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Intraspecific and intraclutch variability of avian egg
Králová, Barbora ; Jelínek, Václav (advisor) ; Sedláček, Ondřej (referee)
Egg-laying birds have a huge variation between species in terms of number, size, pigmentation, but also in the speckled nature of the eggs. Bird eggs vary not only between species, but also within species, even within a clutch. It is only recently that more speculation has begun about the possible causes of intraspecific variation. Hypotheses about intraclutch variation started to emerge even later. This thesis presents and describes some of the hypotheses dealing with egg variability. One of the most significant factors affecting intraspecific variability is food availability, which in turn affects female fitness. For intraclutch variability, most studies focus on the difference between the last egg and other eggs within the clutch. In many cases, the last egg has a size difference, but also a different amount of pigment compared to the other eggs in the clutch, which are not significantly different from each other.
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The role of UV reflection in parasite egg rejection in reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)
Šulc, Michal ; Procházka, Petr (advisor) ; Fuchs, Roman (referee)
One of the best ways how hosts may defend their clutch against brood parasitism is recognition and rejection of parasitic eggs. It has been documented that ability to percept UV light in birds affects their behaviour. By using a spectrophotometer we found that Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) eggs and Common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) eggs differ mainly in brightness but also in UV hue. We investigated the influence of birds' UV vision on recognition and rejection of parasitic eggs. Therefore we performed three experiments to reveal the role of eggshell UV reflectance on egg rejection in this host. In the first experiment, we parasitized clutches with artificial white eggs differing only in UV reflectance (UV- and UV+). In the other two, we experimentally reduced UV reflectance from conspecific and host own eggs. We used a UV light blocker, which did not influence the reflectance shape in the other parts of spectra. As a control we used a group of conspecific and own eggs coated in Vaseline, which did not affect eggshell reflectance. In each experiment, we monitored host response to parasitic eggs. Because the Reed Warbler's eggs reflect UV radiation themselves, we expected that white UV- eggs would be rejected as well as the eggs coated in UV blocker at a higher rate than white UV+ eggs and...
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