Assessing saddle‐billed stork ( Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis ) pair‐bonds and breeding behavior using behavior observed during multiple breeding seasons

Monogamous Mating System in the Hill Mynah Gracula Religiosa: The Role of Female–Female Aggression

Avian Biology Research ◽

10.3184/175815617x14951999745899 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 134-138 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Manee Archawaranon

Keyword(s):

Female Aggression ◽

Breeding Pair ◽

Pair Bonding ◽

Pair Bonds ◽

Term Pair ◽

Males And Females ◽

Breeding Seasons ◽

The Hill

This study aimed to discover whether the Hill Mynah Gracula religiosa forms pairs for a single breeding season or engages in long-term pair bonding, and to investigate the role of female aggression in maintaining pair bonds. Experiments were conducted on captive birds in Thailand between 2006 and 2013, and pair behaviours such as allopreening and aggression were observed four times every day. In the first experiment, when each breeding pair was preparing to rear a new clutch, pairs were placed in a new aviary with unfamiliar males and females with which they could potentially form relationships. Results indicated that breeding pairs stayed with the same mates over four continuous breeding seasons (2006–2009) without changing partners or taking additional mates. In a second experiment, the role of female aggression in maintaining long-term pair bonding was examined. Each breeding pair, when preparing to rear a new clutch, was placed in a new aviary with three unfamiliar females. The results showed that female breeders displayed vigorous aggression towards the other three females, forcing them to retreat from the pair; this behaviour was sustained over four continuous breeding seasons (2010–2013). Thus, it is suggested that the Hill Mynah engages in long-term pair bonding and that the aggression of the breeding female is an essential component in the maintenance of pair-bonds.

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Pair bonds, reproductive success, and rise of alternate mating strategies in a social carnivore

Behavioral Ecology ◽

10.1093/beheco/arz126 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (6) ◽

pp. 1618-1623 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

David E Ausband

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Success ◽

Population Group ◽

Selective Advantage ◽

Pair Bond ◽

Mating Strategies ◽

Alternative Mating Strategies ◽

Gray Wolves ◽

Pair Bonds ◽

Genetic Sampling ◽

Breeding Seasons

Abstract Monogamy is commonly observed across a wide variety of species and taxa and arises when young are altricial, parental investment in young is high, and mate monopolization is generally not possible. In such species, pairs may bond for multiple breeding seasons while successfully rearing young. Individuals, however, may attempt to bypass the dominant mating strategy particularly when breeding opportunities are limited. Currently, we do not know how pair bond duration affects the efficacy of alternative mating strategies in populations with a monogamous mating system. Additionally, inferences about pair bond effects on reproductive success (i.e., both clutch size and recruitment) are largely limited to long-lived birds and little is known about effects on mammalian cooperative breeders. I used genetic sampling and pedigrees to examine the effects of pair bond duration on reproductive success (i.e., litter size, recruitment) and mating strategies in a population of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Idaho, USA. There was a positive, marginally significant relationship between pair bond duration and apparent survival of offspring. Increased pair bond duration was also associated with a dampening in the prevalence of other alternative mating strategies such as sneaker males and polygamy. The selective advantage of alternative mating strategies is a combination of population, group (for applicable species), individual, and social influences such as pair bonds. The distribution of pair bonds in a monogamous population affects the selective advantage, and hence frequency, of various mating strategies observed.

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Breeding biology and demography of the southern emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus)

Australian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1071/zo04043 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 52 (6) ◽

pp. 583 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Grainne S. Maguire ◽

Raoul A. Mulder

Keyword(s):

Adult Population ◽

Breeding Biology ◽

First Year ◽

Nesting Biology ◽

Pair Bonds ◽

The Family ◽

The Mean ◽

High Level ◽

Breeding Seasons ◽

First Time

The breeding biology and demography of the southern emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus) were studied over three breeding seasons (2000–02) in the south-west of Victoria, Australia. The nesting biology of the species was typical of the family Maluridae: clutch size ranged from two to three eggs, the incubation period averaged 19 days, and nestlings fledged, on average, 14.2 days after hatching. In total, 6% of nests successfully hatched and 67% of broods produced fledglings, with a mean of 1.8 young fledged per clutch. Nest failure was mainly due to predation, mostly by snakes. Cooperative breeding was observed for the first time in this species, with male offspring delaying breeding to help raise younger siblings. Juveniles were capable of breeding in their first year and dispersed as far as 1.2 km away. Males provided a high level of investment in offspring and this, together with an absence of extra-pair courtship displays, differentiates the emu-wrens from their highly promiscuous relatives, the fairy-wrens. Mortality of individuals was high and the mean duration of pair bonds was short (5.63 ± 0.62 months, n = 62). Population numbers fell dramatically in September 2001, when almost half the adult population disappeared, which suggests that this population could be vulnerable to local extinction.

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The breeding behavior of a crowded population of mallards

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z75-152 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 53 (9) ◽

pp. 1270-1283 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Rodger D. Titman ◽

James K. Lowther

Keyword(s):

High Frequency ◽

Egg Production ◽

Research Station ◽

Breeding Behavior ◽

Dense Population ◽

High Productivity ◽

Behavioral Abnormalities ◽

Males And Females ◽

Mixed Origin ◽

Breeding Seasons

The breeding behavior of a population slightly in excess of 200 free-winged mallard ducks was observed during the breeding seasons of 1966 and 1967. These ducks frequented a 3.1-ha area at the Delta Waterfowl Research Station in Manitoba. The most notable behavioral abnormalities observed in this dense population were a great deal of strife, including fighting among males and females, and rape of females; a high frequency of nest parasitism; abandonment of nests; reduced broodiness of females; loss and abandonment of young; formation of large broods of mixed origin; and, renesting of hens already having produced a brood. Although egg production was high, productivity was low due to a small hatch and to high mortality of young less than 2 weeks old. Aggressive behavior and rape within this population appeared to be responsible for mortality and reduced breeding success.

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The Rain Calls of Frogs and the Reigning Paradigm of American Herpetology

Archives of Natural History ◽

10.3366/anh.2020.0649 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-35

Author(s):

Gordon L. Miller

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Animal Communication ◽

The United States ◽

Emotional States ◽

Breeding Sites ◽

Gradual Disappearance ◽

The Times ◽

Traditional Natural ◽

Breeding Seasons ◽

The Comparative Study

American zoologists and herpetologists during the past fifty years have successfully deciphered the mating calls of frogs and toads with ever increasing precision and sophistication. However, the vocalizations most commonly termed “rain calls,” which typically occur beyond both normal breeding seasons and breeding sites, have remained a persistent puzzle. This article traces the gradual disappearance of rain calls, along with a corresponding decline in any mention of emotional states, from herpetological studies of anuran vocalizations in the United States from the middle of the twentieth century to the present and examines the historical roots of this disappearance. This evaporation of rain calls is indicative of a much larger change in the scientific climate of the times involving the transition from traditional natural history to the Neo-Darwinian, adaptationist paradigm of contemporary biology. Rain calls thus increasingly became anomalous, thereby eliminating a possibly fruitful line of inquiry in the comparative study of human-animal communication, in this case with evolution's earliest vocalizers. The contours and benefits of a more encompassing paradigm, envisioned by some leading early twentieth-century zoologists, are briefly discussed.

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