Dehydration risk is associated with reduced nest attendance and hatching success in a cooperatively breeding bird, the southern pied babbler Turdoides bicolor

We have used a novel non-invasive doubly labelled water technique and detailed behaviour observations to show that birds might abandon incubation during hot periods to avoid dehydration as a consequence of incubating at high temperatures; potentially exposing their eggs to the risk of overheating and becoming unviable.