Latitudinal Variation In Day Length And Working Day Length Has A Confounding Effect When Comparing Nest Attentiveness In Tropical And Temperate Species

During incubation, tropical passerines have been shown to have lower levels of nest attentiveness than their counterparts at north temperate latitudes, spending a higher percentage of daylight time off the nest. This difference has been interpreted as evidence of parental restraint; tropical birds allocate more time to daily self-maintenance, perhaps preserving their higher annual survival rates