The use of incubation behavior to adjust avian reproductive costs after egg laying

Wiebe, Karen L.; Martin, Kathy

doi:10.1007/s002650000259

Cited by 56 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…We expected a higher incubation cost, more female nest attendance and higher frequency of incubation feeding in larger clutches (Martin and Wiebe 2000). However, in our study male incubation feeding was not associated with clutch size, similar to observations on the Great Tits (Parus major; Matysioková and Remeš 2010).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The effect of male incubation feeding on female nest attendance and reproductive performance in a socially monogamous bird

et al. 2017

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The incubation of eggs plays a key role in avian parental care. To ensure embryo development, incubating parents have to keep their eggs within the appropriate temperature limits. To do so, incubating individuals allocate substantial energy to the thermal demands of their eggs, but they face a trade-off with self-maintenance (own metabolism) because they usually cannot forage while incubating eggs. In species with female-only incubation, males can help their partners by providing them with food on the nest, a behavior which may enable females to spend more time incubating and could, consequently, lead to improved reproductive performance. In the study reported here, we first investigated whether incubation feeding by males affects nest attendance by females in Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) and subsequently determined how this incubation feeding affects reproductive performance. We found that the female nest attendance tended to increase with increasing amounts of food supplied by their male partner. Thus, males may enable females to incubate more when needed, as suggested by our observation that male incubation feeding was more frequent when the ambient temperature was lower, and especially so when females incubated later in the breeding season (during the study period the ambient temperature decreased rapidly over the breeding season, which is exceptional). Although female nest attendance did not result in a shorter time until the eggs hatched or in higher hatching success, females that attended the nest more produced heavier nestlings. We suggest that the trade-off between self-maintenance and meeting the demands of egg incubation likely tends to be less when females received more assistance from their partner during the egg incubation period, resulting in a higher investment in offspring.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

The effect of male incubation feeding on female nest attendance and reproductive performance in a socially monogamous bird

et al. 2017

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“…Greater Prairie-Chicken (95% Tympanuchus cupido), and White-tailed Ptarmigan (95%; Lagopus leucura; Wiebe & Martin, 2000, Deeming, 2002, Coates & Delehanty, 2008, Winder et al, 2016. However, our estimates of nest attentiveness were similar to other related species such as the Sichuan Partridge (82%, Arborophila rufipectus) and…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

Incubation recess behaviors influence nest survival of Wild Turkeys

Bakner

Schofield

Cedotal

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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In ground nesting upland birds, reproductive activities contribute to elevated predation risk, so females presumably use multiple strategies to ensure nest success. Identification of drivers reducing predation risk has primarily focused on evaluating vegetative conditions at nest sites, but behavioral decisions manifested through movements during incubation may be additional drivers of nest survival. However, our understanding of how movements during incubation impact nest survival is limited for most ground nesting birds. Using GPS data collected from female Eastern Wild Turkeys (n = 206), we evaluated nest survival as it relates to movement behaviors during incubation, including recess frequency, distance traveled during recesses, and habitat selection during recess movements. We identified 9,361 movements off nests and 6,529 recess events based on approximately 62,065 hr of incubation data, and estimated mean nest attentiveness of 84.0%. The numbers of recesses taken daily were variable across females (range: 1‒7). Nest survival modeling indicated that increased cumulative distance moved during recesses each day was the primary driver of positive daily nest survival. Our results suggest behavioral decisions are influencing trade‐offs between nest survival and adult female survival during incubation to reduce predation risk, specifically through adjustments to distances traveled during recesses.

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“…Female nest attendance and the frequency of male incubation feeding were unrelated to clutch size (Matysioková & Remeš , Amininasab et al . , but see Martin & Wiebe , Kötél et al . ) and did not differ between yearling and older males or females (as reported in previous studies: Table S2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of female nest attendance and male feeding throughout the incubation period in Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus

Bambini

Schlicht

Kempenaers

2018

Ibis

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Most bird species exhibit biparental care, but the type of care provided by each sex may differ substantially. In particular, during the incubation phase in passerines, females perform most or all of the incubation, while the male cares for the brood indirectly by feeding the female. However, detailed descriptions of this male investment during the incubation period are missing. Here, we quantitatively describe female nest attendance and male incubation feeding throughout the~14-day incubation period in a population of Eurasian Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus breeding in nestboxes. Males and females progressively increased their daily activity at the nest over the incubation period. The amount of day-time incubation, measured as the proportion of the active day (time interval between first nestbox exit in the morning and last entry in the evening) a female spent inside the nestbox, varied between 52 and 60% with an average of 55% per day. The frequency of male incubation feeding varied between 0 and 74 times per day with an average of 12 feeds per day. Both male feeding rate and female nest attendance were highest in the morning and declined rapidly throughout the day. Females were more likely to be off the nest during the warmest periods (15-21°C), as expected based on thermal needs of the developing embryos, but also during the coldest periods (2-5°C), presumably due to the energetic needs of the female. This was despite the fact that males fed their females more often at the nest when ambient temperatures were low. Females that received more feeds incubated more and their off-nest bouts were shorter after a feed. The observed variation in female incubation and in male feeding rate was not linked to individual age or to variation in measures of reproductive success. However, direct observations showed that in some pairs a substantial amount of feeding by males occurred outside the nestbox. This suggests that the true male investment might have been underestimated, here and in previous studies.

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The use of incubation behavior to adjust avian reproductive costs after egg laying

Cited by 56 publications

References 47 publications

The effect of male incubation feeding on female nest attendance and reproductive performance in a socially monogamous bird

The effect of male incubation feeding on female nest attendance and reproductive performance in a socially monogamous bird

Incubation recess behaviors influence nest survival of Wild Turkeys

Patterns of female nest attendance and male feeding throughout the incubation period in Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus

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