Food limitation in asynchronous bluethroat broods: effects on food distribution, nestling begging, and parental provisioning rules

P. T. Smiseth

doi:10.1093/beheco/arg083

Effects of manipulated levels of predation threat on parental provisioning and nestling begging

Behavioral Ecology ◽

10.1093/beheco/arz060 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 1123-1135 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ariane Mutzel ◽

Anne-Lise Olsen ◽

Kimberley J Mathot ◽

Yimen G Araya-Ajoy ◽

Marion Nicolaus ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life History Theory ◽

Parus Major ◽

Reproductive Value ◽

Predation Threat ◽

Growth And Survival ◽

Provisioning Behavior ◽

Parental Provisioning ◽

Nestling Begging ◽

Predator Model ◽

Future Work

AbstractParental provisioning behavior is a major determinant of offspring growth and survival, but high provisioning rates might come at the cost of increased predation threat. Parents should thus adjust provisioning activity according to current predation threat levels. Moreover, life-history theory predicts that response to predation threat should be correlated with investment in current reproduction. We experimentally manipulated perceived predation threat in free-living great tits (Parus major) by presenting parents with a nest predator model while monitoring different aspects of provisioning behavior and nestling begging. Experiments were conducted in 2 years differing greatly in ecological conditions, including food availability. We further quantified male territorial aggressiveness and male and female exploratory tendency. Parents adjusted provisioning according to current levels of threat in an apparently adaptive way. They delayed nest visits during periods of elevated perceived predation threat and subsequently compensated for lost feeding opportunities by increasing provisioning once the immediate threat had diminished. Nestling begging increased after elevated levels of predation threat, but returned to baseline levels by the end of the experiment, suggesting that parents had fully compensated for lost feeding opportunities. There was no evidence for a link between male exploration behavior or aggressiveness and provisioning behavior. In contrast, fast-exploring females provisioned at higher rates, but only in the year with poor environmental conditions, which might indicate a greater willingness to invest in current reproduction in general. Future work should assess whether these personality-related differences in delivery rates under harsher conditions came at a cost of reduced residual reproductive value.

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Group provisioning limits sharing conflict among nestlings in joint-nesting Taiwan yuhinas

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2009.0909 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 318-321 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Sheng-Feng Shen ◽

Hsueh-Chen Chen ◽

Sandra L. Vehrencamp ◽

Hsiao-Wei Yuan

Keyword(s):

Cooperative Breeding ◽

Video Recording ◽

Food Delivery ◽

Food Distribution ◽

Sibling Competition ◽

Short Intervals ◽

Food Allocation ◽

Adult Feeding ◽

Large Party ◽

Nestling Begging

Offspring often compete over limited available resources. Such sibling competition may be detrimental to parents both because it entails wasted expenditure and because it allows stronger offspring to obtain a disproportionate share of resources. We studied nestling conflict over food and its resolution in a joint-nesting species of bird, the Taiwan yuhina ( Yuhina brunneiceps ). We show that adult yuhinas coordinate their feeding visits, and that this coordination limits competition among nestlings, leading to a ‘fairer’ division of resources. Transponder identification and video-recording systems were used to observe adult feeding and nestling begging behaviours. We found that: (i) yuhinas feed nestlings more often in large parties than in small parties; (ii) feeding events occurred non-randomly in bouts of very short intervals; and (iii) food distribution among nestlings was more evenly distributed, and fewer nestlings begged, during large-party feeding bouts compared with small-party feeding bouts. To our knowledge, this is the first study in a cooperative breeding species showing that adults can influence food allocation and competition among nestlings by coordinating their feeding visits. Our results confirm the hypothesis that the monopolizability of food affects the intensity of sibling competition, and highlight the importance of understanding the temporal strategies of food delivery.

