Morphological and physiological changes are characteristics of birds during the reproductive cycle. Reproduction in birds is controlled by the interaction of various hormones. The brood patch plays an important role in mediating a positive feedback between incubation behaviour and hormonal secretion. Studying about the hormones responsible for parental behaviour and stress in birds would help us determine the amount of effort parents invest towards reproduction and survival. This study aims to

• Characterize the progression of brood patch modification during the breeding cycle
• Correlate the onset of broodiness with brood patch modification
• Study the trade-off between parental effort (prolactin) and survival (corticosterone) during the breeding cycle