Egg Size and Laying Date of Long-Billed Curlews Numenius americanus: Implications for Female Reproductive Tactics

Annual differences in reproductive effort by female long-billed curlews (Numenius americanus) were clearly associated with changes in environmental conditions. During pre-laying in 1977 and 1978, long-billed curlews foraged almost exclusively on their breeding territories where vegetation height was generally short. Females did little flying prior to laying, and heavier females with relatively greater wing-disc loading laid larger egg and clutch volumes earlier in the season than did lighter females with lesser wing-disc loading. Tall, dense residual vegetation covered most upland breeding territories during pre-laying in 1979; and until grazing livestock broke down or removed this standing-dead vegetation, long-billed...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of Nordic Society Oikos, Oikos