Paul Flint, Ph.D. (Former Employee)

We estimated the amount of incubation time that first laid Black Brent eggs received before completion of the clutch. First laid eggs received up to 48 hours of incubation before the last egg was laid in Brent clutches. Waterfowl clutches usually hatch within a period of 24 hours, suggesting that some mechanism reduces developmental asynchrony during incubation. The combination of...

We analyzed variation in egg size of Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) in relation to clutch size, laying date, female age, year, and position in the laying sequence. A total of 3,478 eggs was measured over three years. Egg size increased with clutch size and female age, and decreased with laying date, year, and position in the laying sequence. We did not detect a negative...

No abstract available.

Arctic geese nest in a highly seasonal environment in which ungrazed plants reach peak nitrogen concentrations when goslings hatch (Sedinger and Raveling 1986). Grazing by geese prolongs peak nutrient concentrations but reduces food availability. This should cause nutrient availability to decline seasonally. Here, we test the hypothesis that late-hatching goslings of Black Brant (Branta...