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Hatch timing and parental bare part coloration are associated with chick growth in a mutually ornamented seabird - Journal of Ornithology
In species with obligate bi-parental care, investment by both parents in a current reproductive bout is critical to offspring growth and survival. The degree to which an individual can invest in their offspring relies on their quality as a parent. Parental quality can be communicated between individuals in a mated pair via ornamental features, as they may honestly reflect aspects of direct or indirect investment in offspring. In this study, we investigated whether the yellow-orange fleshy integuments of Atlantic Puffins Fratercula arctica reflect parental quality, as approximated by offspring hatch date and growth metrics. No aspect of parental coloration predicted hatch date, but several metrics of maternal and paternal coloration predicted offspring mass growth, peak mass and normalized wing growth. We also explored whether hatch date influenced patterns of chick growth and found that timing (before or after the arrival of the main food source) significantly predicted mass and skeletal growth. Specifically, early hatching chicks achieved higher peak masses but exhibited reduced wing growth, potentially reflecting alternative strategies between investing primarily in weight gain or structural development. Together, these results highlight chick growth as a complex feature associated with both breeding phenology and parental phenotype.
