Free‐moving artificial eggs containing temperature loggers reveal remarkable within‐clutch variance in incubation temperature

Incubation is a crucial aspect of avian parental care and measuring incubation temperature in the wild can improve our understanding of life history tradeoffs and inform conservation efforts. However, there are challenges associated with measuring the temperature of eggs in natural nests. Most studies to date have measured incubation temperature by using a single, stationary logger in each nest. However, real eggs are rotated and moved throughout the nest by the parent during the incubation period, and thus, a stationary logger may not accurately represent the temperature experienced by individual eggs within the entire clutch. We recorded incubation temperature in nests by using multiple, mobile artificial egg temperature loggers. We installed six mobile loggers and one stationary logger in wood duck (Aix sponsa) nests to compare the two logger types in the field. We found that at a given ambient temperature, mobile loggers recorded lower average and more variable temperatures than sta...

孵化是鸟类亲代抚育行为的关键组成部分，野外监测孵化温度有助于深化我们对生活史权衡策略的认知，并为物种保护工作提供科学参考。然而，在自然巢中准确测定鸟卵温度仍存在诸多挑战。迄今为止的多数相关研究均采用在每个鸟巢内放置单个固定式温度记录仪的方式监测孵化温度，但在孵化周期内，亲鸟会翻动并移动巢内所有鸟卵，因此固定式记录仪无法准确反映整窝卵中单个鸟卵实际经历的温度环境。本研究采用多台移动式仿鸟卵温度记录仪对巢内孵化温度进行监测：我们在林鸳鸯（Aix sponsa）的巢内分别布设6台移动式记录仪与1台固定式记录仪，以开展两种记录仪类型的野外对照实验。研究结果显示，在给定环境温度下，移动式记录仪记录的平均温度低于固定式记录仪，且温度变异性更高（原文未完整收尾）