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The Role of Sibling Competition and Parental Provisioning on Food Distribution among Ferruginous Hawk Nestlings

Journal of Raptor Research ◽

10.3356/0892-1016-54.4.376 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Megan C. Szojka ◽

Erin M. Bayne ◽

Troy I. Wellicome ◽

Cameron J. Nordell ◽

Janet W. Ng

Keyword(s):

Food Distribution ◽

Sibling Competition ◽

Parental Provisioning

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Food Allocation in Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula Albicollis) Broods: Do Rules Change With The Age of Nestlings?

The Auk ◽

10.1093/auk/122.4.1112 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 122 (4) ◽

pp. 1112-1122 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Balázs Rosivall ◽

János Török ◽

Eszter Szöllősi

Keyword(s):

Food Limitation ◽

Food Distribution ◽

Ficedula Albicollis ◽

Position Preference ◽

Collared Flycatcher ◽

Food Allocation ◽

Parental Fitness ◽

Size Condition ◽

Age Category

Abstract Food allocation among nestlings has a strong influence on parental fitness. Maximizing fledging success in a favorable environment requires food distribution based on offspring need signals. However, food limitation, differences among individual nestlings in their quality, or variation in the costs of rearing different young may result in preferential allocation of food by parents. If signals of nestling quality or need change in meaning with age, parents are expected to adjust their feeding rules to those changes. We examined food allocation in broods of Collared Flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis), a sexually size-monomorphic passerine. In a multivariate analysis, we investigated the role of sex, size, condition, position, and begging intensity in two nestling ages. Size, condition, and sex of nestlings did not affect parental decisions. Begging intensity and nestling position, however, had a role in food allocation in both age categories. Both parents preferred the more intensely begging nestlings. Males did not show clear position preference in the “young” age category, but had preferred positions with older nestlings. Female position preference was observed in both age categories. Preferred positions of male and female parents differed; still, we observed overall position preference. Asignación de Alimentos en Nidadas de Ficedula albicollis: ¿Cambian las Reglas con la Edad de los Pichones?

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Effects of food limitation and emigration on self-thinning in experimental minnow cohorts

Journal of Animal Ecology ◽

10.1046/j.1365-2656.2000.00451.x ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 69 (6) ◽

pp. 927-934 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

J. B. Dunham ◽

B. R. Dickerson ◽

E. Beever ◽

R. D. Duncan ◽

G. L. Vinyard

Keyword(s):

Food Limitation

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Counter culture: Causes, extent and solutions of systematic bias in the analysis of behavioural counts

10.32942/osf.io/jq9n6 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Joel L Pick ◽

Nyil Khwaja ◽

Michael A. Spence ◽

Malika Ihle ◽

Shinichi Nakagawa

Keyword(s):

Recent Literature ◽

Null Model ◽

Mechanistic Explanation ◽

Effect Sizes ◽

Systematic Bias ◽

Intra Class Correlation ◽

Counter Culture ◽

Provisioning Rate ◽

Parental Provisioning ◽

Observation Period

We often quantify a behaviour by counting the number of times it occurs within a specific, short observation period. Measuring behaviour in such a way is typically unavoidable but induces error. This error acts to systematically reduce effect sizes, including metrics of particular interest to behavioural and evolutionary ecologists such as R2, repeatability (intra-class correlation, ICC) and heritability. Through introducing a null model, the Poisson process, for modelling the frequency of behaviour, we give a mechanistic explanation of how this problem arises and demonstrate how it makes comparisons between studies and species problematic, because the magnitude of the error depends on how frequently the behaviour has been observed (e.g. as a function of the observation period) as well as how biologically variable the behaviour is. Importantly, the degree of error is predictable and so can be corrected for. Using the example of parental provisioning rate in birds, we assess the applicability of our null model for modelling the frequency of behaviour. We then review recent literature and demonstrate that the error is rarely accounted for in current analyses. We highlight the problems that arise from this and provide solutions. We further discuss the biological implications of deviations from our null model, and highlight the new avenues of research that they may provide. Adopting our recommendations into analyses of behavioural counts will improve the accuracy of estimated effect sizes and allow meaningful comparisons to be made between studies.

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