Notes on Split Clutch Nesting and Supernumerary Nests in the Mountain plover
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Clutch size is traditionally defined as the number of eggs laid by a mated pair in a single breeding attempt. Some avian species increase reproductive output by splitting the breeding attempt across multiple nests that are simultaneously and independently incubated by either the male or the female. In this paper, we define a “clutch” for species with such split clutch nesting as the sum of eggs laid in rapid succession across two or more nest cups in a single breeding attempt and introduce the term “split-clutch” for the fraction of the clutch laid in a single nest cup. We then report cases of supernumerary split-clutches in the mountain plover, a species known to use this strategy. The case of a 10-egg nest represents the largest split-clutch observed in this species. We discuss hypothetical explanations for supernumerary nests in species with split clutch nesting, considering physiological limitations as well as potential for parasitism. We conclude that our observation of a 10-egg split-clutch either increases the known physiological limit for a single laying female or establishes a record of parasitism in the mountain plover. Further documentation of parentage of supernumerary split-clutches is warranted.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.003 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".