Intraclutch eggshell colour variation in birds: are females able to identify their eggs individually?

ABSTRACT:

Background

One possibility suggested regarding female post-mating strategies is differential allocation into offspring investment. Female birds produce not only the largest, but also most colourful eggs of all oviparous taxa. Larger eggs provide space for bigger embryos, or more nutrition for their development, but the question why eggs are more colourful and why there is variation in eggshell colouration remains. In this context, the focus of interest has been to explain inter-clutch variation but in many bird species, eggshell colouration also varies within a clutch. Surprisingly, less attention has been paid to this phenomenon. Therefore, we propose the "female egg recognition" hypothesis, suggesting that mothers use colour characteristics to interpret egg attributes and allocat

SUBMITTER: Polacek M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5581944 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature