Comment on 'Vegetation height and egg coloration differentially affect predation rate and overheating risk: an experimental test mimicking a ground-nesting bird'

摘要

It is often assumed that darker colored avian eggs are more at risk from overheating in direct sunlight than paler eggs. In fact, the evidence for this lies solely in studies using unnatural pigments; studies with natural pigments find no such effect. I argue that risk of egg overheating likely affects the behaviour of birds nesting in hot environments, but there is no evidence or physical reason to expect it to have a strong influence on egg coloration.