AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

The Effect of Food Abundance on the Reproductive Patterns of Coots

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:1988
Authors:Hill, WL
Journal:The Condor
Volume:90
Issue:2
Date Published:1988
ISBN Number:00105422
Keywords:Fulica, Fulica americana, Fulica atra, Rallidae
Abstract:The effects of local resource abundance on the reproductive characteristics of American Coots (Fulica americana) were studied in eastern Washington. I examined the influences both of naturally occurring differences among habitats and of experimentally manipulated food resources. Females from lakes with high food abundance laid significantly heavier eggs than did females from lakes with low productivity. Similarly, eggs from experimentally enriched territories were significantly heavier than those from control territories. Clutch size did not vary systematically with resource abundance. These results suggest that when food is more abundant coots increased the quality, rather than quantity, of young produced. Nevertheless, a comparative analysis of the relationship between egg mass and body mass for 40 species of rails showed that the American Coot lays lighter eggs than would be predicted on the basis of body mass alone.
URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/1368560
Short Title:The Condor
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith