Incubation behaviour of greater snow geese in relation to weather conditions

Based on allometric considerations, goose species with larger body masses s hould spend more time on their nest during incubation than smaller ones. We documented hourly and daily variations in incubation behaviour of large go ose species nesting in the Arctic, the greater snow goose (Chen caerulescen s atlantica), and examined the effect of weather conditions on recess frequ ency and duration. Incubation behaviour was inferred from variations in tem perature recorded by adding artificial eggs to clutches. Mean nest attentiv eness during the incubation period was 91.4%, indicating that it can be rel atively low even for a large goose. Females took 5-6 recesses/day, which la sted for an average of 22.7 min each. Variability in incubation behaviour o ver time was greater within females than among females. Recesses were more frequent, and of longer duration, in the afternoon than at night. Females w ere also less attentive to their nest as incubation progressed, a consequen ce of both an increase in recess frequency and duration, except in the days before hatching, when nest attentiveness rose abruptly. The relatively low nest attendance of incubating greater snow geese may be a consequence of t he opportunity to feed close to the nest during recesses. Weather parameter s influenced movements away from the nests in 11 of the 12 females monitore d. Females took more recesses when wind velocity was low and, to a lesser e xtent, when air temperature and solar radiation were high, but the response was quite variable among females. Although females seem to adjust their be haviour in order to limit egg cooling, variations in risk of predation acco rding to time of day may also influence incubation patterns.