As the egg turns: monitoring egg attendance behavior in wild birds using novel data logging technology.

Egg turningis unique to birds and critical for embryonic development in most avian species. Technology that can measure changes in egg orientation and temperature at fine temporal scales(1 Hz) was neither readily available nor small enough to fit into artificial eggs until recently. Here we show the utility of novel miniature data loggersequipped with 3-axis (i.e., triaxial) accelerometers, magnetometers, and a temperature thermistorto study egg turningbehavior in free-rangingbirds. Artificial eggs containing egg loggers were deployed in the nests of three seabirdspecies for 1–7 days of continuous monitoring. These species (1) turnedtheir eggs more frequently (up to 6.5 turnsh−1) than previously reported for other species, but angular changes were often small (1–10° most common), (2) displayed similar mean turningrates (ca. 2 turnsh−1) despite major differences in reproductive ecology, and (3) demonstrated distinct diurnal cyclingin egg temperatures that varied between 1.4 and 2.4°C. These novel egg loggers revealed high-resolution, three-dimensional egg turningbehavior heretofore never measured in wild birds. This new form of biotechnology has broad applicability for addressing fundamental questions in avian breeding ecology, life history, and development, and can be used as a tool to monitor birds that are sensitive to disturbance while breeding.