The role of personal reproductive experience on nest building in a wild bird
Elisabeth G Chapman, Sophie C Edwards, Evelyn J Alexander, Susan D Healy, Aliza le Roux · 2026
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Description
Elisabeth Chapman and co-authors ask in 2026 whether wild blue tits learn from breeding success when building their next nest. Nest design affects how warm eggs and chicks stay, and captive studies hint that experience reshapes building choices. Seven years of nests from a wild population supplied the test.
Nests with more insulation relative to structure hatched more eggs. Birds that fledged at least one chick tended to cut insulation the next year, while failed birds more often changed design or moved boxes, and changers did better afterward. Failed nests also cooled faster the more chicks they had fledged. Experience, it seems, tunes both materials and address in these small architects.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Elisabeth G Chapman, Sophie C Edwards, Evelyn J Alexander, Susan D Healy, Aliza le Roux |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 41 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |