Nest Sharing by two Blackbird<i>Turdus merula</i>Females

Wysocki, Dariusz; Walasz, Kazimierz

doi:10.3161/068.039.0103

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Saunders 1976;Crowell et al 1982). However, a situation in which two females and two males share a common nest and in which a female incubates a common clutch laid by two females and fathered by two males has been observed in Blackbirds (Turdus merula) (Wysocki and Walasz 2004), but not in parrots. Hahn (1993) incidentally observed two Horned Parakeet pairs that shared a ground nest in which the two females had laid their clutches at about 1 m distance and incubated separately but simultaneously.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Cooperative breeding, mate guarding, and nest sharing in two parrot species of New Caledonia

Theuerkauf

Rouys

Mériot³

et al. 2009

J Ornithol

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We provide evidence for cooperative breeding in two endemic parrot species of New Caledonia, the New Caledonian Parakeet (Cyanoramphus saisseti) and the Horned Parakeet (Eunymphicus cornutus). We intensively monitored 11 breeding attempts in two nests of New Caledonian Parakeets over 5 years, and noticed that two males of different size fed the female and the chicks in each nest. During one breeding attempt, the larger male guarded the female and the smaller male tried to copulate with her inside the nest. Genetic analyses showed that males shared paternity. During 17 breeding attempts in 11 Horned Parakeet nests, we observed two pairs sharing a nest on one occasion but we never saw feeding helpers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Cooperative breeding, mate guarding, and nest sharing in two parrot species of New Caledonia

Theuerkauf

Rouys

Mériot³

et al. 2009

J Ornithol

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“…In this study, we examined possible offspring sex bias in an open-cup nesting passerine—the European Blackbird Turdus merula (henceforth Blackbird). There were several reasons for this: (1) Blackbirds are socially monogamous, dimorphic birds (the only Turdus species with clear differences in plumage colouration), where adult males are bigger than adult females ( Piliczewski, Ł& Wysocki, 2018 ); female mating preference could therefore depend on a male phenotypic trait, or else a single male trait, such as age, could affect male mating opportunities; (2) high-quality males of this species engage in extra-pair copulations ( Wysocki & Halupka, 2004 ); (3) the population studied exhibits many different breeding strategies in order to maximise breeding success ( Wysocki, 2004 ; Wysocki, 2005 ; Wysocki, 2006 ; Wysocki & Walasz, 2004 ; Wysocki & Jankowiak, 2018 ); (4) egg size in this species has been found to be sexually dimorphic—larger eggs contain male embryos ( Martyka et al, 2010 )—and hatching in this species is highly asynchronous ( Magrath, 1989 ), so we can expect a relationship between offspring sex and hatching sequence, and older females should produce smaller eggs because of their poor condition due to senescence; (5) chick productivity in the target urban population is low and lifetime breeding success is subject to considerable variance: during a 21-year study, just 7% of males and 16% of females raised 50% of all fledglings; the less numerous, oldest individuals are the birds with the highest lifetime breeding success ( Wysocki et al, 2019 ; Zyskowski, 2015 ). A few studies have shown that age is a significant factor influencing reproductive life-history traits of blackbirds ( Desrochers, 1992a ; Desrochers, 1992b ; Desrochers & Magrath, 1993 ; Streif & Rasa, 2001 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of parental age difference on the offspring sex and fitness of European blackbirds

Cholewa

Jankowiak

Szenejko

et al. 2021

PeerJ

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Background Many studies of birds have indicated that offspring sex ratios can vary with environmental and parental traits. On the basis of long-term research, we first evaluated the possible influence of parental age difference and brood characteristics on offspring sex and fitness in multi-brooded Blackbirds Turdus merula. Methodology The study was conducted in the city-centre Stefan Żeromski Park in Szczecin, NW Poland, where the local population of Blackbirds has been studied since 1996. Data on the offspring sex and fitness were collected in five years, 2005–2007 and 2016–2017. During the breeding season we inspected the study area to locate the pairs’ territories and to track their nests and clutches. Results We found that the overall sex ratio did not differ statistically from 50:50, but that younger females bonded with older mates did tend to produce more sons, probably because of the greater fitness of male descendants. Accordingly, the sons’ breeding success increased with the father’s age, but this relationship was close to non-linear, which may indicate that the transgenerational effect of paternal senescence could negatively affect progeny fitness despite the high-quality of older fathers. Older females mated with younger males produced more daughters, which could have been due to the lesser attractiveness of the males and the mothers’ poorer condition caused by accelerated senescence. We found that neither offspring hatching sequence nor hatching date or clutch sequence were significant for sex determination. Conclusions We consider that in our Blackbird population, parental age could make a more significant contribution to shaping offspring sex and reproductive success.

