Do female Yellow Warblers (Dendroica petechia) incubatewhile in the nest during the laying period?

Although some passerine species heat their eggs during the brief periods of nest attentiveness early in the laying period (e.g., Haftorn 1981), egg temperature data are not available for Yellow Warblers (Dendroica petechia). As part of a larger study on the effect of Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) eggs on female Yellow Warbler nest attentiveness, I recorded Yellow Warbler nest temperatures to determine whether diurnal cycles in attentiveness exist that could confound observations made at only one time during the day.Periodogram analysis was used to ascertain whether significant periodic components existed in the nesttemperature data.

D. Glen McMaster, UFS (Delta Marsh) Annual Report, Vol. 31, 1996