Microclimate of the nest and egg water loss of the eider Somateria mollissima and other waterfowl in Spitsbergen

Rahn, Hermann; Krog, John; Mehlum, Fridtjof

doi:10.3402/polar.v1i2.6982

Cited by 16 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Brood patch temperature measurements obtained in this study are well within the values obtained by Rahn et al (1983) and Gabrielsen, Mehlum et al (1991) It is interesting to compare the active defence response of penguins with the passive defence response of incubating eiders. When provoked, incubating Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae) and gentoo penguins (P. papua) and moulting emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) show increased heart rate (Culik et al 1990;Nimon, Schroter & Stonehouse 1995;Nimon, Schroter & Oxenham 1996) and a rise of 0.8 °C in stomach temperature (Regel & Pütz 1997).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Brood patch temperature during provocation of incubating common eiders in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Criscuolo¹,

Gauthier‐Clerc²,

Maho³

et al. 2001

Polar Research

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In this short note we describe the behaviour and body temperature changes of three incubating female common eiders (Somateria mollissima) during provocation made by humans approaching the nest. The study site was near the settlement of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. Temperature transmitters were implanted subcutaneously at the brood patch and data recorded using a VHF receiver. We found that the female eiders in the experiment exhibited a passive defence response ("freezing"), accompanied by a significant drop in brood patch temperature (0.6 °C) during provocation; this temperature drop lasted for 5 minutes. These results accord with other studies of the physiological changes which accompany the passive defence response in birds and other animals.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Brood patch temperature during provocation of incubating common eiders in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Criscuolo¹,

Gauthier‐Clerc²,

Maho³

et al. 2001

Polar Research

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“…The example used by Rahn and Paganelli (1990) of the Barnacle goose shows how birds at different latitudes build nests that maintain similar values for P N but under differing levels for P A . A similar situation is seen for the Eider (Somateria mollissima; Lomholt, 1976;Rahn et al, 1983), and in the White Tern (Rahn et al, 1976;Petitte et al, 1981) nesting at two different locations differences in P E -P N inversely correlate with shell conductance.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

“…In these situations the nest wall has a low conductance, P N is high relative to P A and eggshell conductance is relatively high to ensure the appropriate rate of water loss. It is interesting to note that, in this data set, the species that are building in locations with low P A ( 5 Torr) are found at high latitudes where ambient temperatures are going to be low (Morgan et al, 1978;Rahn et al, 1983;Rahn, 1984;Andersen and Steen, 1986). Nest construction under these conditions may necessitate a low thermal conductance to minimise heat loss during incubation but seems to have had the additional effect of reducing water vapour conductance of the nest wall.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Importance of Nest Type on the Regulation of Humidity in Bird Nests

Deeming

2011

Avian Biology Research

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Nest humidity is a function of how water vapour is retained within the nest. Previous analysis suggested that in general, nest humidity was largely unaffected by ambient humidity but there was no consideration of the type of nest involved. This study examined data collected from the literature to test the hypothesis that the relationship between nest and ambient humidity is a function of the type of nest. Data for water vapour pressure for the egg (PE), nest (PN) and ambient air (PA) were collected for 48 examples of nests from 44 species of bird from a range of Orders. Initial egg mass and water vapour conductance of the eggshell was also recorded for each species. Analysis showed that birds on scrape nests are able to raise PN above PA by on average 5 Torr irrespective of PA. By contrast, PN in cup nests was unaffected by PA, such that at low values nests are well insulated against water vapour loss. The balance between the proportion of water vapour lost from the egg to the ambient air that is controlled by the nest varied with the type of nest and PA. For eggs in scrape nests mass specific water vapour conductance showed a positive relationship with PA. By contrast, for eggs in cup nests the relationship was negative and under conditions of low PA the high PN means that mass specific shell conductance values have to be high so as to ensure the appropriate rate of weight loss from the egg. Whilst birds do not control nest humidity directly the inter-relationship between weight loss from an egg, its initial mass, its shell conductance, and the incubation period can now be extended to include the water vapour conductance of the nest wall

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“…3) or 336 g less than pre-laying weight. The mean density of the eggs of these birds was 1.075 which is close to the density of freshly laid Eider eggs (Rahn et al 1983). The average number of eggs produced by female Eiders nesting on Storholmen in 1984 was 4.4g (Mehlum 1991a, this volume).…”

Section: Body Weight Loss During Layingsupporting

confidence: 68%

Energy Expenditure in Arctic Seabirds

Dnn¹,

Gabrielsen²

1997

Colonial Waterbirds

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Microclimate of the nest and egg water loss of the eider Somateria mollissima and other waterfowl in Spitsbergen

Abstract: View related articlesCiting articles: 1 View citing articles Microclimate of the nest and egg water loss of the Eider Somateria mollissima and other waterfowl in Spits bergen

Cited by 16 publications

References 17 publications

Brood patch temperature during provocation of incubating common eiders in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Brood patch temperature during provocation of incubating common eiders in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Importance of Nest Type on the Regulation of Humidity in Bird Nests

Energy Expenditure in Arctic Seabirds

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