RT journal article
T1 Quail eggs in artificial nests change their coloration when exposed to ambient conditions: implication for studies on nest predation
A1 Liñan Cembrano, Gustavo
A1 Castro Casas, Esperanza Macarena
A1 Amat, Juan A.
A1 Pérez Hurtado de Mendoza, Alejandro
A1 Rendón, Miguel Ángel
A1 Ramo, Cristina
A2 Biología
K1 Artificial nests
K1 Egg coloration
K1 Japanese Quail
K1 Nest camouflage
K1 Open nests
K1 Predation studies
AB Quail eggs have been widely used in field experiments, mainly to study factorsassociated with the risk of nest predation. Some shortcomings of using quail eggs inthis type of study have been previously addressed (e.g., these eggs might be too big forsome predators of eggs of small birds). Here, we show experimental evidence ofanother shortcoming of the use of these eggs in field experiments. Quail eggs exposedto sunlight rapidly faded in colour after three days, both in the visible and UVspectra, and this change was related to the amount of solar radiation received. Thiscaused changes in the camouflage of the eggs, which may be perceived by predatorswith different visual systems (dichromatic, trichromatic, and tetrachromatic (forboth violet- and UV-sensitive species)). Therefore, the results of field studies ofnest predation using quail eggs might be questioned in those cases in which thecamouflage has been altered due to the rapid changes in coloration, as this can affectthe resulting predation rates. We recommend that researchers planning to use quaileggs should perform a prospective assessment of changes in coloration of eggsexposed to environmental conditions in the nest sites used by the target species.
PB PEERJ INC
SN 2167-8359
YR 2021
FD 2021-07
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/25530
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/25530
LA eng
NO This study was funded by grant CGL2017-83518-P from Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad, Spain, with EU-ERDF financial support. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 12-nov-2026