Insulin‐like growth factor 1 relieves the constraints on the growth of young wild passerines

To gain a selective advantage for survival in stochastic environments, the growth of different body parameters of juvenile animals should be constantly adjusted according to prevailing conditions. Hormones, especially insulin‐like growth factor 1 (IGF‐1), are an important part of physiological mechanisms mediating life‐history variability in free‐living animals when connecting available resources (e.g. food) with pathways of somatic growth. We used an IGF‐1 injection treatment in free‐living European Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca nestlings to mimic experimentally the differentiation of growth conditions for chicks with a similar genetic background. We showed that there is probably a physiological trade‐off for young animals between the growth rates of structural size and body mass, where IGF‐1 could be part of the physiological modulatory system of this trade‐off. By weakening internal constraints that limit growth, IGF‐1 could help to relieve the trade‐off between these competing body size parameters.