Effects of maternal experience on fearfulness and maternal behaviour in a precocial bird
Brood care can improve with experience, and experience under natural conditions increases with age. We aimed to evaluate the relative effect of experience by comparing experienced and inexperienced females of the same age under controlled conditions. Using 18 experienced (XP) and 22 inexperienced (NXP) female Japanese quail, Coturnix coturnix japonica. of the same age, we […]
Elevated corticosterone during egg production elicits increased maternal investment and promotes nestling growth in a wild songbird
Glucocorticoids circulating in breeding birds during egg production accumulate within eggs, and may provide a potent form of maternal effect on offspring phenotype. However, whether these steroids affect offspring development remains unclear. Here, we employed a non-invasive technique that experimentally elevated the maternal transfer of corticosterone to eggs in a wild population of house wrens. […]