scholarly journals Sharing the burden: on the division of parental care and vocalizations during incubation

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1062-1068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwa M Kavelaars ◽  
Luc Lens ◽  
Wendt Müller
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Parental Effort ◽  
Levels Of Care ◽  
Incubation Behavior ◽  
Evolutionary Conflict ◽  
Larus Fuscus ◽  
Nestling Period

Abstract In species with biparental care, individuals only have to pay the costs for their own parental investment, whereas the contribution of their partner comes for free. Each parent hence benefits if its partner works harder, creating an evolutionary conflict of interest. How parents resolve this conflict and how they achieve the optimal division of parental tasks often remains elusive. In this study, we investigated whether lesser black-backed gulls (Larus fuscus) divide parental care during incubation equally and whether this correlates with the extent of vocalizations between pair-members during incubation. We then investigated whether pairs showing more evenly distributed incubation behavior had a higher reproductive success. To this end, we recorded incubation behavior and vocalizations for 24-h time periods. Subsequently, we experimentally increased or decreased brood sizes in order to manipulate parental effort, and followed offspring development from hatching till fledging. Although incubation bouts were, on average, slightly longer in females, patterns varied strongly between pairs, ranging from primarily female incubation over equal sex contributions to male-biased incubation. Pairs contributing more equally to incubation vocalized more during nest relief and had a higher reproductive output when brood sizes were experimentally increased. Thus, vocalizations and a more equal division of parental care during incubation may facilitate higher levels of care during the nestling period, as suggested by a greater reproductive success when facing high brood demand, or they indicate pair quality.

scholarly journals Tri-axial accelerometry shows differences in energy expenditure and parental effort throughout the breeding season in long-lived raptors

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascual LÓPEZ-LÓPEZ ◽  
Arturo M PERONA ◽  
Olga EGEA-CASAS ◽  
Jon ETXEBARRIA MORANT ◽  
Vicente URIOS
Keyword(s):  
Energy Expenditure ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Breeding Ecology ◽  
Parental Effort ◽  
Ecological Data ◽  
Movement Trajectories

Abstract Cutting-edge technologies are extremely useful to develop new workflows in studying ecological data, particularly to understand animal behaviour and movement trajectories at the individual level. Although parental care is a well-studied phenomenon, most studies have been focused on direct observational or video recording data, as well as experimental manipulation. Therefore, what happens out of our sight still remains unknown. Using high-frequency GPS/GSM dataloggers and tri-axial accelerometers we monitored 25 Bonelli’s eagles (Aquila fasciata) during the breeding season to understand parental activities from a broader perspective. We used recursive data, measured as number of visits and residence time, to reveal nest attendance patterns of biparental care with role specialization between sexes. Accelerometry data interpreted as the Overall Dynamic Body Acceleration, a proxy of energy expenditure, showed strong differences in parental effort throughout the breeding season and between sexes. Thereby, males increased substantially their energetic requirements, due to the increased workload, while females spent most of the time on the nest. Furthermore, during critical phases of the breeding season, a low percentage of suitable hunting spots in eagles’ territories led them to increase their ranging behaviour in order to find food, with important consequences in energy consumption and mortality risk. Our results highlight the crucial role of males in raptor species exhibiting biparental care. Finally, we exemplify how biologging technologies are an adequate and objective method to study parental care in raptors as well as to get deeper insight into breeding ecology of birds in general.

Energy Expenditure in Reproductive Effort of Male and Female Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

The Auk ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne H. Brunton
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Energy Expenditure ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Mating Effort ◽  
Parental Effort ◽  
Nest Failure ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Charadrius Vociferus

Abstract The reproductive investment strategies of the sexes during the breeding season are detailed for Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), a monogamous plover. I measured the energy investments of the sexes in reproductive, mating, and parental effort. As predicted, males expend more mating effort than females; however, the sexes expend equal amounts of parental effort. Total energy expenditure in reproductive effort (mating and parental effort) during a successful nesting attempt was also equal for the sexes. However, early parental effort expenditures by females, early mating effort expenditures by males, and high rates of nest failure combine to result in female reproductive energy expenditures being significantly higher over the breeding season. This suggests that energy expenditure alone is not adequate for accurate comparisons of the relative investments of the sexes. Studies investigating male and female investments need to consider the degree and pattern of nest failures along with patterns of energy expenditure. The advantages to male and female Killdeer of sharing parental care is demonstrated using adult removal experiments. In general, a deserted parent expends more energy in parental effort than a bi-parental parent and has significantly lower reproductive success. However, males are able to hatch chicks, whereas females lose or abandon their nests within a few days of mate removal. Thus, monogamy in Killdeer appears to result from high nest failure rates, the necessity of two parents for any reproductive success, and the generalizable nature of Killdeer parental care.

Aggression, superterritories, and reproductive success in tree swallows

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (10) ◽  
pp. 2072-2078 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reid N. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Tree Swallows ◽  
Nestling Growth ◽  
Territorial Aggression ◽  
Nest Boxes ◽  
Nestling Period ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insular Population

The relationship between territorial aggression and reproductive success was studied on a well-established, insular population of tree swallows. Four treatments of nest boxes that differed in interbox distances were created. Short interbox distances significantly reduced the occupancy of nest boxes both between and within years. Swallows in short interbox distance treatments defended more than one nest box, which was an additional resource not necessary for their successful reproduction. Excluded potential breeders attempted to colonize vacant boxes within another swallow's territory throughout the nestling period, but were usually prevented by the aggression of the resident pair. Aggressive activity had no direct effect on three measures of a swallow's reproductive output: percent young fledged, nestling growth, and fledgling weights. The concept of intraspecific aggressive neglect is questioned. However, by excluding potential breeders from nesting, for whatever reason, breeding tree swallows increased their relative genetic contribution to future generations.

Parental Care and Polygyny in the Chiffchaff Phylloscopus Collybita

Behaviour ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 133 (13-14) ◽  
pp. 1077-1094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Threshold Model ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Food Provisioning ◽  
Nestling Period

AbstractThe males of most bird species help to raise the young, and females may suffer costs from polygyny because of having to share the male parental care. In the chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) nests of monogamously and polygynously mated females had similar success in relation to the proportion of fledged young. Overall, male chiffchaffs provided little assistance to females during the nestling period, but they increased help when the young left the nest. Females who choose already-paired males (secondary females) incurred lower reproductive success, because they were unable to start a second brood after raising their first brood. Primary and monogamous females which received male help in the form of food provisioning during the fledgling period were more likely to attempt a second brood. This is the first study that reports associated costs to secondary females due to the lack of paternal aid after the young have fledged the nest. However, secondary females still can obtain compensatory benefits, as predicted by the polygyny threshold model, since most of them settled in good quality habitats, close to the primary females.

scholarly journals Simultaneous GPS-tracking of parents reveals a similar parental investment within pairs, but no immediate co-adjustment on a trip-to-trip basis

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwa M. Kavelaars ◽  
Jan M. Baert ◽  
Jolien Van Malderen ◽  
Eric W. M. Stienen ◽  
Judy Shamoun-Baranes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Gps Tracking ◽  
Nest Attendance ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
Foraging Effort ◽  
Levels Of Care ◽  
Larus Fuscus ◽  
Underlying Processes

Abstract Background Parental care benefits the offspring, but comes at a cost for each parent, which in biparental species gives rise to a conflict between partners regarding the within-pair distribution of care. Pair members could avoid exploitation by efficiently keeping track of each other’s efforts and coordinating their efforts. Parents may, therefore, space their presence at the nest, which could also allow for permanent protection of the offspring. Additionally, they may respond to their partner’s previous investment by co-adjusting their efforts on a trip-to-trip basis, resulting in overall similar parental activities within pairs. Methods We investigated the coordination of parental care measured as nest attendance and foraging effort in the Lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus), a species with long nest bouts that performs extended foraging trips out of sight of their partner. This was achieved by GPS-tracking both pair members simultaneously during the entire chick rearing period. Results We found that the timing of foraging trips (and hence nest attendance) was coordinated within gull pairs, as individuals left the colony only after their partner had returned. Parents did not match their partner’s investment by actively co-adjusting their foraging efforts on a trip-by-trip basis. Yet, pair members were similar in their temporal and energetic investments during chick rearing. Conclusion Balanced investment levels over a longer time frame suggest that a coordination of effort may not require permanent co-adjustment of the levels of care on a trip-to-trip basis, but may instead rather take place at an earlier stage in the reproductive attempt, or over integrated longer time intervals. Identifying the drivers and underlying processes of coordination will be one of the next necessary steps to fully understand parental cooperation in long-lived species.

Mating system, mate choice and parental care in a bark beetle

2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (5) ◽  
pp. 611-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Baruch ◽  
Z. Mendel ◽  
I. Scharf ◽  
A. R Harari
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Mating System ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Bark Beetle ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Male Body Size

AbstractThe cypress bark beetle,Phloeosinus armatus, is a common element of the dying cypress tree system in East-Mediterranean countries. Adult beetles congregate for breeding on this ephemeral resource. We studied three traits that characterize this beetle's sexual behavior and linked them to its reproductive success: mating system, mate choice, and parental care. We found that the females are the ‘pioneering sex’, excavating the mating chamber. The average female is slightly larger than the male, and female and male body size is correlated, demonstrating size-assortative mating. The time it takes for a male to enter the mating chamber is positively correlated with female size and negatively correlated with its own size, which is perhaps responsible for this assortative mating. Males remain in the gallery during the period of oviposition, gradually leaving soon after the eggs hatch. The number of eggs laid and tunnel length are positively correlated with male body size. Finally, in the presence of both parents, more eggs are laid than when the female alone is present, demonstrating the important contribution of biparental care for reproductive success. We suggest that the interaction between a monogamous mating system, assortative mating, and biparental care contributes to reproductive success.

scholarly journals Carry on caring: infected females maintain their parental care despite high mortality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Ratz ◽  
Katy M Monteith ◽  
Pedro F Vale ◽  
Per T Smiseth
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Sickness Behavior ◽  
Immune Gene ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Immune Genes ◽  
Levels Of Care ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides ◽  
High Level

Abstract Parental care is a key component of an organism’s reproductive strategy that is thought to trade-off with allocation toward immunity. Yet, it is unclear how caring parents respond to pathogens: do infected parents reduce care as a sickness behavior or simply from being ill or do they prioritize their offspring by maintaining high levels of care? To address this issue, we investigated the consequences of infection by the pathogen Serratia marcescens on mortality, time spent providing care, reproductive output, and expression of immune genes of female parents in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. We compared untreated control females with infected females that were inoculated with live bacteria, immune-challenged females that were inoculated with heat-killed bacteria, and injured females that were injected with buffer. We found that infected and immune-challenged females changed their immune gene expression and that infected females suffered increased mortality. Nevertheless, infected and immune-challenged females maintained their normal level of care and reproductive output. There was thus no evidence that infection led to either a decrease or an increase in parental care or reproductive output. Our results show that parental care, which is generally highly flexible, can remain remarkably robust and consistent despite the elevated mortality caused by infection by pathogens. Overall, these findings suggest that infected females maintain a high level of parental care, a strategy that may ensure that offspring receive the necessary amount of care but that might be detrimental to the parents’ own survival or that may even facilitate disease transmission to offspring.

