Life Sciences Commons^™

Intrapopulation variation in hatching synchrony has been documented in several avian species, although little attention has been paid to this phenomenon. We experimentally reversed some synchronously and asynchronously hatched broods to test an individual-optimization hypothesis to explain variation in hatching synchrony in a population of House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) in central Illinois. Contrary to expectation, the number and quality (as measured by mass) of fledglings produced in reversed broods was the same as that for unmanipulated broods, as were recapture rates of juveniles and offspring recruitment to subsequent breeding populations. Thus, the results do not support the individual-optimization hypothesis as …