El próximo jueves 04/04/2019 a las 15:30h en la Sala Reuniones del ICBiBE (Edificio de Cabecera, 2ª planta), David Díez, estudiante predoc del grupo de Vertebrados Terrestres, abordará el tema: "Studying incubation rhythms in passerine birds (and how short‐term research stays could help to improve a PhD project)"

He says:

The incubation phase during the breeding cycle of birds is much more complex than just sitting on the eggs until they hatch. Incubation behavioural strategies are highly diverse across bird species and can be classified based on the involvement of the parents. The uniparental pattern, with the female as the only incubator, is the most common among passerine species. Females displaying this incubation behaviour need to allocate time between their self-maintenance off the nest and the maintenance of an adequate nest temperature range for the eggs. In this scenario, ambient temperature could play a key role during incubation, with low temperatures limiting the maximum time off the nest for the incubating females, affecting the whole incubation period. My PhD project aims to clarify the role of ambient temperature in the incubation behaviour variation using Great Tits (Parus major) as a model species. I will introduce key concepts about incubation and what drove me to apply for two different short-term research stays in North Carolina (USA) and the Kalahari Desert (South Africa).

Links: Flyer