Mate Attentiveness, Seasonal Timing of Breeding and Long-term Pair Bonding in the House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)

McGraw, Kevin J.; Hill, Geoffrey E.

doi:10.1163/156853904772746565

Cited by 11 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 43 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, the ‘mate familiarity effect’ can lead to increased reproductive success through improved parent cooperation (Sánchez‐Macouzet et al, 2014; Tinbergen, 1959; Weiß et al, 2010). Pair‐bonded individuals may also experience benefits of breeding earlier, as they do not need to allocate time into establishing a new pair (Lifjeld & Slagsvold, 1988; McGraw & Hill, 2004; Pampus et al, 2005), as well as improving their survival (Culina, Lachish, et al, 2015; Nicolai et al, 2012). Age assortment might, therefore, arise when individuals enter a breeding population at the same age, pair with each other, and then consecutively remate when they will continue to be assorted by age.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling the causes of age‐assortative mating in bird populations with contrasting life‐history strategies

Woodman

Cole

Firth

et al. 2022

Journal of Animal Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Age shapes fundamental processes related to behaviour, survival and reproduction, where age influences reproductive success, non‐random mating with respect to age can magnify or mitigate such effects. Consequently, the correlation in partners' age across a population may influence its productivity. Despite widespread evidence for age‐assortative mating, little is known about what drives this assortment and its variation. Specifically, the relative importance of active (same‐age mate preference) and passive processes (assortment as a consequence of other spatial or temporal effects) in driving age assortment is not well understood. In this paper, we compare breeding data from a great tit and mute swan population (51‐ and 31‐year datasets, respectively) to tease apart the contributions of pair retention, cohort age structure and active age‐related mate selection to age assortment in species with contrasting life histories. Both species show age‐assortative mating and variable assortment between years. However, we demonstrate that the drivers of age assortment differ between the species, as expected from their life histories and resultant demographic differences. In great tits, pair fidelity has a weak effect on age‐assortative mating through pair retention; variation in age assortment is primarily driven by fluctuations in age structure from variable juvenile recruitment. Age‐assortative mating is, therefore, largely passive, with no evidence consistent with active age‐related mate selection. In mute swans, age assortment is partly explained by pair retention, but not population age structure, and evidence exists for active age‐assortative pairing. This difference is likely to result from shorter life‐spans in great tits compared with mute swans, leading to fundamental differences in their population age structure, whereby a larger proportion of great tit populations consist of a single age cohort. In mute swans, age‐assortative pairing through mate selection may also be driven by greater age‐dependent variation in fitness. The study highlights the importance of considering how different life histories and demographic differences arising from these affect population processes that appear congruent across species. We suggest that future research should focus on uncovering the proximate mechanisms that lead to variation in active age‐assortative mate selection (as seen in mute swans); and the consequences of variation in age structure on the ecological and social functioning of wild populations.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling the causes of age‐assortative mating in bird populations with contrasting life‐history strategies

Woodman

Cole

Firth

et al. 2022

Journal of Animal Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Reproductive success and nestling diet in the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Picoides minor): the early bird gets the caterpillar

et al. 2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Populations of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Picoides minor) are decreasing in size, necessitating management strategies. However, data on the reproductive biology of this species are scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of timing of breeding and nestling diet on the reproductive success of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and thereby contribute to an understanding of the determinants influencing its reproductive success. During 6 study years between 1996-2003, we investigated various variables of reproductive success in a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker population in the Taunus low mountain range, Germany. We observed nestling feeding at breeding holes to assess the composition of nestling diet and how it changes during the season. Clutch size, number of fledglings as well as body mass of the nestlings declined with the start of egg laying. Pairs composed of individuals that had breed together in previous years started egg laying earlier than newly established pairs. Nestling diet consisted mainly of aphids, caterpillars, craneflies and wood-living larvae. The composition changed considerably within the breeding season in both early and late broods. However, early broods were provided with caterpillars more frequently, whereas late broods received wood-dwelling larvae more often. Our results suggest that Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers time their breeding so as to coincide with the early nestling stage with the highest availability of caterpillars, since this is the time of highest energy demand. Moreover, food availability declines during the breeding season, and the decline in reproductive performance seems to be an effect of this development.

show abstract

Fitness consequences of male provisioning of incubating females in a desert passerine bird

Stein

Badyaev

2009

J Ornithol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Male provisioning of incubating females can increase reproductive success by maintaining physiological condition of females and consistency of incubation. The effects of male provisioning on the maintenance of incubation temperature and embryo development should be particularly pronounced in environments where ambient temperature exceeds the tolerance of unincubated eggs and where consistency of female incubation might be particularly important for hatching success. Here, we investigated the reproductive consequences of incubation feeding in a desert population of House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) in southwestern Arizona. We found that greater nest attentiveness by females was related to higher minimum incubation nest temperature, that in turn was closely associated with hatching success. Only 44% of males regularly provisioned their incubating females. Although provisioned females maintained higher incubation temperature and took fewer incubation breaks than non-provisioned females, overall, male provisioning did not influence incubation dynamics or hatching success. Further, a male's incubation feeding rate did not correlate with male provisioning of nestlings. These results corroborate the finding that, in male House Finches, neither provisioning of incubating females nor pre-incubation courtship feeding are associated with increases in circulating pituitary prolactin--the hormone regulating male provisioning of nestlings. We suggest that incubation provisioning by male might be a component of pair maintenance behavior and that variation in male incubation behavior is best understood in relation to asymmetries in residual reproductive values between the mates.

show abstract

Mate Attentiveness, Seasonal Timing of Breeding and Long-term Pair Bonding in the House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)

Cited by 11 publications

References 43 publications

Disentangling the causes of age‐assortative mating in bird populations with contrasting life‐history strategies

Disentangling the causes of age‐assortative mating in bird populations with contrasting life‐history strategies

Reproductive success and nestling diet in the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Picoides minor): the early bird gets the caterpillar

Fitness consequences of male provisioning of incubating females in a desert passerine bird

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About