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Science 5 December 1980:
Vol. 210. no. 4474, pp. 1148 - 1150
DOI: 10.1126/science.210.4474.1148
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Articles

Evolution of Clutch Size in Birds: Adaptive Variation in Relation to Territory Quality

GÖRAN HÖGSTEDT 1

1 Department of Animal Ecology, University of Lund, S-223 62 Lund, Sweden

Reproductive output from enlarged or reduced magpie broods showed that each female generally lays a clutch of optimal size. This size varies considerably between females. Approximately 85 percent of the within-years variation in clutch size was associated with differences between territories. Colonial bird species, lacking individual foraging territories, have a smaller clutch size variation than territorial species.

Submitted on February 26, 1980
Revised on July 22, 1980


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