Natural History of the Bell Vireo, Vireo bellii AudubonBarlow, Jon C.
Science
Natural History of the Bell Vireo, Vireo bellii Audubon
Barlow, Jon C.
Bell vireo; Birds
Bailey (1952:128) suggests that male passerines lacking brood patches
that habitually sit on eggs do not heat the eggs. Thus it cannot be
considered true incubation since no increase of temperature in the
eggs is effected by such means. He further notes that it is at night
when eggs are likely to experience a drop in temperature that
embryonic development will be impaired. I have no data directly
pertaining to which sex sits at night, but it is presumably the
female, because she is always seen on the nest early in the morning
and late in the evening.
[Illustration: FIG. 4. Comparison of periods of incubation
by both sexes in cold (54° F.) rainy weather (A) and in warm
(82° F.) sunny weather (B).]
If a highly-vascularized brood patch is essential for true incubation,
then it is surprising that males take regular turns on the nest in
cold, rainy weather. On May 20, 1960, male 3 (1960) sat on the eggs
longer than did the female (fig. 4). The temperature during this hour
and a half of incubation was 54° F. One solution to this problem is
supplied by Skutch (1957:74). He indicates that, "the type of the
incubation is determined largely by innate factors, so that it
persists through fairly wide fluctuations in weather, although it may
break down in extreme conditions." Obviously then, in the example
described above, the weather conditions do not qualify as "extreme."
Sitting by the male is certainly functional to some extent for it
relieves the female to forage; furthermore, the eggs are sheltered
from inclement weather and protected from predators. Nolan (1960:232)
suggests similar reasons for incubating by the male and adds the
"conservation of heat supplied to the eggs by the female."
[Illustration: FIG. 5. Daily participation in incubation as
indicated by the sex of the adult on the nest upon approach of
the observer.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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