/ukac048
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85160079364
SN - 0004-8038
VL - 140
JO - Ornithology
JF - Ornithology
IS - 1
M1 - ukac048
ER -