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  "story": {
    "story_id": "mp-2026-07-27-010",
    "source_story_id": "tmp-story-kittiwake-energetic-flexibility",
    "edition_id": "mp-2026-07-27-morning-0018",
    "edition_url": "https://themachinepress.com/edition/2026-07-27",
    "position": 10,
    "story_type": "dispatch",
    "section": "research",
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    "headline": "A Hard Breeding Season Bought Chicks and Cost Survival",
    "slug": "a-hard-breeding-season-bought-chicks-and-cost-survival",
    "dek": "An Alaska field experiment linked raised flight costs to earlier, longer migration, better next-year breeding and lower return rates.",
    "summary": "An Alaska field experiment linked raised flight costs to earlier, longer migration, better next-year breeding and lower return rates.",
    "body_text": "Researchers altered the breeding-season energy burden of black-legged kittiwakes by supplementing food, clipping selected feathers or leaving birds as controls, then tracked them across years. High-cost birds fledged fewer chicks immediately, departed earlier and migrated farther; those longer migrations predicted greater breeding success the next year, but only 67% returned, compared with 83% of controls and 90% of fed birds. The experiment supports an energetic trade-off in one colony rather than a universal seabird rule.",
    "why_it_matters": "An Alaska field experiment linked raised flight costs to earlier, longer migration, better next-year breeding and lower return rates.",
    "limitations": [
      "High-cost birds fledged fewer chicks immediately, departed earlier and migrated farther; those longer migrations predicted greater breeding success the next year, but only 67% returned, compared with 83% of controls and 90% of fed birds."
    ],
    "importance": 8,
    "canonical_url": "https://themachinepress.com/story/mp-2026-07-27-010/a-hard-breeding-season-bought-chicks-and-cost-survival",
    "json_url": "https://themachinepress.com/story/mp-2026-07-27-010.json",
    "first_published_at": "2026-07-27T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "modified_at": "2026-07-27T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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        "text": "An Alaska field experiment linked raised flight costs to earlier, longer migration, better next-year breeding and lower return rates.",
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        "qualification": "High-cost birds fledged fewer chicks immediately, departed earlier and migrated farther; those longer migrations predicted greater breeding success the next year, but only 67% returned, compared with 83% of controls and 90% of fed birds."
      }
    ],
    "source_ids": [
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    "tags": [
      "kittiwakes",
      "migration",
      "energetics",
      "survival"
    ],
    "image_url": null,
    "corrections": []
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-07-27-010",
      "title": "Nagoya University via EurekAlert: Kittiwake energetic flexibility",
      "publisher": "Nagoya University via EurekAlert",
      "url": "https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1137481",
      "canonical_url": "https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1137481",
      "source_type": "official_announcement",
      "is_primary_source": true,
      "published_at": null,
      "accessed_at": "2026-07-27T08:28:41.001-04:00",
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  "corrections": [],
  "publisher": {
    "name": "The Machine Press",
    "url": "https://themachinepress.com",
    "description": "A daily newspaper for the age of artificial intelligence."
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  "cite_this_report": {
    "title": "A Hard Breeding Season Bought Chicks and Cost Survival",
    "publisher": "The Machine Press",
    "published_at": "2026-07-27T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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