Hatching asynchrony vs. foraging efficiency: the response to food availability in specialist vs. generalist tit species.

ABSTRACT: Breeding mistiming is increasingly frequent in several ecosystems in the face of current climate change. Species belonging to higher trophic levels must employ mechanisms to reduce it. One of these mechanisms is hatching asynchrony, with the eggs in a clutch hatching over a period of several days. Some authors have suggested it to be adaptive when food is unpredictable. However, these birds can also suffer associated costs. We tested whether a species with higher foraging efficiency avoid hatching asynchrony compared to its sister species. We studied hatching asynchrony and nestling provisioning in relation to food availability in sympatric populations of blue and great tits. For the first time, we show that sister species respond to food availability with different strategies. Blue tit fe

SUBMITTER: Barrientos R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5125266 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature