The microclimate of the nests of waterfowl

A sophisticated radiotelemetry system was used to monitor continuously the temperature, relative humidity and the incidence of parental movement sufficient to admit light to, or turn the eggs in, the nest cup of (number of days recordings m parenthesis): Black Swan Cygnus atratus (68); Barnacle Goose Hrantal leucopsis (70); Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus (28) and Greylag Goose Ansev anser (26). The following features were common to all the nests: (1) a slow rise in the temperature of the nest cup with the onset of incuhation; (2) a temperature gradient in the vertical plane of the nest cup throughout incubation; (3) a diurnal rhythm in the temperature and humidity of the nest cup, this being caused by bird behaviour rather than the ambient environment; (4) nesting materials dried out during incubation thereby accentuating the steepness of the diffusion gradient between a real egg and the atmosphere of the nest cup; (5) the eggs, which were turned between 0.594.95 times an hour, were rotated mainly around their long axes.