Post-fledging brood and care division in the roseate tern (Sterna dougallii)
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Abstract
Extended post-fledging parental care is an important aspect of parental care in birds, although little studied due to logistic difficulties. Commonly, the brood is split physically (brood division) and/or preferential care is given to a subset of the brood by one parent or the other (care division). Among gulls and tern (Laridae), males and females generally share parental activities during the pre-fledging period, but the allocation of parental care after fledging is little documented. This study examined the behaviour of male and female roseate terns (Sterna dougallii) during the late chick-rearing and early post-fledging periods, and in particular the amount of feeds and the time spent in attendance given to individual chicks/fledglings. Pre-fledging parental care was biparental in all cases. Post-fledging parental care was dependent on the number of fledglings in the brood. Males and females continued biparental care in clutches with one surviving fledgling, while in two-fledgling clutches, males fed the A-fledgling while females fed the B-fledgling. Overall, there was no difference in attendance, only in feeds. This division of care may be influenced by the male only being certain of the paternity of the A-chick but not by chick sex.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Post-fledging brood and care division in the roseate tern (Sterna dougallii) |
| Series title | Journal of Ethology |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10164-011-0286-9 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Year Published | 2012 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Contributing office(s) | Patuxent Wildlife Research Center |
| Description | 6 p. |
| First page | 29 |
| Last page | 34 |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |