ウグイスの繁殖開始時期と餌生物の発生時期の関係

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I investigated the relationship between the timing of breeding of the Japanese Bush Warbler, Cettia diphone, and the timing of food availability, measured as number of insects and spiders trapped by sticky ribbons, on Miyakejima Island during the breeding season in 2006. Female warblers started egg-laying in early April. The nestlings from these eggs were 7 days old, on which the highest energy demand for birds was assumed, in early May. Beetles and spiders were increasing in early May, but the abundance of other insects was at the peak 20 or more days later. One explanation of these results is that warblers adjust the laying date to the availability of food. The other possibility is that the laying date is affected by brood parasitism; resident Japanese Bush Warblers can escape from a summer-visiting parasite, the Little Cuckoo, Cuculus poliocephalus, by starting their breeding earlier. To determine the effect of food availability and brood parasitism on the timing of breeding, theoretical approach based on parameters of breeding ecology of the warblers will be effective.
国立科学博物館の論文