The article says:
"Increased predation pressure experienced by open-nesting birds also causes
them to lay smaller clutches than cavity-nesting birds, literally having fewer
eggs in one basket to spread the risk."
I don't understand that. If the young are more likely to be taken, wouldn't it
be better to have more of them?
Or are they saying that it's better for such birds to have fewer young because
if the nest is discovered then they all get eaten, not matter how many there
are?
Peter Shute
wrote on Friday, 12 December 2008 10:12 AM:
> The following item may be of interest to ornithologists ...
>
> Regards, Laurie
>
> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081208203911.htm
>
> Why Some Bird Species Lay Only One Egg
> ScienceDaily (Dec. 9, 2008) - Why do some species of birds
> lay only one egg in their nest, while others lay 10 or more?
>
> A global study of the wide variation among birds in this
> trait, known as the "clutch size," now provides biologists
> with some answers. The study, published in the current issue
> of the journal PLoS Biology, combined data on the clutch
> sizes of 5,290 species of birds with information on the
> biology and environment of each of these species.
>
> <snip>==========www.birding-aus.org
> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>
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