Kang Ji-Won, Lee Jong-Koo
Division of Life Sciences, College of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, Incheon National University, 119 Academy-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 22012, Republic of Korea.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Apr 23;13(9):1443. doi: 10.3390/ani13091443.
The brood reduction hypothesis, which explains asynchronous hatching in birds, as an adaptation that enables selective survival of older nestlings when availability of food is unpredictable. This study was conducted in order to determine whether the brood reduction hypothesis can explain asynchronous hatching in passerines. Infrared cameras were installed inside nest boxes where great tits () were attempting to reproduce in order to determine whether the parents practiced selective feeding of older nestlings. According to the results of the study, no significant difference was observed between the hatching order and the average number of feedings per nestling. In addition, when examining the distribution of food according to hatching order over time, every 30 min, beginning at 9 a.m., selective distribution of food to older nestlings was not observed. In conclusion, use of the brood reduction hypothesis, which supports selective provision of beneficial feeding of older and larger nestlings, to explain the asynchronous hatching of passerines is problematic, thus conduct of future studies focusing on other hypotheses in order to explain the asynchronous hatching of this passerine bird will be necessary.
窝雏数减少假说将鸟类的异步孵化解释为一种适应性特征，即在食物供应不可预测时，能使年龄较大的雏鸟选择性存活。本研究旨在确定窝雏数减少假说是否能解释雀形目鸟类的异步孵化现象。在大山雀（ ）试图繁殖的巢箱内安装了红外摄像机，以确定亲鸟是否对年龄较大的雏鸟进行选择性喂食。根据研究结果，未观察到孵化顺序与每只雏鸟平均喂食次数之间存在显著差异。此外，在从上午9点开始每隔30分钟按孵化顺序检查食物分配情况时，未观察到对年龄较大的雏鸟进行选择性食物分配的情况。总之，用窝雏数减少假说（该假说支持对年龄较大、体型较大的雏鸟进行选择性的有益喂食）来解释雀形目鸟类的异步孵化存在问题，因此有必要开展未来的研究，聚焦于其他假说以解释这种雀形目鸟类的异步孵化现象。
