Nidhi Yadav <br/><br/>
Season-dependent reproductive performance in a non-seasonally breeding diurnal species, the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) 

 - P 452-456 
<br/><br/> The reproduction and its associated behaviour in a<br/>non-seasonal species are considered totally independent<br/>of seasons. To assess this, we examined seasonal differences in the nest building and reproductive performance in diurnal zebra finches that were hatched and<br/>raised in outdoor aviaries. Adult male and female<br/>birds were separately housed in cages equipped with<br/>two perches stacked in a large aviary, receiving the<br/>natural day length (NDL) and temperature conditions.<br/>Cages housing male birds were also fixed with a nest box.<br/>After two weeks of acclimation, the males and females<br/>were paired randomly, and the parameters of nest<br/>building and reproductive performance, such as the<br/>onset of egg laying, clutch size and hatchlings and<br/>fledglings per pair, were recorded in the winter (second<br/>week of November 2022 to the first week of February<br/>2023), and subsequently similarly in the summer (third<br/>week of April 2023 to the first week of July 2023) seasons. The pairs took more time to initiate (mean ± SE –<br/>winter: 2.92 ± 0.58; summer: 2.33 ± 0.45) and complete<br/>(mean ± SE – winter: 6.75 ± 0.52; summer: 4.50 ± 0.27)<br/>the nest in winter, as compared to that in summer. Per<br/>pair, the clutch size was significantly smaller in winter<br/>(mean ± SE: 2.2 ± 0.36) than in summer (mean ± SE:<br/>3.6 ± 0.34), but the hatchlings (P = 0.2123) and fledglings (P = 0.5302) were not significantly different<br/>between the two seasons, perhaps due to higher temperature and dryness in summer. These results indicated an underlying seasonality in zebra finches, which<br/>could be economically useful to those engaged in<br/>breeding and raising of pet species. 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Facted Index Terms: </label><br/>Clutch size<br/>nest building<br/> seasons<br/>zebra finch<br/>reproduction