Costs of incubation in Common Terns Sterna hirundo: replication and extension of a clutch‐enlargement experiment

• Published in: Ibis
• Main Authors: HATCH, JEREMY J., NISBET, IAN C. T.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2010
• Subjects: Sterna hirundo
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919x.2010.01076.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1474-919X.2010.01076.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1474-919X.2010.01076.x

Manipulation of clutch size during incubation has been used in a number of studies to investigate life‐history costs of incubation. We increased or decreased clutches of Common Terns Sterna hirundo during incubation and measured subsequent chick growth and productivity. Our results provide little support for the hypothesis that costs of incubation in Common Terns are substantially affected by the number of eggs incubated.