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Related Experiment Videos

Male parental effort and paternity in a variable mating system

Whittingham1, Dunn

  • 1Evolutionary Ecology Group, Division of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University

Animal Behaviour
|March 26, 1998
PubMed
Summary

Male birds adjust parental care based on paternity certainty. In cooperatively breeding white-browed scrubwrens, beta males increased feeding effort with higher paternity, unlike alpha or pair males.

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Ornithology

Background:

  • Theoretical models propose that male parental effort adjusts with changes in paternity.
  • Male responses depend on paternity cues and the costs/benefits of parental investment.
  • Pair-breeding males may be constrained in reducing effort, unlike males in cooperative groups.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how male parental effort relates to paternity in the white-browed scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis).
  • To examine differences in parental effort allocation between pair-breeding and cooperatively breeding males.

Main Methods:

  • Observed parental care behavior (feeding rates) of alpha and beta males in cooperative groups and pair-breeding males.
  • Assessed male paternity through genetic analysis (implied, not explicitly stated but necessary for paternity assessment).

Related Experiment Videos

  • Correlated male parental effort with paternity levels and proximity to the fertile female.

    • Main Results:

    • Beta males in cooperative groups showed increased parental effort with higher paternity.
    • Alpha males and males in pair bonds did not adjust parental effort based on paternity.
    • Proximity to the fertile female predicted siring young but not the percentage of young sired.

    Conclusions:

    • Male parental effort allocation is influenced by paternity certainty, particularly in subordinate males (beta males).
    • Cooperative breeding systems may allow for more flexible adjustment of male parental care.
    • Paternity cues, such as copulation, appear to guide male investment decisions in white-browed scrubwrens.