Resting and daily energy expenditures during reproduction are adjusted in opposite directions in free‐living birds

Summary Reproduction is energetically expensive, and daily energy expenditure ( DEE ) often peaks during the period of rearing young. The ‘potentiation’ hypothesis predicts that high DEE needs to be sustained by a corresponding up‐regulation of metabolic machinery; thus, a concomitant increase in the resting metabolic rate ( RMR ) is expected. Alternatively, the ‘compensation’ hypothesis predicts that DEE and RMR are regulated independently and...