Scaling nestling energy requirements

The total energy metabolized (TME) by nestling birds, from hatching to fledging, scales as M 1.06 , with body‐mass at fledging (M) explaining 97% of the variation in TME. After statistically removing the effects of body‐mass, multiple‐regression analysis reveals that 69% of the variation in TME is explained by nestling developmental rate, expressed as the time to fledging ( t fl , days). Together t fl and M explain 99% of the variation in TME...