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Declining extra-pair paternity with laying order associated with initial incubation behavior, but independent of final clutch size in the blue tit
- Source :
- Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 66(4), 603-612. SPRINGER
- Publication Year :
- 2012
- Publisher :
- SPRINGER, 2012.
-
Abstract
- Although functional explanations for female engagement in extra-pair copulation have been studied extensively in birds, little is known about how extra-pair paternity is linked to other fundamental aspects of avian reproduction. However, recent studies indicate that the occurrence of extra-pair offspring may generally decline with laying order, possibly because stimulation by eggs induces incubation, which may suppress female motivation to acquire extra-pair paternity. Here we tested whether experimental inhibition of incubation during the laying phase, induced by the temporary removal of eggs, resulted in increased extra-pair paternity, in concert with a later cessation of laying, in blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). As expected, experimental females showed a more gradual increase in nocturnal incubation duration over the laying phase and produced larger clutches than controls. Moreover, incubation duration on the night after the first egg was laid predicted how extra-pair paternity declined with laying order, with less incubation being associated with more extra-pair offspring among the earliest eggs in the clutch. However, incubation duration on this first night was unrelated to our experimental treatment and independent of final clutch size. Consequently, the observed decline in extra-pair paternity with laying order was unaffected by our manipulation and larger clutches included proportionally fewer extra-pair offspring. We suggest that female physiological state prior to laying, associated with incubation at the onset of laying, determines motivation to acquire extra-pair paternity independent of final clutch size. This decline in proportion of extra-pair offspring with clutch size may be a general pattern within bird species.
- Subjects :
- Avian clutch size
Offspring
media_common.quotation_subject
HOUSE SPARROW
Zoology
Biology
Fertility insurance
Extra-pair copulation
PARUS-CAERULEUS
Incubation
Sperm competition
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
media_common
COPULATION BEHAVIOR
Original Paper
Brood size
HATCHING ORDER
BIRDS
Ecology
Reproductive strategy
Cyanistes
INDIRECT SELECTION
biology.organism_classification
KESTREL FALCO-TINNUNCULUS
GENETIC BENEFITS
Animal ecology
SPERM COMPETITION
SOCIALLY MONOGAMOUS PASSERINES
Animal Science and Zoology
Reproduction
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14320762 and 03405443
- Volume :
- 66
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....1cfe1dae652c31ce6337dbf373c98d18