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“…In this study, we examined possible offspring sex bias in an open-cup nesting passerinethe European Blackbird Turdus merula (henceforth Blackbird). There were several reasons for this: (1) Blackbirds are socially monogamous, dimorphic birds (the only Turdus species with clear differences in plumage colouration), where adult males are bigger than adult females (Piliczewski, Jankowiak & Wysocki, 2018); female mating preference could therefore depend on a male phenotypic trait, or else a single male trait, such as age, could affect male mating opportunities; (2) high-quality males of this species engage in extra-pair copulations (Wysocki & Halupka, 2004); (3) the population studied exhibits many different breeding strategies in order to maximise breeding success (Wysocki, 2004(Wysocki, , 2005(Wysocki, , 2006Wysocki & Walasz, 2004;; (4) egg size in this species has been found to be sexually dimorphic -larger eggs contain male embryos (Martyka et al, 2010) -and hatching in this species is highly asynchronous (Magrath, 1989), so we can expect a relationship between offspring sex and hatching sequence, and older females should produce smaller eggs because of their poor condition due to senescence; (5) chick productivity in the target urban population is low and lifetime breeding success is subject to considerable variance: during a 21-year study, just 7% of males and 16% of females raised 50% of all fledglings; the less numerous, oldest individuals are the birds with the highest lifetime breeding success (Wysocki et al, 2019, Zyskowski, 2015. A few studies have shown that age is a significant factor influencing reproductive life-history traits of blackbirds (Desrochers, 1992a,b;Desrochers & Magrath, 1993;Streif and Rasa, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #1 of "The effects of parental age difference on the offspring sex and fitness of European blackbirds (v0.1)"

Coleman¹

2021

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Background. Many studies of birds have indicated that offspring sex ratios can vary with environmental and parental traits. On the basis of long-term research, we first evaluated the possible influence of parental age difference and brood characteristics on offspring sex and fitness in multi-brooded Blackbirds Turdus merula. Methodology. The study was conducted in the city-centre Stefan Żeromski Park in Szczecin, NW Poland, where the local population of Blackbirds has been studied since 1996. Data on the offspring sex and fitness were collected in five years, 2005-2007 and 2016-2017. During the breeding season we inspected the study area to locate the pairs' territories and to track their nests and clutches. Results. We found that the overall sex ratio did not differ statistically from 50:50, but that younger females bonded with older mates did tend to produce more sons, probably because of the greater fitness of male descendants. Accordingly, the sons' breeding success increased with the father's age, but this relationship was close to nonlinear, which may indicate that the transgenerational effect of paternal senescence could negatively affect progeny fitness despite the high-quality of older fathers. Older females mated with younger males produced more daughters, which could have been due to the lesser attractiveness of the males and the mothers' poorer condition caused by accelerated senescence. We found that neither offspring hatching sequence nor hatching date or clutch sequence were significant for sex determination. Conclusions. We consider that in our Blackbird population, parental age could make a more significant contribution to shaping offspring sex and reproductive success.

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Nest Sharing by two BlackbirdTurdus merulaFemales

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Cited by 11 publications

References 2 publications

Cooperative breeding, mate guarding, and nest sharing in two parrot species of New Caledonia

Cooperative breeding, mate guarding, and nest sharing in two parrot species of New Caledonia

The effects of parental age difference on the offspring sex and fitness of European blackbirds

Peer Review #1 of "The effects of parental age difference on the offspring sex and fitness of European blackbirds (v0.1)"

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