Stress Response and the Value of Reproduction: Are Birds Prudent Parents?

In vertebrates, stressors such as starvation or predator attacks stimulate the rapid elevation of circulating glucocorticoid hormones, triggering physiological and behavioral responses that aid immediate survival but simultaneously inhibit reproduction. This stress response has been proposed to serve as a physiological mediator of life‐history trade‐offs: when the value of current reproduction is high relative to the value of future reproduction...