Relation Between Temperature And Growth Of Great Tits

The Great Tit (parus major), a small, secondary cavity-nesting temperature zone migrant,is relative common habitat in the wide of world. Secondary cavity-nestling birds are birds thatcan not excavate cavity by themselves, and use natural cavities formed by decay or, morecommonly, excavated by primary cavity nesters.This study was conducted from March through July, 2005,on approximately75.5ha fieldsof the secondary forest of natural protective area Zuojia, Jilin province in China. We hanged144 nest-boxes together in experiment plots for secondary cavity-nesting birds. Two style nestentrance: one is 4*5cm,the other is 3*3cm..This study documents growth and development of thermoregulation in nestlings of GreatTit.Body mass, body length,bead length,tarsus length and body temperature of nestlings weredetermined every two days. Body temperature of nestlings was recorded within the nest.Relative growth rate were calculated and growth patterns of body mass and different organswere fitted with the logistic equation.We find that body mass,body length,bead length and tarsus length are highest relativegrowth rates from 0 to 3 days during the period of development. And body mass growth isprior to other organs. This result consistent with energy allocate hypothesis.Feather eruption began around day 5, brushing in dorsal and ventral tracts began one ortwo days later, and brushing of the flight feathers around day 8. Asymptotic body masses wereattained around day 14, but nestlings did not fledge until another 1to 2 days. If irrupt, maybefledge immediately.The physiological development of endothermy was closely correlation with increasedbody masses, but was not significantly correlated with changes in plumages development,when mass and age were statistically controlled. Potentially more important, physiologicalchanges enable better generation and regulation of heat flow.