Home, dirty home: effect of old nest material on nest-site selection and breeding performance in a cavity-nesting raptor.

ABSTRACT: The quality of a breeding site may have major fitness consequences. A fundamental step to understanding the process of nest-site selection is the identification of the information individuals use to choose high-quality nest sites. For secondary cavity-nesting bird species that do not add nest lining material, organic remains (faeces, pellets) accumulated inside nest cavities during previous breeding events may be a cue for high-quality nest-sites, as they contain information about past successful breeding and may improve thermal insulation of eggs during incubation. However, cavities in which breeding was successful might also contain more nest-dwelling ectoparasites than unoccupied cavities, offering an incentive for prospective parents to avoid them. We exposed breeding cavity-nesting le

SUBMITTER: Podofillini S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6280097 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature