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Structure in avian growth patterns: a multivariate study of passerine development
Author(s) -
O'Connor Raymond J.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1978.tb03319.x
Subject(s) - biology , parus , passerine , sparrow , hatching , plumage , feather , zoology , passer , multivariate statistics , principal component analysis , cyanistes , ecology , statistics , mathematics
A series of four principal component analyses was applied to data on the nestling development of three passerines, the Blue tit Parus caeruleus , House martin Delichon urbica and House sparrow Passer domesticus. The pattern of weight development in the tit and sparrow was largely controlled by selection for growth rate and for final size but in the martin final size was due to the prevailing levels of nestling food. Development in all three species was primarily through size increase in all growth measures but the differential development of individual organs or body constituents nevertheless accounted for 15% or more of the variance in developmental pattern. Blue tit young in broods of above average size sacrificed differential development to maintain size increase. Species specific differences in the integration of weight and plumage development and their sensitivity to hatching weight and hatching order were explicable as adaptive modifications of developmental pattern to the nature of each species' food supply. The value of such individual measures of development as weight and feather growth is assessed in the light of multivariate analysis of arrays of such variables.