Authors
Matthew Low, Troy Makan, Isabel Castro
Publication date
2012/1/1
Journal
Behavioral Ecology
Volume
23
Issue
1
Pages
25-34
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Description
Few studies have examined interactions between resource availability, life-history traits and sexual conflict on species-specific provisioning rates, and within-individual variation of parental care. To this end, we used 1129 nest observation periods from 118 nests across 4 populations to examine how parental nest visitation varied according to sex, food availability, and offspring need (brood size and age) in the stitchbird (hihi: Notiomystis cincta). Males increased their provisioning proportional to brood size regardless of food availability, whereas females did not increase provisioning to larger broods unless food supplemented. Male provisioning consistently followed the age-dependent energy requirements of the nestlings, whereas females showed little or no brood age–provisioning relationships. Thus, males were more sensitive than females to changes in the energy demands of their offspring; however, this …
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