Does the use of nest materials in a ground-nesting bird result from a compromise between the risk of egg overheating and camouflage?

ABSTRACT: Many studies addressing the use of nest materials by animals have focused on only one factor to explain its function. However, the consideration of more than one factor could explain the apparently maladaptive choice of nest materials that make nests conspicuous to predators. We experimentally tested whether there is a trade-off in the use of nest materials between the risks of egg predation versus protection from overheating. We studied the ground-nesting Kentish plover, Charadrius alexandrinus, in southern Spain. We added materials differing in thermal properties and coloration to the nests, thus affecting rates of egg heating, nest temperature and camouflage. Before these manipulations, adults selected materials that were lighter than the microhabitat, probably to buffer the risk

SUBMITTER: Gomez J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6918762 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature