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.

Intersexual variation and factors affecting parental care in Western Bluebirds: a comparison of nestling and fledgling periods

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. With ◽  
Russell P. Balda
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Energetic Costs ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Brooding Period ◽  
Parental Feeding ◽  
Nestling Period ◽  
Brood Division ◽  
Western Bluebirds

We compared factors affecting parental feeding rates in Western Bluebirds (Sialia mexicana) between the nestling and fledgling periods to evaluate intersexual variation in parental care. Parents did not adjust the frequency of feeding visits between modal (five young) and below-modal (four or less young) broods during the nestling period. The frequency of parental feeding visits also was not significantly affected by offspring age during the nestling period. Males and females exhibited no significant differences in provisioning offspring, although males maintained a constant level of care throughout the nestling period, whereas females increased feeding visits following the brooding period. During the fledgling period, offspring from below-modal broods were fed at higher rates with increasing age than offspring from modal broods. Broods remained together (siblings averaged 8 m apart) within 200 m of the nest box for a week after fledging. As fledglings became more mobile, they would pursue parents while parents were foraging; parental feeding rates thus tended to increase with fledgling age and distance moved from the nest. Offspring sex did not influence parental care during the fledgling period. Both adults fed fledglings, with males taking sole care of fledglings if females initiated a second clutch soon (7–10 days) after fledging of the first brood. Parental feeding rates increased by 60% during the fledgling period compared with the nestling period. No evidence for brood division during the fledgling period was found. Although brood division represents one way of reducing energetic costs attributable to feeding fledglings, Western Bluebirds exhibit an alternate behavior in which the energetics of raising a brood are shared equally between the parents throughout both the nestling and fledgling periods. This is further facilitated by a close association of young during the fledgling period that may reduce energetic costs related to locating and feeding young.

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.

scholarly journals Testing predictions of inclusive fitness theory in inbreeding relatives with biparental care

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1916) ◽  
pp. 20191933 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Gow ◽  
Peter Arcese ◽  
Danielle Dagenais ◽  
Rebecca J. Sardell ◽  
Scott Wilson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Mating System ◽  
Feeding Rate ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Extra Pair Paternity ◽  
Inclusive Fitness Theory ◽  
Parental Feeding ◽  
Focal Male

Inclusive fitness theory predicts that parental care will vary with relatedness between potentially caring parents and offspring, potentially shaping mating system evolution. Systems with extra-pair paternity (EPP), and hence variable parent–brood relatedness, provide valuable opportunities to test this prediction. However, existing theoretical and empirical studies assume that a focal male is either an offspring's father with no inbreeding, or is completely unrelated. We highlight that this simple dichotomy does not hold given reproductive interactions among relatives, complicating the effect of EPP on parent–brood relatedness yet providing new opportunities to test inclusive fitness theory. Accordingly, we tested hierarchical hypotheses relating parental feeding rate to parent–brood relatedness, parent kinship and inbreeding, using song sparrows ( Melospiza melodia ) experiencing natural variation in relatedness. As predicted, male and female feeding rates increased with relatedness to a dependent brood, even controlling for brood size. Male feeding rate tended to decrease as paternity loss increased, and increased with increasing kinship and hence inbreeding between socially paired mates. We thereby demonstrate that variation in a key component of parental care concurs with subtle predictions from inclusive fitness theory. We additionally highlight that such effects can depend on the underlying social mating system, potentially generating status-specific costs of extra-pair reproduction.

Division of labour by song sparrows feeding fledged young

1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
James N. M. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Young Male ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Young Leave ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Energy Demands ◽  
Song Sparrows ◽  
Breeding Territory ◽  
Parental Feeding ◽  
Family Division

Parental feeding of nestlings and fledglings is described in an individually marked population of song sparrows. Thirty-five broods of nestlings were observed in 1976 and 68 broods of fledglings in 1977. On leaving the nest, individual young dispersed to separate locations in the breeding territory where, at 13 days of age, a single parent fed each young. In broods with even numbers of young, male and female parents divided the young equally in most cases. With odd numbers of young, either male or female could feed the extra young, but females did so more often. Older young were more mobile and harder to observe, but there was some evidence that family division persisted. Male parents played a larger role in feeding older young than younger ones. Feeding rates of 13-day-old young were 44% higher than those of 7- to 8-day-old nestlings, suggesting that energy demands of young and investment of parents are maximal after young leave the nest. I suggest that division of labour helps parents to locate young and regulate their parental feeding efficiently.

Distribution of the parental care in the Iberian magpie Cyanopica cooki: worker males but lazy helpers?

Behaviour ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 156 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos de la Cruz ◽  
Mónica Expósito-Granados ◽  
Juliana Valencia
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Cooperative Breeding ◽  
Feeding Rate ◽  
Species Differences ◽  
Breeding Birds ◽  
Parental Effort ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Provisioning Rate ◽  
Food Provision ◽  
Nestling Feeding

Abstract In many species of cooperative breeding birds, breeders and helpers participate in the parental care with different food provision rules. Normally, helpers feed nestlings less frequently and with smaller quantities of food than breeders. But studies analysing the reaction of feeders to nestling demand are scarce and rarely measure the quantity of food that is actually delivered. In this study, we analysed the provisioning effort of breeders and helpers in the Iberian Magpie, Cyanopica cooki, and how this effort varies with brood demand. We did so by measuring the nestling feeding rate and the biomass supply of each individual. In this way, we obtained a more accurate measurement of the investment assumed by each individual belonging to each status. We found that breeding males visited the nest more often than both breeding females and helpers (mean = 2.24; 0.85 and 1.58, respectively). Furthermore, breeding males delivered more biomass in each feeding visit to the nest than those from other statuses. Breeders, both male and female, increased their parental effort (i.e., provisioning rate and biomass) when brood demand was higher (i.e., more siblings and older nestlings), whereas helpers contributed differently to the nest, but depending on the two types of helpers occurring in this species. Differences in the possible benefits obtained by breeders and helpers may explain these different strategies. In addition, male and female breeders (but not helpers) reduce the feeding rate throughout the breeding season. Thus, in the Iberian magpie, breeders and helpers reveal different patterns of investment depending on nestling food demand.

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.

Parental care and brood division in a songbird, the black redstart

Behaviour ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 142 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 1495-1514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tudor I. Draganoiu ◽  
Laurent Nagle ◽  
Raphael Musseau ◽  
Michel Kreutzer
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Close Link ◽  
Brood Division ◽  
Black Redstart ◽  
Phoenicurus Ochruros ◽  
Brood Desertion

AbstractSexual conflict over parental care can be mediated through differences in male and female overall feeding rates, brood division or both. At present, it is not clear whether post-fledging brood division occurs due to sexual conflict over parental investment or is due to bi-parental cooperation, e.g. increase offspring fitness. We provide evidence suggesting that brood division in the black redstart, Phoenicurus ochruros is due to sexual conflict. Males and females had similar feeding contributions during the nestling stage, which is common for most passerine species. After fledging, each parent showed long-term feeding preferences for particular chicks within the brood. In most cases (74%; 17/23) both parents provided care but males tended to feed less fledglings than females did and in about a quarter of cases (26%; 6/23) females fed the whole brood by themselves. The relative amount of male to female post-fledging feedings showed a significant negative relationship with the proportion of fledglings cared for exclusively by the male. These results suggest (1) a close link between the amount of parental care and brood division; (2) sexual conflict can be mediated through brood division; (3) female redstarts appear to loose this conflict more often than male redstarts, with in the extreme cases males showing post-fledging brood desertion. A literature review shows brood division to occur in at least a dozen of songbird species but male black redstarts have the lowest relative post-fledging parental investment, expressed either as feeding rates or number of chicks in care.

scholarly journals FOOD SUPPLY AND PARENTAL FEEDING RATES OF HOODED WARBLERS IN FOREST FRAGMENTS

2002 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
DEBORAH M. BUEHLER ◽  
D. RYAN NORRIS ◽  
BRIDGET J. M. STUTCHBURY ◽  
NICOLE C. KOPYSH
Keyword(s):  
Food Supply ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Parental Feeding ◽  
Hooded Warblers

Postfledging parental care in the White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey G. Kopachena ◽  
J. Bruce Falls
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Zonotrichia Albicollis ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Nestling Period

We studied parental care in White-throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) during the last 4 days of the nestling period and the first 4 days of the fledgling period. Both parents made more provisioning trips and delivered more food to fledglings than to nestlings. Though male and female parents provided nestlings with equal amounts of food, female parents provided fledglings with more food than did male parents. Fledglings received fewer items per trip than did nestlings. This suggests that fledging was associated with a change in parental foraging strategies. Postfledging parental care did not differ between broods from late nests and broods that were to be followed by a second nesting attempt.

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