Nestling provisioning in water pipits ( Anthus spinoletta ): do parents go for specific nutrients or profitable prey?

Abstract In species with long-term partnerships, optimal mate preferences may differ from actual mate choice, and pair displays that advertise individual quality may be expected. We examined the relationship between nest-building and nestling-provisioning effort in Neotropical Buff-breasted Wrens (Thryothorus leucotis) to determine whether male or female expenditure during nest construction was used as an indicator of subsequent parental ability. Buff-breasted Wrens build two nest types: breeding nests used for raising offspring, and “dormitory“ nests built year-round and used by pairs for roosting overnight. The building effort of males was greater than that of their mates for dormitory nests, whereas male and female effort were similar during breeding-nest construction and nestling provisioning. Despite large within-sex variation in building and provisioning efforts, male and female effort within pairs were significantly positively correlated for construction of both nest types and for nestling feeding. Effort expended by males during dormitory-nest construction was positively correlated with nestling-provisioning effort, whereas female building effort was not. No relationship existed between effort in breeding-nest construction and nestling provisioning in either sex. These results suggest that effort in dormitory-nest construction was an indicator of male Buff- breasted Wren parental ability. Females that survived to the year following observation built dormitory nests at a lower rate than those that disappeared, which suggests that nest building may be costly and that by building more than females, males may increase the survival prospects of their partners. Dormitory-nest building by males may play dual roles throughout the year, indicating parental ability and investment in the partnership. La Construcción de Nidos es un Indicador de la Calidad de los Padres en la Especie Neotropical Monógama Thryothorus leucotis

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Nestling provisioning by Hairy and White-headed woodpeckers in managed ponderosa pine forests

The Wilson Journal of Ornithology ◽

10.1676/12-188.1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 125 (3) ◽

pp. 534-545 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jeffrey M. Kozma ◽

Andrew J. Kroll

Keyword(s):

Ponderosa Pine ◽

Pine Forests ◽

Ponderosa Pine Forests ◽

Nestling Provisioning

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Paternal care in the European starling, Sturnus vulgaris : nestling provisioning

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology ◽

10.1007/s002650050293 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 39 (5) ◽

pp. 301-309 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

M. I. Sandell ◽

Henrik G. Smith ◽

Måns Bruun

Keyword(s):

Paternal Care ◽

Sturnus Vulgaris ◽

European Starling ◽

Nestling Provisioning

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Prolactin and the regulation of parental care and helping behavior in cooperatively breeding white-browed sparrow weaver societies

10.1101/2021.09.22.461403 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lindsay A Walker ◽

Linda Tschirren ◽

Jennifer E York ◽

Peter J Sharp ◽

Simone L Meddle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parental Care ◽

Cooperative Breeding ◽

Natural Variation ◽

Underlying Mechanism ◽

Helping Behavior ◽

Fine Scale ◽

Physiological Mechanisms ◽

Nestling Provisioning ◽

Cooperatively Breeding ◽

Nestling Feeding

In many cooperatively breeding societies non-breeding individuals help to rear the offspring of breeders. The physiological mechanisms that regulate such cooperative helping behavior are poorly understood, but may have been co-opted, during the evolution of cooperative breeding, from pre-existing mechanisms that regulated parental care. Key among these may be a role for prolactin. Here we investigate whether natural variation in circulating prolactin levels predicts both parental and helper contributions to nestling provisioning in cooperatively breeding white-browed sparrow weavers, Plocepasser mahali. In sparrow weaver groups, a single dominant pair monopolize reproduction and non-breeding subordinates help with nestling feeding. We show that: (i) among parents, dominant females feed nestlings at higher rates, make longer provisioning visits and have higher prolactin levels than dominant males; and (ii) among subordinates, engaged in cooperative helping behavior, those within their natal groups feed nestlings at higher rates and have higher prolactin levels than immigrants. Moreover, continuous variation in prolactin levels positively predicts nestling-provisioning rates and mean provisioning visit durations when all bird classes are combined. These relationships are principally driven by differences among bird classes in both circulating prolactin levels and provisioning traits; the more limited within-class variation in prolactin and provisioning traits were not evidently correlated, highlighting a likely role for additional mechanisms in the fine-scale regulation of care. Our findings broadly support the hypothesis that parental care and cooperative helping behavior are regulated by a common underlying mechanism and highlight the need for experimentation to now establish the causality of any role for prolactin.

