Burger J
Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08855.
Growth Dev Aging. 1988 Summer;52(2):109-12.
In most field studies on growth rates of birds, chicks are weighed in the "morning" or whenever it is convenient. I found that weight of laboratory-reared young herring gulls (Larus argentatus) varied significantly depending on the time of day it was measured. Chicks were always lighter at daybreak before they had eaten. However, mean weight at other times of the day was less variable. These results suggest that it is important to always weigh chicks at the same time each day, and to appreciate that daily or treatment differences may reflect sampling time differences unless the timing and amount of chick feeding is considered. Further weight gain during the day was directly correlated with the amount of food eaten first thing in the morning, and was directly correlated with weight loss overnight.
在大多数关于鸟类生长速率的野外研究中，雏鸟是在“早晨”或方便的时候称重的。我发现，实验室饲养的幼年银鸥（Larus argentatus）的体重根据测量时间的不同而有显著差异。雏鸟在破晓时还未进食前总是较轻。然而，一天中其他时间的平均体重变化较小。这些结果表明，每天在同一时间对雏鸟进行称重很重要，并且要认识到，除非考虑雏鸟喂食的时间和量，否则每日或处理差异可能反映的是采样时间差异。白天的进一步体重增加与早晨第一件事所吃食物的量直接相关，并且与夜间体重减轻直接相关。
