The loss of a parent is the most common cause of brood failure in blue tits

(British Ecological Society) Complete brood failure in blue tits is almost always associated with the sudden and permanent disappearance of one of the parents. Peter Santema and Bart Kempenaers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen show in their study that the remaining parent substantially increased its effort to raise at least some of the chicks, which turned out to be successful in two thirds of the nests.

Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - June 12, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: news