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Experimental evidence that hyperthermia limits offspring provisioning in a temperate-breeding bird

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.201589 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (10) ◽

pp. 201589

Author(s):

Simon Tapper ◽

Joseph J. Nocera ◽

Gary Burness

Keyword(s):

Body Temperature ◽

Heat Dissipation ◽

Endurance Performance ◽

Tachycineta Bicolor ◽

Tree Swallows ◽

Feeding Rates ◽

Breeding Bird ◽

Ambient Temperatures ◽

Nestling Provisioning ◽

Daily Exercise

In many vertebrates, parental care can require long bouts of daily exercise that can span several weeks. Exercise, especially in the heat, raises body temperature, and can lead to hyperthermia. Typical strategies for regulating body temperature during endurance exercise include modifying performance to avoid hyperthermia (anticipatory regulation) and allowing body temperature to rise above normothermic levels for brief periods of time (facultative hyperthermia). Facultative hyperthermia is commonly employed by desert birds to economize on water, but this strategy may also be important for chick-rearing birds to avoid reducing offspring provisioning when thermoregulatory demands are high. In this study, we tested how chick-rearing birds balance their own body temperature against the need to provision dependent offspring. We experimentally increased the heat dissipation capacity of breeding female tree swallows ( Tachycineta bicolor ) by trimming their ventral feathers and remotely monitored provisioning rates, body temperature and the probability of hyperthermia. Birds with an experimentally increased capacity to dissipate heat (i.e. trimmed treatment) maintained higher feeding rates than controls at high ambient temperatures (greater than or equal to 25°C), while maintaining lower body temperatures. However, at the highest temperatures (greater than or equal to 25°C), trimmed individuals became hyperthermic. These results provide evidence that chick-rearing tree swallows use both anticipatory regulation and facultative hyperthermia during endurance performance. With rising global temperatures, individuals may need to increase their frequency of facultative hyperthermia to maintain nestling provisioning, and thereby maximize reproductive success.

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Diet and Postnatal Growth in Red-Legged and Black-Legged Kittiwakes: An Interspecies Cross-Fostering Experiment

The Auk ◽

10.1093/auk/117.4.1016 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 117 (4) ◽

pp. 1016-1028 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Brian K. Lance ◽

Daniel D. Roby

Keyword(s):

Postnatal Growth ◽

Dry Mass ◽

Food Provisioning ◽

Lean Tissue ◽

Interspecific Differences ◽

Nestling Provisioning ◽

Provisioning Rate ◽

Species Specific ◽

Postfledging Survival ◽

Cross Fostering

AbstractRed-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa brevirostris) and Black-legged Kittiwakes (R. tridactyla) are morphologically similar, breed in mixed colonies, and nest at the same time, but they exhibit substantial differences in diet, rate of nestling provisioning, and foraging distribution. We cross-fostered nestlings of the two species to test the competing hypotheses that growth in mass of kittiwakes is constrained by diet (i.e. composition, provisioning rate, and quality) or by inherent species-specific physiology. Survival and body mass of cross-fostered nestlings at 30 to 32 days posthatching did not differ from those of conspecific controls. Black-legged Kittiwake fledglings had higher lean mass than Red-legged Kittiwake fledglings regardless of whether they were raised by foster or natural parents. However, nestlings of both species raised by Red-legged Kittiwakes were 50% fatter at 30 to 32 days posthatching than those raised by Black-legged Kittiwakes. Regurgitations from nestlings raised by Red-legged Kittiwakes consisted primarily of lanternfish and contained about twice the lipid (percent dry mass) as regurgitations from nestlings raised by Black-legged Kittiwakes. Consequently, growth rate of lean tissue was genetically and/or physiologically constrained, whereas rate of fat deposition was constrained by diet. We hypothesize that the adaptive significance of lanternfish in diets for Red-legged Kittiwake nestlings is manifest in higher prefledging and/or postfledging survival. Interspecific differences in energy density of food and food provisioning rates balanced each other so that rates of energy provisioning were similar.

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