Fledgling care and male parental effort in the Hooded Warbler (Wilsonia citrina)

1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 576-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley J. Evans Ogden ◽  
Bridget J. M. Stutchbury
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Parental Effort ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Wilsonia Citrina ◽  
Parental Feeding ◽  
Nestling Period ◽  
Brood Division ◽  
Hooded Warblers ◽  
Care Period

We followed family groups of Hooded Warblers (Wilsonia citrina) from hatching through to fledgling independence to determine (i) the duration and extent of parental care of fledglings, (ii) the extent of brood division, and (iii) whether male parental effort in caring for nestlings predicts male effort in caring for fledglings. The 9-day nestling period of Hooded Warblers was followed by 4 – 6 weeks of further parental care of fledged young. Parental feeding rates increased from hatching to when the young fledged from the nest, and males fed nestlings significantly more than females did. At the fledgling stage feeding rates to fledglings were significantly higher than at the nestling stage, but there was no difference in feeding rates between the parents. Parents usually divided the brood of fledglings equally, so that each parent assumed full and exclusive care of a subset of the brood. However, many females (45%) initiated a second brood and the male assumed care of the entire first brood at the time when his mate began incubating. The proportion of feeding trips to nestlings made by the male was not predictive of his subsequent effort in the care of fledglings. Exclusion of the fledgling care period in studies of parental investment may give a biased picture of overall investment on the part of both male and female parents.

Parental-care responses by yellow warblers (Dendroica petechia) to simultaneous manipulations of food abundance and brood size

1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (5) ◽  
pp. 916-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
G A Lozano ◽  
R E Lemon
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Food Abundance ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Parental Effort ◽  
Dendroica Petechia ◽  
Supplemental Food ◽  
Yellow Warblers ◽  
Partial Compensation

Theoretical models view biparental care as a state of equilibrium that can be maintained only when the amount of parental care provided by one parent depends on the amount provided by its mate. According to these models, biparental care results when a decrease in the contribution of one parent is partially, but not completely, compensated for by an increase in the contribution of the other parent. Furthermore, this equilibrium state can only be stable if any other external factor affects male and female effort equally. We used yellow warblers (Dendroica petechia) to examine whether changes in brood size and food abundance affect the parental contributions of the sexes equally. Supplemental food did not affect parental care by either sex, but brood size did. Both males and females provided more to larger broods, and in large broods only, their provisioning rates increased with nestling age. Parental effort per nestling was similar in the two sexes, being higher for smaller broods and increasing with nestling age. Based on brood biomass, parental effort was greater for smaller broods, and decreased with nestling age in females only. Therefore, in agreement with current models of the maintenance of biparental care, the effects of brood size and nestling age on parental care did not differ significantly between the sexes. Nonetheless, data from other species and theory indicate that the costs and benefits of providing parental care differ between the sexes, so it is unlikely that biparental care can be maintained solely by a partial compensation response.

Female convict cichlids adjust gonadal investment in current reproduction in response to relative risk of brood predation

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian D. Wisenden
Keyword(s):  
Relative Risk ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Site Quality ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Care Theory ◽  
Convict Cichlids

Parental care theory predicts that investment in current reproduction should be increased when the prospects of success in current reproductive effort are relatively high, and reduced when they are poor relative to expected success from future reproductive effort. A number of studies have shown that levels of postspawning parental investment (brood defence, parents' willingness to risk predation) increase when the brood is augmented. However, few studies have shown a change in pre-spawning (gonadal) investment in response to indirect indicators of reproductive success, such as nest site quality. Convict cichlids (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum) are small freshwater fish that have biparental care of their young. Pairs of convict cichlids were required to spawn in either "risky" or "secure" spawning caves in the presence of potential egg predators. As predicted by parental care theory, females laid significantly more eggs in secure spawning caves than in risky spawning caves. The ability of this iteroparous fish to adjust gonadal investment in this manner would serve to optimize the use of its resources under varying environmental conditions and ultimately allow it to realize maximize lifetime reproductive success.

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