Rights statement: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Behavioural Processes. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Behavioural Processes, 173, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.104026
Accepted author manuscript, 1 MB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY-NC-ND
Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
| Article number | 104026 |
|---|---|
| <mark>Journal publication date</mark> | 30/04/2020 |
| <mark>Journal</mark> | Behavioural Processes |
| Volume | 173 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Publication Status | Published |
| Early online date | 24/01/20 |
| <mark>Original language</mark> | English |
Early theoretical models predicted that over evolutionary timescales, changes in effort by one biparental parent should result in incomplete compensation by the other. Empirical studies, however, report responses ranging from no compensation through to complete compensation which may mean that parents respond to each other's efforts over short time scales, as predicted by some recent theoretical models. Few studies have examined behavioural changes over short time periods which mimic the onset of reduced effort so we removed one blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) parent for 20 min during nestling provisioning. We then quantified the provisioning rates of both parents for 60 min ‘pre-removal’, the non-removed partner during the 20 min ‘removal’ period and both parents for 60 min ‘post-removal’. When compared to pre-removal, both sexes reduced their provisioning rates during the removal stage and also during the post-removal stage. There were, however, sex-specific provisioning patterns in the hour after the parent was returned because after females were released, males began provisioning at a relatively high rate and then maintained that rate across the hour after removal whereas after males were released, females began provisioning at a low rate but significantly increased thereafter. There was no long term effect on offspring fitness, which probably reflects the short time parents were removed and so we conclude that parents with biparental care adjust their provisioning rates to successfully overcome very short term decreases in care.