Patricia Bollinger

Indiana State University | ISU · Department of Biology

Incubation prior to clutch completion may be adaptive if it maintains egg viability by inhibiting eggshell microbial growth, thus reducing the likelihood that the embryo becomes infected. To test this hypothesis, we examined the effect of partial incubation during egg laying on eggshell microbial loads in eastern bluebirds Sialia sialis breeding at...

Sialia sialis Rechaza Los Huevos de Molothrus ater La relación entre Molothrus ater y sus hospederos que nidifican en cavidades ha recibido poca atención como resultado de la suposición de que M. ater rara vez parasita a estos hospederos. En este estudio probamos si Sialia sialis, un hospedero que algunas veces es parasitado intensamente por M. ate...

The relationship between the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) and its cavity-nesting hosts has received little attention because of the assumption that cowbirds rarely parasitize these hosts. We tested the Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis), a host that is sometimes heavily parasitized by cowbirds, for egg ejection behavior. Bluebirds ejected 65...

I examined the relative importance of factors influencing chick survival in manipulated and natural broods of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo). In nonmanipulated broods of three (modal brood size), egg mass decreased with laying order, siblings hatched asynchronously, and chick survival declined with hatching order. The ratio of a chick's mass to that...

We examined three hypotheses concerning hatching asynchrony in the Common Tern (Sterna hirundo). Survival of third-hatching "C-chicks" was significantly lower than that of "A-" and "B-chicks" in broods of three. In 2 yr when conditions did not appear favorable, survival was significantly higher in manipulated broods in which chicks hatched synchron...

About 74% of Dolichonyx oryzivorus in the New York study area nested in hayfields. Hay-cropping began in late May each year: 12-28% of the hay was cut by 10 June and 48-62% by 1 July. During this time ≥80% of bobolink nestlings in undisturbed fields fledged. When fields with active nests were cut, mowing initially destroyed 51% of the eggs and nest...