Study

Silvereyes Zosterops lateralis increase incubation attentiveness in response to increased food availability

  • Published source details Barnett C.A. & Briskie J.V. (2010) Silvereyes Zosterops lateralis increase incubation attentiveness in response to increased food availability. Ibis, 152, 169-172.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Provide supplementary food for songbirds to increase reproductive success

Action Link
Bird Conservation
  1. Provide supplementary food for songbirds to increase reproductive success

    A randomised, replicated cross-over experiment in scrubland on South Island, New Zealand in austral spring 2000-1 (Barnett & Briskie 2010) found that on a day when they were provided with supplementary food, silvereyes Zosterops lateralis spent significantly longer incubating and had shorter periods away from the nest, compared to a day when they were not provided with food (adults on fed days spent approximately 94% of time incubating and periods off the nest averaged one minute vs. approximately 84% of time on nests and 3.5 minute periods off the nest, ten nests). However, feeding did not increase the length of individual incubation bouts, or the number of times parents left the nests each hour (longest incubation bouts averaged 39.6 mins when fed vs. 34.1 mins when unfed, ten nests; parents leaving nests an average of 2 times/min when fed vs. 2.3 times/min when unfed, seven nests). Supplementary food consisted of beef fat and sugar mixed and provided in pine cones on one of two experimental days and not provided on the other. No data is provided on the breeding success consequences of feeding.

     

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