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Developmental stage of failed eggs in the red-legged partridge Alectoris rufa

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Abstract

Understanding whether egg failure occurs more frequently during laying or during incubation is important for determining the most vulnerable period of the egg phase in bird species with long laying and incubation periods. However, most studies compare nest failure during the egg stage and the hatchling stage. In this study we examined whether egg failure was higher during the laying period and early development than during the final stages of development in a population of red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) from northeast Spain. We collected 216 abandoned eggs in the field. Only 12% (n = 26) of the eggs were sufficiently intact to enable direct assessment of developmental stage, showing that 81% of 26 eggs were lost during early stages. The majority of eggs were depredated (n = 154, 71%), as evidenced by an opening hole. To take advantage of information contained in these eggs, we propose a simple method to assess their developmental stage by measuring the size of the opening of their hole. Based on this method, we estimated that the proportion of eggs lost during early stages ranged from 72 to 83%. We validated this result of a high percentage of egg failure during early developmental stages with a larger experimental sample. Nest losses in the partridge are higher during the laying period or early development. This result is important in that the direction of conservation efforts and their seasonal application should be adjusted to account for the most important factors affecting egg failure.

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Acknowledgments

We greatly thank the hunters and the students from the rural school at Sanaüja and the Escola de Capacitació Agrària del Solsonès for collecting eggs in the field, and the Generalitat de Catalunya (Torreferrusa farm) and Altube S.A. for providing partridge eggs. For interesting comments, we thank Dirk Bauwens and two anonymous referees. This work was conducted with the contract “Ramón y Cajal” from the Spanish National Science Foundation-MEC (to AMC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Estación Biológica de Sanaüja, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Ap. Correos no 35, 25280, Solsona, Lleida, Spain

    Aurora M. Castilla

  2. Department of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, National Museum of Natural Sciences (CSIC), C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Aurora M. Castilla

  3. Laboratorio de Imagen Medica, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Dr. Esquerdo 46, 28007, Madrid, Spain

    Santiago Reig

  4. Área de Defensa del Bosc, Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya, Pujada del seminari, s/n, 25280, Solsona, Spain

    Juan Martínez de Aragón

  5. Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14850, USA

    André A. Dhondt

Authors
  1. Aurora M. Castilla
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  2. Santiago Reig
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  3. Juan Martínez de Aragón
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  4. André A. Dhondt
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Correspondence to Aurora M. Castilla.

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Castilla, A.M., Reig, S., Martínez de Aragón, J. et al. Developmental stage of failed eggs in the red-legged partridge Alectoris rufa . J Ethol 27, 343–348 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-008-0125-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-008-0125-9

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