Hormonal Correlates of Parental and Helping Behavior in Cooperatively Breeding Harris' Hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus)

The Auk ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 638-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Masters Vleck ◽  
Arthur R. Goldsmith
2011 ◽  
Vol 177 (4) ◽  
pp. 486-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sjouke A. Kingma ◽  
Michelle L. Hall ◽  
Anne Peters

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay A Walker ◽  
Linda Tschirren ◽  
Jennifer E York ◽  
Peter J Sharp ◽  
Simone L Meddle ◽  
...  

In many cooperatively breeding societies non-breeding individuals help to rear the offspring of breeders. The physiological mechanisms that regulate such cooperative helping behavior are poorly understood, but may have been co-opted, during the evolution of cooperative breeding, from pre-existing mechanisms that regulated parental care. Key among these may be a role for prolactin. Here we investigate whether natural variation in circulating prolactin levels predicts both parental and helper contributions to nestling provisioning in cooperatively breeding white-browed sparrow weavers, Plocepasser mahali. In sparrow weaver groups, a single dominant pair monopolize reproduction and non-breeding subordinates help with nestling feeding. We show that: (i) among parents, dominant females feed nestlings at higher rates, make longer provisioning visits and have higher prolactin levels than dominant males; and (ii) among subordinates, engaged in cooperative helping behavior, those within their natal groups feed nestlings at higher rates and have higher prolactin levels than immigrants. Moreover, continuous variation in prolactin levels positively predicts nestling-provisioning rates and mean provisioning visit durations when all bird classes are combined. These relationships are principally driven by differences among bird classes in both circulating prolactin levels and provisioning traits; the more limited within-class variation in prolactin and provisioning traits were not evidently correlated, highlighting a likely role for additional mechanisms in the fine-scale regulation of care. Our findings broadly support the hypothesis that parental care and cooperative helping behavior are regulated by a common underlying mechanism and highlight the need for experimentation to now establish the causality of any role for prolactin.


1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 432-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigal Balshine-Earn ◽  
Franics C. Neat ◽  
Hannah Reid ◽  
Michael Taborsky

Behaviour ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 94 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 108-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert B. Payne ◽  
Ian Rowley ◽  
Laura L. Payne

AbstractA population of cooperatively breeding, group-living splendid wrens was tested with a mounted parasitic cuckoo. At all nests with incubated eggs or nestlings, wrens attacked the cuckoo. The timing and intensity of attacks was independent of the nest day and of the age and breeding experience of the wrens. The breeding female usually spotted and attacked the cuckoo first. Her mate and the nonbreeding helpers responded to her call and mobbed and attacked the cuckoo. Response was no quicker in groups with nonbreeding auxiliaries than in single pairs. Discovery time was independent of the number of birds in a group and depended on the movements of the breeding female. Most wrens fed the young and mobbed the cuckoo. When a wren did not attack, it usually was caring for the young of another breeding female or an earlier brood. Variance in helping behavior was not closely associated with variance in the genetic relationship between helper and the breeding female or the young beneficiaries of mobbing. Use of a common territory, attendance at a nest, feeding the young, and mobbing and hitting a cuckoo were all associated cooperative activities. The main limitation of cooperative behavior in defense against the cuckoo is the same as the observed constraint on care of the young during the prolonged period of parental feeding-a conflict of interest among breeding females for care of their own young.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 852-863 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Gunnesch-Luca ◽  
Klaus Moser

Abstract. The current paper presents the development and validation of a unit-level Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) scale based on the Referent-Shift Consensus Model (RSCM). In Study 1, with 124 individuals measured twice, both an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) established and confirmed a five-factor solution (helping behavior, sportsmanship, loyalty, civic virtue, and conscientiousness). Test–retest reliabilities at a 2-month interval were high (between .59 and .79 for the subscales, .83 for the total scale). In Study 2, unit-level OCB was analyzed in a sample of 129 work teams. Both Interrater Reliability (IRR) measures and Interrater Agreement (IRA) values provided support for RSCM requirements. Finally, unit-level OCB was associated with group task interdependence and was more predictable (by job satisfaction and integrity of the supervisor) than individual-level OCB in previous research.


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