Sex Ratios of Ring-Billed Gulls in Relation to Egg Size, Egg Sequence and Female Body Condition

Meathrel, Catherine E.; Ryder, John P.

doi:10.2307/1521233

Cited by 29 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Larger eggs might be considered to contain absolutely more nutrients and produce more vigorous and larger chicks than smaller eggs (Meathrel & Ryder 1987). Under such conditions, Trivers & Willard (1973) predicted that most of the larger eggs would be male.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We have found no other study of a procellariiform that examines this relationship. However, in a study of ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis), Meathrel & Ryder (1987) also determined that egg size and mass could not be used to predict chick sex, although in some seasons chick sex was related to egg sequence in completed clutches of three eggs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variation in the size of Buller's albatross (Thalassarche bulleri) eggs

Sagar¹,

Unwin²,

Stahl³

et al. 2005

New Zealand Journal of Zoology

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The effect of minimum maternal experience, individual and year on egg size variation, breeding success and sex of the surviving chick were investigated in Buller's albatrosses (Thalassarche bulleri) breeding at the Snares Islands. Minimum maternal experience and individual effects were studied over the 9 years 1996-2004, while a second set of data allowed inter-annual variation in egg size to be investigated over 4 additional years (1961, 1969, 1970, and 1993). Egg length, breadth, volume and eccentricity did not vary between years, but all four variables varied significantly between individuals. The size of eggs laid by one individual varied less than the variation across the population as a whole. Egg volume increased with minimum maternal breeding experience, mainly because eggs became broader but not longer, up to the fourth breeding attempt. There was a weak positive relationship Z04044; Online publication date 4 August 2005 Received 22 December 2004 accepted 31 March 2005 between egg size and breeding success, but this correlation was confounded by maternal breeding experience. Breeding success decreased markedly among birds with >20 years breeding experience. There was no relationship between egg size and the sex of the resulting chick. The significant effects of minimum breeding experience and individual on egg size appear to be typical of seabirds. However, unlike other studies of egg size in albatrosses, we did not detect any between-year effects, perhaps because the experience of the breeding population changed little during the study period.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in the size of Buller's albatross (Thalassarche bulleri) eggs

Sagar¹,

Unwin²,

Stahl³

et al. 2005

New Zealand Journal of Zoology

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show abstract

“…When resources are plentiful parents should produce a greater number of the sex that is more dependent on the parents' resources (Trivers & Willard 1973). Accordingly, studies have found sex ratios skewed towards large offspring corresponding to a high amount of resources available to parents (Methrel & Ryder 1987;Wiebe & Bortolotti 1992;Appleby et al 1997). Adjusting the sex ratio of progeny in relation to environmental conditions may also be beneficial to females because it allows for the maximization of the number of young produced in the current breeding attempt (Myers 1978).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest fragmentation is associated with primary brood sex ratio in the treecreeper (Certhia familiaris)

Suorsa

Helle

Huhta

et al. 2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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We studied the primary brood sex ratio of an old-growth forest passerine, the Eurasian treecreeper (Certhia familiaris), along a gradient of forest fragmentation. We found evidence that male nestlings were more costly to produce, since they suffered twofold higher nestling mortality and were larger in body size than females. Furthermore, the proportion of males in the brood was positively associated with the provisioning rate and the amount of food delivered to the nestlings. During the first broods, a high edge density and a high proportion of pine forests around the nests were related to a decreased production of males. The densities of spiders, the main food of the treecreeper, were 38% higher on spruce trunks than on pine trunks. This suggests that pine-dominated territories with female-biased broods may have contained less food during the first broods. The observation was further supported by the fact that the feeding frequencies were lower in territories with high proportions of pines. In the second broods, territories with a high forest patch density produced female-biased broods, whereas high-quality territories with a large amount of deciduous trees and mixed forests produced male-biased broods. Our results suggest that habitat quality as measured by habitat characteristics is associated with sex allocation in free-living birds.

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“…Dijkstra et al 1990;Olsen and Cockburn 1991). Meathrel and Ryder (1987) found that in ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis), the secondary sex ratios were biased towards the cheaper sex (females) in poor food years. Our results were similar in that the proportion of the cheaper sex (males) at hatching and fledging increased as the food supply declined (Table 2).…”

Section: Temporal Variation In Sex Ratiosmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other studies suggest parental resources are important because the sex ratio varies with laying date Weatherhead 1983;Dijkstra et al 1990), helpers at the nest (Gowaty and Lennartz 1985;Ligon and Ligon 1990), and egg size (Ankney 1982;Mead et al 1987). Only Meathrel and Ryder (1987) have related sex ratio to the physical condition of parents measured directly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facultative sex ratio manipulation in American kestrels

Wiebe

Bortolotti

1992

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

218

150

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For animals that are sexually dimorphic in size, the larger sex is expected to be more costly to raise to independence. Manipulating offspring sex ratios may thus be one means by which parents can fine-tune their reproductive effort to resource availability. Parents in poor physical condition or during poor food years should produce more of the cheaper (smaller) sex. We examined the sex ratios of 259 broods of American kestrels (Falco sparverius) between 1988 and 1990 in relation to food abundance (small mammals) and various attributes to the parents. The proportion of males at hatching increased as the food supply declined, and both male and female parents in poor physical condition were more likely to have male-biased broods than those in good condition. The mortality of eggs and young did not appear to be responsible for the biased sex ratios. The sex ratio was independent of the laying date; however, it was correlated with female body size. Small females produced more sons, perhaps because small size is more detrimental for females than males.

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Sex Ratios of Ring-Billed Gulls in Relation to Egg Size, Egg Sequence and Female Body Condition

Cited by 29 publications

References 25 publications

Variation in the size of Buller's albatross (Thalassarche bulleri) eggs

Variation in the size of Buller's albatross (Thalassarche bulleri) eggs

Forest fragmentation is associated with primary brood sex ratio in the treecreeper (Certhia familiaris)

Facultative sex ratio manipulation in American kestrels

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